Karachi, July 22, 2022 (PPI-OT):PAJCCI’s delegation arrived at Torkham on Thursday 21 July, 2022 to have joint public-private meeting and subsequent B2B meeting at Swat. The meeting was attended by PAJCCI executive body, Afghan delegation, business community and government officials from NLC, Pakistan Customs, Pakistan Army (FC), Ministry of Commerce, FIA, TDAP, Habib Bank and National Bank.
Zia Sarhadi; VP PAJCCI chaired the session along with Amanat Khan; Deputy Collector, Pakistan Customs. He apprised the forum about continuous efforts of PAJCCI and its Chairman, Zubair Motiwala and Co-Chairman, Khan Jan Alokozai; both of them have not only provided insights to the government officials but have been instrumental in raising voice of business community to the level of respective premiers.
Khan Jan Alokozai, Co-Chairman PAJCCI and head of Afghan delegation expressed his pleasure for being in Pakistan, thanked all participants for their efforts and facilitation in resolving operational issues, arrangements for visits of Afghan delegation and economic support activities in limited time and resources.
Alokozai updated the forum regarding recent visit of Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan’s delegation to Kabul and meetings held with Afghan government to finalize various agreements on bilateral and transit trade. There are at least 15 major points which were discussed and mutually agreed; use of Pakistan sea ports for transit trade, access to CAR via Afghanistan, barter trade mechanism finalization, coal trade and tariff, APTTA extension, increase in local currency category trade, alternates to banking channels, improvements across border crossings, joint ventures and bilateral investment and potential new industry development in two countries. He highly appreciated the support of Pakistan Customs in priority clearance of cargo and reduction in congestion at Torkham border crossing.
DC Customs Torkham shared his input on daily operational matters, recommended that Afghanistan also increases border timings to 24 hours for smooth flow of trade, change pedestrian crossing timings to 8 am to 8 pm, update system with pending T1 (about 25,000 entries pending since 2016) due to various reasons related to infrastructure and trained resources on the Afghan side.
Secretary General PAJCCI; Faiza, shared that since inception, PAJCCI has been part of all government forums on both sides and has been instrumental in resolving various issues not only of business community but for the government entities working at border crossings in tough dynamics. She remarked that amongst various chambers, the leadership at PAJCCI has made significant contributions all around in areas of trade development, socio-economic support activities, coordination amongst various government entities, provided technical assistance to both governments, created awareness programs and worked with international organizations to bring best practices in the field of border trade between the two countries.
Naseer, DG TDAP; informed that Ministry of Commerce has approved two expos targeted towards building B2B relations within region and special quota of 20% is allocated to Afghan business community to exhibit their goods and services in Pakistan. The first expo will be held later this year in Peshawar and second early next year in Kabul. He sought PAJCCI’s support in making both exhibitions successful by inviting its full participation in both countries.
Participants highlighted the issues faced by custom cleared trucks while moving within Pakistan; at multiple points unwarranted checks are carried out and transporters are subjected to money extortion by local police. It was jointly agreed that TAD shall be implemented without further delays to ensure that helpers legally enter Pakistan along with drivers to help in goods movement and to avoid illegal stowaways on trucks coming in from Afghanistan which has resulted in several fatal causalities.
The house jointly endorsed the continued coordination amongst diverse trading communities, domestic chambers will increase B2B connectivity and support in realizing full trade potential between the two countries. Delegates appreciated the resilient efforts of PAJCCI despite challenging political situation in both the countries.
For more information, contact:
Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI)
Tel: +92-21-99218024-7
Fax: +92-21-99218028
Email: info@pajcci.com
Website: http://www.pajcci.com/