Afghan-Pak Transit Trade
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DAWN.COM | World | Pakistan-Afghan accord on transit trade
ISLAMABAD: In the presence of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Pakistan and Afghanistan finalised on Sunday a new Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) which allows Afghan trucks to carry export goods to Wagah border for destinations in India.
Under the agreement, Pakistan will also be able to use Afghan territory for its experts to Central Asian Republics. Indian goods for Afghanistan will not be allowed to transit through land route in Pakistan.
Spearheaded by the United States, the two countries had signed a memorandum of understanding early last year and were to sign before December 31, 2009, a revised trade agreement allowing Afghanistan-Pakistan-India trade through land route.
But the question of allowing the land transit facility to India evoked strong reaction in Pakistan because the issue covered bilateral trade. As a result, the deadline of December last year was missed.
The minutes of the agreement were signed by the Commerce and Trade Ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mr Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Dr Anwar-ul-Haq Ahady to the applause of Ms Clinton and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
“Pakistan and Afghanistan have reached an understanding on all major issues relating to the Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade to conclude the process of negotiations in this regard.
It has been agreed that no Indian export to Afghanistan will be allowed through Wagah,” an official statement issued by the ministry of commerce said after the signing ceremony.
An official said that the draft agreement would be vetted by the ministry of law and then submitted to the federal cabinet for formal approval.
He said the Afghan side wanted the signing of the formal agreement during the Afghan donor conference to be held in Kabul this week. This will, however, not be possible for practical reasons.
He said that the vetting by the law ministry and its approval by the cabinet might take at least a week because a cabinet meeting was not scheduled in the coming week and perhaps a special cabinet meeting may not be convened for the purpose.
Responding to a question about allowing Indian goods to be airlifted to Karachi airport for onward transportation to Afghanistan, the official said that the APTTA did not allow taking Indian goods even out of the airport.
He said that Indian goods could be airlifted from Karachi to Afghanistan under international laws.
Responding to another question, the official said that Afghan trucks would be allowed to take Pakistani products from Lahore to Peshawar, Torkham or anywhere in Afghanistan on their way back after offloading their goods destined for India at Wagah to reduce their transportation cost.
The broadbased “record note” signed by the two sides says that Pakistan and Afghanistan hoped the resolution of all outstanding matters relating to the finalisation of APTTA would be of help in the early signing of the agreement, after completion of legal processes from both sides.
“The agreement thus signed would be an important milestone in the development of Pak-Afghan Trade and Economic relationship to the mutual benefit of both sides,” the statement said.
The Afghan trucks will be allowed to carry Afghan Transit Export Cargo on designated routs to Pakistani seaports and Wagah.
The Afghan transport units, on return, shall be permitted to carry goods from Pakistan to Afghanistan under the same expeditious procedures and conditions as Pakistani transport units.
It was also decided that all Afghan transit goods would be exported in containers of international specifications.
For a period of three years, the cargo will be allowed to be transported in internationally acceptable and verifiable standards of sealable trucks while the oversize and bulk cargo which is not imported in containers – shipload will be transported in open trucks or other transport units.
The two sides also agreed to transport export of perishable goods in transit in open trucks or other transport units.
The drivers and cleaners will be allowed to enter and exit the two countries on short-term work permits readable by biometric devices installed at entry points.
The two sides decided that an Arbitration Tribunal will be set up bilaterally. In case of failure to agree on a common name of a third arbitrator, two names of non-nationals and non-residents will be proposed by each side and the third arbitrator will be selected by drawing lots from the four proposed names.
To tackle the issue of unauthorised trade, the two sides agreed to install tracking devices on transport units and a mechanism for customs to customs information sharing (IT data and others) will be established.
In this context, it has also been agreed that financial guarantees equal to the amount of import levies of Pakistan have to be deposited by authorised brokers or customs clearing agents to check the un-authorised trade and these deposits will be released after the goods exit the country.
In case the goods do not exit the country within the specified time, the guarantees will be encashed by customs authorities. Moreover, the agreement to be signed will be subject to any other measures to be taken by APTTA.
ISLAMABAD: In the presence of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Pakistan and Afghanistan finalised on Sunday a new Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) which allows Afghan trucks to carry export goods to Wagah border for destinations in India.
Under the agreement, Pakistan will also be able to use Afghan territory for its experts to Central Asian Republics. Indian goods for Afghanistan will not be allowed to transit through land route in Pakistan.
Spearheaded by the United States, the two countries had signed a memorandum of understanding early last year and were to sign before December 31, 2009, a revised trade agreement allowing Afghanistan-Pakistan-India trade through land route.
