Pakistan, Afghanistan sign agreement to promote bilateral trade

ISLAMABAD: Custom authorities from Pakistan and Afghan sides on Tuesday signed an agreement aimed at promoting bilateral trade between the two countries, ARY NEWS reported.

The ceremony to sign the accord between the two countries was attended by Afghan Minister for Commerce and Industry and Chairman FBR Muhammad Javed Ghani.

The trade agreement, signed at the request of Prime Minister Imran Khan, would enable both countries to share information through electronic channels while it would also help in clearance of cargo at the border in minimum time.

Member Customs (Operations) Syed Muhamad Tariq while shedding light on further points of the agreement said that it would promote import, export, and movement of transit cargo between the two countries.

“It would effectively control smuggling from the Pak-Afghan border besides also curbing tax and duties’ theft,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that in September this year, in an effort to encourage legal business with neighboring countries, Prime Minister Imran Khan accorded approval to set up trade markets along Pakistan’s borders with Afghanistan and Iran.

Read More: Smuggling poses risk to food security, inflicts irreparable loss on industrial sector: PM Imran

Presiding over a high-level meeting in Islamabad today, PM Imran Khan gave the approval to establish 12 markets along the Pak-Afghan border and six markets along the Pak-Iran border.

The meeting decided to take effective measures to eliminate the menace of smuggling. Briefing the meeting, an official said that the border markets will be made functional by February 2021.