China offers cold storage, other facilities at Torkham crossing

PESHAWAR: Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing said Beijing was ready to build a cold storage and provide other facilities in Torkham area to encourage trade and commerce in the region.

“The functioning of the Torkham border crossing is very meaningful for expansion of trade in future,” the Chinese envoy stated this while talking to reporters on the sidelines of the two-day international conference on ‘Belt and Road Initiative, Pakistan and China Economic Corridor and Trans-Regional Integration’ at the Area Study Centre of the University of Peshawar on Wednesday.

He hailed round-the-clock functioning of the Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan for trade activities.

Ambassadors from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, senior diplomats of the Russian Federation and Iran, senior officials of the Foreign Office, faculty members, and experts were attending the prestigious event.

Yesterday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said the opening of Torkham border will boost the trade and economic activities. He said job opportunities will also be created for the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan besides enhancing trade with Central Asian countries.

The border has been opened on trial basis for twenty-four hours since 2nd of this month. Prime Minister Imran Khan will formally inaugurate the border opening soon.