But the question of allowing the land transit facility to India evoked strong reaction in Pakistan because the issue covered bilateral trade. As a result, the deadline of December last year was missed.
The minutes of the agreement were signed by the Commerce and Trade Ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mr Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Dr Anwar-ul-Haq Ahady to the applause of Ms Clinton and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
“Pakistan and Afghanistan have reached an understanding on all major issues relating to the Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade to conclude the process of negotiations in this regard.
It has been agreed that no Indian export to Afghanistan will be allowed through Wagah,” an official statement issued by the ministry of commerce said after the signing ceremony.
An official said that the draft agreement would be vetted by the ministry of law and then submitted to the federal cabinet for formal approval.
He said the Afghan side wanted the signing of the formal agreement during the Afghan donor conference to be held in Kabul this week. This will, however, not be possible for practical reasons.
He said that the vetting by the law ministry and its approval by the cabinet might take at least a week because a cabinet meeting was not scheduled in the coming week and perhaps a special cabinet meeting may not be convened for the purpose.
Responding to a question about allowing Indian goods to be airlifted to Karachi airport for onward transportation to Afghanistan, the official said that the APTTA did not allow taking Indian goods even out of the airport.
He said that Indian goods could be airlifted from Karachi to Afghanistan under international laws.
Responding to another question, the official said that Afghan trucks would be allowed to take Pakistani products from Lahore to Peshawar, Torkham or anywhere in Afghanistan on their way back after offloading their goods destined for India at Wagah to reduce their transportation cost.
The broadbased “record note” signed by the two sides says that Pakistan and Afghanistan hoped the resolution of all outstanding matters relating to the finalisation of APTTA would be of help in the early signing of the agreement, after completion of legal processes from both sides.
“The agreement thus signed would be an important milestone in the development of Pak-Afghan Trade and Economic relationship to the mutual benefit of both sides,” the statement said.
The Afghan trucks will be allowed to carry Afghan Transit Export Cargo on designated routs to Pakistani seaports and Wagah.
The Afghan transport units, on return, shall be permitted to carry goods from Pakistan to Afghanistan under the same expeditious procedures and conditions as Pakistani transport units.
It was also decided that all Afghan transit goods would be exported in containers of international specifications.
For a period of three years, the cargo will be allowed to be transported in internationally acceptable and verifiable standards of sealable trucks while the oversize and bulk cargo which is not imported in containers – shipload will be transported in open trucks or other transport units.
The two sides also agreed to transport export of perishable goods in transit in open trucks or other transport units.
The drivers and cleaners will be allowed to enter and exit the two countries on short-term work permits readable by biometric devices installed at entry points.
The two sides decided that an Arbitration Tribunal will be set up bilaterally. In case of failure to agree on a common name of a third arbitrator, two names of non-nationals and non-residents will be proposed by each side and the third arbitrator will be selected by drawing lots from the four proposed names.
To tackle the issue of unauthorised trade, the two sides agreed to install tracking devices on transport units and a mechanism for customs to customs information sharing (IT data and others) will be established.
In this context, it has also been agreed that financial guarantees equal to the amount of import levies of Pakistan have to be deposited by authorised brokers or customs clearing agents to check the un-authorised trade and these deposits will be released after the goods exit the country.
In case the goods do not exit the country within the specified time, the guarantees will be encashed by customs authorities. Moreover, the agreement to be signed will be subject to any other measures to be taken by APTTA.
Trade deal promises bright future for Afghanistan's farmers | World news | guardian.co.uk
Afghanistan and Pakistan have signed an historic trade deal which development experts say could revitalise Afghanistan's feeble rural economy and even bolster the chances of regional peace.
The deal will for the first time allow Afghans – who produce everything from fruit to carpets and some of the world's finest marble – to ship their goods across Pakistani territory to the border of India and its vast consumer market.
For decades the two countries, which dispute the line of their mutual border, have had terrible relations. Trade talks, first initiated in 1965, were never concluded.
Afghan producers complain that they cannot get their most prized products to India, which means that often goods are left to rot in trucks prevented from moving quickly into Pakistan.
But under intense pressure from the US, which has been pushing the two countries on the issue, the deal was signed in Islamabad on Sunday with Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, in attendance.
The deal, which needs to be ratified by Afghanistan's parliament and by Pakistan's cabinet, will also see 18 border crossings opened to increase trade between the two countries. And Afghan trucks will be free to travel through Pakistani territory to the Waggah border post with India, where they will transfer their cargoes to Indian lorries.
The US embassy in Kabul said the Afghanistan-Pakistan trade agreement was one of the most important concrete achievements between the two neighbours in nearly 50 years.
