The traders here on Friday called for devising a joint mechanism to remove hurdles to the Pak-Afghan bilateral trade as well as Afghan Transit Trade. A press release said the demand was made at a meeting of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI)’s Standing Committee on Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs) for Trade Promotion. The director of the Area Study Centre, University of Peshawar, chaired the meeting. The meeting sought rationalized tariffs and levies as well as improvement in border management system by simplifying procedures and policies to boost trade between the two neighbouring countries besides enhancing regional trade. Engineer Manzoor Elahi, the body’s Senior Vice-Chairman and Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, Vice-Chairman, members and representatives of relevant stakeholders attended the meeting that made recommendations to the government about promotion of Pak-Afghan trade and enhancement of exports to regional countries. The participants in the meeting demanded that the members of the business community on both sides of the border should be taken into confidence before finalizing and signing the new Afghan Transit Trade Agreement.
The meeting identified the bottlenecks and hiccups hampering the mutual trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan and proposed a number of recommendations to address them. It asserted that a joint roadmap or a combined policy should be adopted to resolve issues of the traders from the two countries. Manzoor Elahi said the SCCI was making efforts to enhance bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as with the regional countries. He said the chamber had proposed a number of recommendations to the government that had taken steps in the light of SCCI’s proposals to boost Pak-Afghan trade as well as exports to CARs. Manzoor Elahi informed the meeting that traders from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were mostly doing business with Afghanistan, which was faced with a host of difficulties at this critical juncture. He suggested rationalising tariffs, relaxing rules and improving border management. Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, who is also Vice-President of the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber, emphasized that Pak-Afghan traders should be consulted before finalizing and signing the new ATTA. He said KP was at a disadvantage being located at a long distance from the Karachi port because of which the business community from KP faced a host of challenges. Sarhadi demanded operationalization of the Azakhel Dry Port, Nowshera. He also called for restoration of cargo service through Pakistan Railways along with provision of other facilities to the traders. Area Study Centre Director Dr Shabbir Ahmad agreed with recommendations and said these would be forwarded to relevant government departments for execution.