Torkham: Kabul, Islamabad to discuss trade flows

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Top Afghan and Pakistani commerce officials will meet tomorrow (Monday) on trade flows and people’s movement across the Durand Line.

Heading a high-level delegation, Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood will hold talks with the Afghan commerce minister at Torkham.

Accompanied by senior officials from relevant departments, Dawood and his Afghan counterpart will discuss Smooth flows of trade and pedestrians.

Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq and National Security Advisor Dr. Moeed Yusuf will also accompany Dawood.

This information was shared at a meeting of the Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell (AICC), said an official statement on Sunday.

Delegations from Kabul and Islamabad will visit Torkham to witness the movement of pedestrians and vehicles across the Durand Line.

Huge facilitation of truck movements is expected to increase bilateral trade especially imports from Afghanistan.

In a bid to help Afghanistan generate foreign exchange through exports, Pakistan has already waived additional customs duty and regulatory duty on several items.

Important matters related to the smooth movement of people and patients through the Torkham crossing will come up for discussion.

An increase in timings of crossing points, establishment of joint infrastructure, capacity-building training of Afghan nominees and smooth crossing of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan are among the items on the agenda.

A timeframe for reinitiating the Torkham-Jalalabad road project and the start of a luxury bus service between Peshawar and Jalalabad and Quetta and Kandahar will also be discussed.

In January, Pakistan allowed the export of 14 more items to Afghanistan in rupees via land routes owing to the non-availability of tradable currency through banking channels.

Exports from Pakistan to Afghanistan have declined from $517.24 million in the first half of 2021 to $328.25m during July-December of the current year.

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