If the deal is properly honoured, it will be a huge step forward for the producers of pomegranates, perhaps Afghanistan's most famous legal crop, which for years have been cited by foreign development workers as the key to creating decent alternative livelihoods for poppy growers in the south.
Richard Holbrooke, the US special representative to the two countries, is known to understand the importance of pomegranates to southern Afghanistan's agri-economy.
For the last three years the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid) has been backing various schemes to boost pomegranate production. One British investor, Adam Pritchard, has put £3m into buying fruit concentrate for his Pomgreat enterprise.
But to get top prices for the crop, farmers had to have access to international markets. With the doors to India closed, Usaid arranged for the fruit to be airlifted on military aircraft: the pomegranates ultimately ended up in supermarkets in Dubai.
Even the scheme's most ardent supporters acknowledged such a hidden subsidy was never going to last and that access to India would be the ultimate solution.
Haji Abdul Salam, a 56-year-old farmer from Dand district in Kandahar province, said he gets very poor prices for his pomegranates and so struggles to feed his family.
"The worst time after the harvesting is when we transport the harvest to the market with these rubbish roads and when we reach the market then there is no customer to buy it from us."
He said the prospect of selling the fruit to Indian buyers would "change the lives of farmers".
Afghanistan and Pakistan have signed an historic trade deal which development experts say could revitalise Afghanistan's feeble rural economy and even bolster the chances of regional peace.
The deal will for the first time allow Afghans – who produce everything from fruit to carpets and some of the world's finest marble – to ship their goods across Pakistani territory to the border of India and its vast consumer market.
For decades the two countries, which dispute the line of their mutual border, have had terrible relations. Trade talks, first initiated in 1965, were never concluded.
Afghan producers complain that they cannot get their most prized products to India, which means that often goods are left to rot in trucks prevented from moving quickly into Pakistan.
But under intense pressure from the US, which has been pushing the two countries on the issue, the deal was signed in Islamabad on Sunday with Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, in attendance.
The deal, which needs to be ratified by Afghanistan's parliament and by Pakistan's cabinet, will also see 18 border crossings opened to increase trade between the two countries. And Afghan trucks will be free to travel through Pakistani territory to the Waggah border post with India, where they will transfer their cargoes to Indian lorries.
The US embassy in Kabul said the Afghanistan-Pakistan trade agreement was one of the most important concrete achievements between the two neighbours in nearly 50 years.
If the deal is properly honoured, it will be a huge step forward for the producers of pomegranates, perhaps Afghanistan's most famous legal crop, which for years have been cited by foreign development workers as the key to creating decent alternative livelihoods for poppy growers in the south.
Richard Holbrooke, the US special representative to the two countries, is known to understand the importance of pomegranates to southern Afghanistan's agri-economy.
For the last three years the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid) has been backing various schemes to boost pomegranate production. One British investor, Adam Pritchard, has put £3m into buying fruit concentrate for his Pomgreat enterprise.
But to get top prices for the crop, farmers had to have access to international markets. With the doors to India closed, Usaid arranged for the fruit to be airlifted on military aircraft: the pomegranates ultimately ended up in supermarkets in Dubai.
Even the scheme's most ardent supporters acknowledged such a hidden subsidy was never going to last and that access to India would be the ultimate solution.
Haji Abdul Salam, a 56-year-old farmer from Dand district in Kandahar province, said he gets very poor prices for his pomegranates and so struggles to feed his family.
"The worst time after the harvesting is when we transport the harvest to the market with these rubbish roads and when we reach the market then there is no customer to buy it from us."
He said the prospect of selling the fruit to Indian buyers would "change the lives of farmers".
GUNNER
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KABUL, July 19, 2010 (AFP) - A trade agreement signed by Afghanistan and Pakistan could open up multi-billion-dollar Asian markets and build trust between the two rivals at a key juncture in US efforts to end years of war.
The United States hailed the pact as the most important ever reached between the two countries, whose better relations are seen as vital to ending a Taliban insurgency and allowing US and NATO forces to leave Afghanistan.
Afghan and Pakistani ministers signed the deal in Islamabad, watched by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead of a conference in Kabul looking to steer the country to peace and independent leadership.
Pakistan called the agreement an "important milestone" in economic relations with Afghanistan which would increase trade between the countries to five billion dollars a year, from 1.5 billion, by 2015.
The Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement -- still to be ratified by both parliaments -- will allow Afghans to transit goods through Pakistan to markets in India and open up Central Asia to Pakistan.
In Afghanistan, the prospect of boosting exports such as pomegranates, garments, footwear and PVC piping was welcomed, as was building confidence with Pakistan after decades of trust coloured by the Taliban.
