PESHAWAR:Chairman Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) Zubair Motiwala on Wednesday said in order to achieve the trade potential and produce tangible results, they needed to use proactive and pragmatic approach towards ongoing economic challenges especially in the context of PAK-AFG trade quantum and relationship.
He was speaking at the focus group discussion arranged by the Center for Research & Security Studies in collaboration with PAJCCI.
The chairman further said, “Governments have their own priorities and it takes time for them to take initiatives; private entities must be agile in connecting with their neighborly trade partners especially in Afghanistan.”
Motiwala said presently Pakistan needed coal for meeting energy needs and private importers took initiative to bring coal from Afghanistan; serving the needs of both the countries.
Pakistani commodities and consumables had 95% share in Afghan imports which were down to 65%, lost 35% share to China, Iran and India due to lack of coordination and slow approach towards sustainable trade policy viz-a-viz Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics (CARs), he added.
Motiwala established that there was a serious need to revise Pakistan’s approach towards trade with Afghanistan and CARs focusing strongly on bilateral trade which was efficient and cost effective for both countries.
Leaving space for other regional countries had negatively impacted the trade volume and balance, he said, adding, “We share 2800 KM border with Afghanistan; both have necessary infrastructure at operational border crossings however this is being rendered unproductive due to lack of coordination at governmental level whereas private entities are also lagging behind.”
He strongly urged private organizations to take lead and increase bilateral trade within existing framework while providing input to resolve operational and policy matters to respective governments.
“From the platform of PAJCCI, we will continue to provide technical input to both governments in areas of policy making, removing trade barriers and pursuing matters of TAD, SRO on cross stuffing, adding items to PKR trading category, matters of sales tax and duty draw back claims in case of land routes, cash counters at borders, APTTA revision, capacity building of Afghan human resources.”
Co-Chairman PAJCCI and head of Afghan delegation Khan Jan Alokozai thanked all PAJCCI executive members, especially Zubair Motiwala for his continued efforts in resolving issues and support to increase trade with Afghanistan.
He also appreciated government of Pakistan and its entities for their efforts in trade facilitation especially Pakistan Customs at Torkham in reducing congestion and priority clearance of perishable items.
He said that efforts must be made to implement barter trade mechanism by both governments, joint border and national committee formation for proactive coordination in regards to any policy changes and new initiatives.
The meeting was attended by PAJCCI executive members, Afghan delegation, DG Transit Trade, TDAP, representative of KPT and bonded carrier companies along with other custom officials and CRSS team.