Pakistan and Afghanistan are likely to agree on development of a multimodal air-to-road corridor for Afghan transit trade in a bid to boost trade between the
two countries.
The two sides have proposed this addition to the revised Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade
Agreement (APTTA).
The agreement has expired, prompting Pakistan’s government to give extension for a couple of times to continue trade between the two countries.
Reports suggest China and Pakistan also want to extend CPEC
to Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is the shortest route for trade with Central Asian states and Russia. From Russia, Pakistan’s export goods can enter the European market.
The Ministry of Commerce, in recent briefing to a cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, pointed out that APTTA 2010 did not cover the multimodal bonded air-to-land transit of cargo.
However, the revised agreement, APTTA 2021, would cover it, but it had not yet been signed.
In the wake of economic crisis in Afghanistan last year, the Ministry of Commerce, in order to facilitate uninterrupted supply of humanitarian aid to Kabul, sought approval of the cabinet for the multimodal bonded air-to-land transit of Afghan cargo from the Islamabad Airport and then onward shipment on trucks through the Torkham and Ghulam Khan crossing points via road.
Earlier, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) suggested to the Ministry of Commerce to allow the multimodal air-to-land corridor for both forward (Afghanistan’s imports from around the world) and reverse transit cargo (Afghanistan’s exports to the world) from/ to all international airports of Pakistan.
The introduction of the air-to-road corridor through the bonded transport operators will contribute significantly to the economic development of Pakistan.
The expected benefits include more business for airports, transporters and airlines in Pakistan, introduction of a new segment of business and creation of employment opportunities.
In order to develop consensus among stakeholders on the FBR’s proposal, an inter-ministerial meeting was held at the Ministry of Commerce on June 24, 2022.
During the huddle, all participants agreed on the FBR’s proposal. Afterwards, approval of the cabinet was solicited, which gave
its nod.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2022.
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