"This agreement will bring significant benefits to our rural communities by providing access for our products to Indian markets," Finance Minister Omar Zakhailwal told AFP in a statement.
"It also symbolises our commitment to ongoing cooperation between our two governments to build regional prosperity."
Analyst Haroun Mir said India was the biggest export market for Afghanistan's export-dependent agrarian economy.
"This is crucial. It's beneficial for Afghans and for Pakistanis to reach Central Asian markets," said Mir, also calling the deal a "first step for trust-building" between the neighbouring countries.
Michael Capstick, Afghanistan country director for Peace Dividend Trust -- a charity working to boost economic recovery -- said Afghan businesses would work hard to ensure their goods would be competitive in India.
"If they don't have the market they'll never get competitive, but they'll invest. They will invest to meet the demand and they'll spend what it takes," said Capstick.
The deal aims to expand trade, help reduce smuggling, set up a joint Afghan-Pakistani chamber of commerce, halve the average transit costs between both countries, lower import costs and make exports more price competitive.
It looks to create jobs in trucking, shipping, freight forwarding, brokerage services and banking, and cut trading delays.
But Islamabad has refused to let Indian trucks cross Pakistan into Afghanistan, where it already fears expanding influence from arch-rival New Delhi.
High-level contacts between India and Pakistan in the last six months have so far failed to resume a peace process that India called off after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which were blamed on Pakistani militants.
Kabul has been left holding out for future amendments.
"We hope to reach an agreement to be able to bring Indian goods via Pakistan to Afghanistan," said commerce ministry spokesman Ahmad Farhad Afghanzai.
Ashraf Ghani, organiser of Tuesday's international conference in Kabul and a former World Bank economist, told AFP in a recent interview that Afghanistan's imports from Pakistan were far outstripped by those from Uzbekistan and Iran.
In Pakistan, response to the deal was muted. Analysts said the United States was exaggerating its significance to detract attention from increasingly deadly fighting killing record numbers of Western troops.
"It will create some goodwill, but it can also create resentment," said political analyst Hasan Askari.
The United States hailed the pact as the most important ever reached between the two countries, whose better relations are seen as vital to ending a Taliban insurgency and allowing US and NATO forces to leave Afghanistan.
Afghan and Pakistani ministers signed the deal in Islamabad, watched by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead of a conference in Kabul looking to steer the country to peace and independent leadership.
Pakistan called the agreement an "important milestone" in economic relations with Afghanistan which would increase trade between the countries to five billion dollars a year, from 1.5 billion, by 2015.
The Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement -- still to be ratified by both parliaments -- will allow Afghans to transit goods through Pakistan to markets in India and open up Central Asia to Pakistan.
In Afghanistan, the prospect of boosting exports such as pomegranates, garments, footwear and PVC piping was welcomed, as was building confidence with Pakistan after decades of trust coloured by the Taliban.
"This agreement will bring significant benefits to our rural communities by providing access for our products to Indian markets," Finance Minister Omar Zakhailwal told AFP in a statement.
"It also symbolises our commitment to ongoing cooperation between our two governments to build regional prosperity."
Analyst Haroun Mir said India was the biggest export market for Afghanistan's export-dependent agrarian economy.
"This is crucial. It's beneficial for Afghans and for Pakistanis to reach Central Asian markets," said Mir, also calling the deal a "first step for trust-building" between the neighbouring countries.
Michael Capstick, Afghanistan country director for Peace Dividend Trust -- a charity working to boost economic recovery -- said Afghan businesses would work hard to ensure their goods would be competitive in India.
"If they don't have the market they'll never get competitive, but they'll invest. They will invest to meet the demand and they'll spend what it takes," said Capstick.
The deal aims to expand trade, help reduce smuggling, set up a joint Afghan-Pakistani chamber of commerce, halve the average transit costs between both countries, lower import costs and make exports more price competitive.
It looks to create jobs in trucking, shipping, freight forwarding, brokerage services and banking, and cut trading delays.
But Islamabad has refused to let Indian trucks cross Pakistan into Afghanistan, where it already fears expanding influence from arch-rival New Delhi.
High-level contacts between India and Pakistan in the last six months have so far failed to resume a peace process that India called off after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which were blamed on Pakistani militants.
Kabul has been left holding out for future amendments.
"We hope to reach an agreement to be able to bring Indian goods via Pakistan to Afghanistan," said commerce ministry spokesman Ahmad Farhad Afghanzai.
Ashraf Ghani, organiser of Tuesday's international conference in Kabul and a former World Bank economist, told AFP in a recent interview that Afghanistan's imports from Pakistan were far outstripped by those from Uzbekistan and Iran.
