- FO spokesperson says Pakistan committed to promoting trade with Afghanistan
- Secretary Commerce leading delegation on a two-day visit to discuss trade issues
PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: A high-level delegation of the Pakistani Commerce Ministry will hold crucial talks in Kabul on Monday to discuss bilateral trade and joint measures to remove hurdles faced by transporters and businessmen from both sides, officials confirmed on Sunday.
“Secretary of Commerce Khurrum Agha is undertaking the two-day trip to Afghanistan on Monday, (tomorrow) days after Pakistan conducted air strikes inside Afghanistan, targeting terrorist hideouts. The delegation will discuss trade-related matters.
“Pakistan remains committed to promoting trade and people-to-people ties with Afghanistan,” read a brief statement issued by the Foreign Office on Sunday.
The Commerce Secretary will be accompanied by other senior officials at talks taking place amid tensions between the two estranged neighbours.
The worsening ties have undermined bilateral trade between the two countries in recent months. The frequent border closures due to a variety of reasons also negatively impacted trade ties.
The relations, especially trade between the two neighbours have significantly deteriorated amid frequent border clashes and closure of key crossing points along their shared border. The disruptions have not only strained diplomatic ties but also inflicted heavy economic losses on both sides, particularly affecting trade-dependent communities and industries.
“Secretary Commerce Khurrum Agha will undertake a two-day visit to Afghanistan on Monday 25 March 2024 to discuss trade related matters,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a spokesperson for the Pakistani foreign office, said in a statement on Sunday.
According a senior official of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), the visit aims at fostering trust and trade flow between the two countries.
“The visit of the high-level delegation, headed by secretary commerce is part of confidence-building measures to foster trust and ensure smooth trade flow between the two neighbors,” Muhammad Zubair Motiwala, chief executive officer of TDAP, told Arab News.
“I hope the visit leads to bilateral cooperation between the two countries,” Motiwala said. “Both countries need to revisit their policies to simplify trade, ease restrictions and simplify transit at the border points.”
On the other hand, Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad, an Afghan commerce ministry spokesperson, confirmed to the media the scheduled visit but accused Islamabad of complicating bilateral trade issues.
“Talks will focus on Pakistan’s unnecessary delay of goods’ trucks, red tapism in preparing documents for transit of heavy containers and Islamabad’s latest tightening of rules for Afghan truckers to get Pakistani visas,” he said.
A year ago, Jawad maintained, almost 1,500 to 2,000 trucks from Pakistan entered Afghanistan on a daily basis, but “undue restrictions by Pakistan’s border and trade authorities have made business nearly impossible by introducing new rules,” bringing down the number of Pakistani trucks to about 700.
The Afghan official said his country’s business with Iran through Chabahar Port had witnessed a huge boost due to the trade complications with Pakistan.
“We will discuss with Pakistani side either bureaucratic or infrastructural hurdles for trade and businesses at the border points with impediments and massive congestion, often closure and reopening of crossing points for trade, low scanning capacity, hurdles in trade movement such as transportation of perishable goods, which often result in massive financial losses to our businessmen,” he added.
Hajji Usman, a member of Nangarhar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the security issues between the two countries were also impeding a smooth flow of trade between them.
Aimal Khan, a president Pakistan Custom Clearing Agents at Torkham border crossing, said that business and movement was almost at a standstill due to the interference of institutions other than the customs department.
“Except for the customs department, authorities should ban the rest of the departments from interfering in the working of businesses in the border areas,” he maintained.
Khan said it was a positive development that the Pakistani commerce delegation wanted to discuss the modalities of the trade with Afghan officials to ease the situation for businesses on both sides of the frontier.
