Peshawar: A group of businesspeople from Pakistan and Afghanistan has voiced their worries about the barriers preventing the expansion of bilateral commerce between the two neighbors. The participants at a conference held at the Torkham crossing engaged in a thorough discussion about the effectiveness of different public sector institutions and the challenges faced by the business community on both sides of the Pakistani-Afghan border.
Fayyaz Anwar, the freshly appointed Chief Collector of Customs for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, presided over the meeting.
The guests, together with other top officials from the customs, NLC, FC, police, and other security departments, proposed various solutions to remove the barriers preventing Pak-Afghan bilateral commerce. Several important topics were covered in the discussion as well.
The PAJCCI’s coordinator and director, Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, underlined the importance of taking action to remove obstacles to transit and mutual commerce between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He clarified that while the customs agent at the Torkham, Ghulam Khan, Kharlachi border had no problems, other institutions took a long time to inspect. According to Sarhadi, this sluggish processing has created significant issues for the business community.
Sarhadi said that each container had been assessed a detention fee in addition to the official instructions for cross-stuffing that had not been carried out.
According to the FCCA president, transit trade products from Karachi to Torkham should be transported via Pakistan Railways and a bonded carrier service. For the customs clearance agents of K-P to continue operating, he pleaded with the relevant authorities to permit the filing of GD (Goods Documents) at Azakhel Dry Port.
