Afghanistan, Pakistan open key economic, trade talks

Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Economic Commission meeting was previously scheduled to be held in August

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan and Pakistan opened on Monday key talks on trade and economic issues that were previously postponed due to rising tensions between the two countries, a finance ministry official said.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Economic Commission meeting was scheduled to be held in August but was cancelled due to rising tensions, which also led to the postponement of the direct peace talks between representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban. Pakistan had brokered the ‘Murree Peace Process’ between Afghan Taliban and the government in Kabul in July.

“The issues being discussed include taxation, trade facilitation, motorways, highways and railways projects, increase in scholarships for Afghan students in Pakistani medical and engineering colleges, transportation, energy projects as well as potential joint ventures in other sectors,” the official told The Express Tribune.



Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is heading the Pakistani delegation while Afghan Finance Minister Eklil Ahmad Hakimi is leading a 30-member delegation for the day-long meeting.

Pakistan in August announced postponement of the scholarships for Afghan students for the current year, saying an entry test could not be held due to deteriorating relations.

Although there is a strong possibility several Afghan students could miss the Pakistani scholarships this year, sources believe Monday's meeting between key officials of both the countries could reach some understanding.

“The Afghan side could take up problems of Afghan traders because of the non-implementation of transit trade deal,” an Afghan diplomatic source revealed, adding Kabul may also insist on its longstanding demand to allow Afghan trucks to use Pakistani land route for trade with India.



Pakistan currently allows Afghan trucks to drop goods at the Wagah border, allowing them to only buy Pakistani goods. Kabul, however, maintains Afghanistan allows Pakistani trucks to enter the Central Asian states via its land routes.

The present bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and Afghanistan stands at nearly $2.5 billion and both have agreed to increase it to $5 billion by 2017. The trade volume is mostly in Pakistan’s favour and according to sources, nearly 70 per cent items are exported to the neighbouring countries.

Meanwhile, Afghan traders claim exports from Pakistan have decreased due to problems in the transit trade agreement and strained relations.



Last week, Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai said the finance minister will “push for implementation of the 48 decisions” taken during the visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to Pakistan last year.

Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah said the focus areas during talks will be bilateral and transit trade, review of the projects carried out with Pakistani grant, capacity building of Afghan institutions and enhancement of cooperation in areas of mutual interest.