Exports worth $100m happened to Pakistan from Paktia this year

GARDEZ (Pajhwok): The Chamber of Commerce and Industry in southeastern Paktia province says traders exported goods worth $100 million from the province to Pakistan during the past 11 months.

Hasibullah Gardezi, director of the chamber, said the exports from Dand-i-Patan district took place via Kharlachi crossing to Pakistan in the past 11 months.

However, he said the volume of exports to Pakistan from Paktia had decreased by 15 percent compared to last year’s, but the exports of vegetables, dried and fresh fruits had decreased by three percent.

He linked the decrease in exports to the repeated closure of the trade route by the Pakistani side this year.

“We only have the Kharlachi gate in Dand-i-Patan district with Pakistan. It is not a transit route, so we can only export to Pakistan. If this route becomes transit, the volume of exports would also surge.”

The head of the Paktia traders union, Khwajauddin Kalewal, told Pajhwok that businesspeople faced problems in obtaining visas for some countries.

He said: "One reason why the level of exports is low this year was that businessmen were not issued visas. If they had been issued visas, the level of exports would have increased a lot."

Meanwhile, Chamber of Commerce and Industry head Maulvi Mohammad Azim Azimi said this year, apart from Pakistan, paper was exported to Central Asian countries and Italy for the first time.

He said that he was trying to provide facilities for exports to different countries.

sa/ma