In Pakistan, response to the deal was muted. Analysts said the United States was exaggerating its significance to detract attention from increasingly deadly fighting killing record numbers of Western troops.
"It will create some goodwill, but it can also create resentment," said political analyst Hasan Askari.
somebozo
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A positive step in economic integration of Afghans. Availability of economic oppurtunities will bring prosperity and reduce potential recruits for terrorists in Afghanistan as well FATA. It will also help calm anti-state sentiments in Afghan sympathic Pukhtoon population of Pakistan.
Further down the road, it looks India has been denied transit trade rights to Afghanistan which will help PK maintain decisive economic clout in Afghanistan as well reduce competition and expand Chinese market share. A one for two strategy perhaps. Reduced Indian presence will intensifypeople to people integration with Pakistan. Indian transit into Afghanistan should only be allowed by Pak or Afghan transport companies. Not only it will give boost to local transport industry but act as a sheild against Indian ill intentions.
Pakistan in exchange gets road routes to central asia which is a growing market and shortest transit route.
All can be summed up as better business ahead for Pakistani transit trade agencies and truck drivers who happen to be from poor classes of from war hit tribal areas.
An immense applaud should go to General Kiyani for his diplomatic strategy though it is the job of civilian leaders, what can be expected from Zardari.
Traditionaly the tough land locked ecnonomy of Cetral Asia has been the key reason behind repeated South Asia invasions by CA warriors.
Afghan to access India via Pakistan?
Further down the road, it looks India has been denied transit trade rights to Afghanistan which will help PK maintain decisive economic clout in Afghanistan as well reduce competition and expand Chinese market share. A one for two strategy perhaps. Reduced Indian presence will intensifypeople to people integration with Pakistan. Indian transit into Afghanistan should only be allowed by Pak or Afghan transport companies. Not only it will give boost to local transport industry but act as a sheild against Indian ill intentions.
Pakistan in exchange gets road routes to central asia which is a growing market and shortest transit route.
All can be summed up as better business ahead for Pakistani transit trade agencies and truck drivers who happen to be from poor classes of from war hit tribal areas.
An immense applaud should go to General Kiyani for his diplomatic strategy though it is the job of civilian leaders, what can be expected from Zardari.
Traditionaly the tough land locked ecnonomy of Cetral Asia has been the key reason behind repeated South Asia invasions by CA warriors.
Afghan to access India via Pakistan?
Last edited:
Iggy
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Good luck to Afghanistan in selling their products in Indian market...
May be 50 mln a year after overcoming tariff, non tariff, para tariff barrier...
You are intentionally trolling here Iajdani and then blames Indians for ruining it..this is totally uncalled for ..
Abu Zolfiqar
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a welcome outcome to a much discussed topic
Traders raise eyebrows over signing of APTTA
By Moonis Ahmed
KARACHI: Traders and businessmen have expressed their dismay over signing of the Pakistan-Afghanistan accord on transit trade, saying that the APTTA is a copy of old Pak-Afghan Transit Trade and will not be giving any specific benefit to industry of Pakistan.
They said, it apparently seems that there is no benefit for Pakistan but through this accord quantum of smuggling and involvement of unscrupulous elements would multiply, damaging the legal import and manufacturing sector.
Abdul Majid Haji Muhammad, president Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said that this is strange that the declaration of accord states that Pakistan would allow Afghanistan a thoroughfare from Wagah to India and in return Pakistan would also be allowed thoroughfare from Afghanistan to Central Asian Republics which is absolutely not the case, whereas, Pakistan is already doing trade with Central Asian Republics and they charge 10 percent service charges.
He said that it is natural that in the absence of good bilateral relations with India, we are all suspicious about the trade. He opined that Afghanistan-India may do trade under international law through sea via Karachi.
Majid said that the business community is worried about the damaging repercussions of local industry as it is strange that on the one hand we are talking about curtailing or putting quantitative restrictions over the imports through sea, as last year only more than 10,000 containers were imported by Afghanistan out of which 6,500 were of commercial nature.
He said that in the number of meetings held in Kabul or Islamabad, private sector was very well represented by Muhammad Zubair Motiwala, former President-KCCI while representing KCCI and at the end of each meeting it was categorically stated that we cannot allow any byroad trade through Wagah to India and all the pros and cons were discussed which were minuted officially by both the governments. “We at KCCI, are of the firm opinion that in the name of thoroughfare, the quantum of smuggling and involvement of unscrupulous elements will multiply. This will damage the honest importers of goods as well as the manufacturing sector”, he said adding, therefore we believe before taking any decisions, the private sector input is more than necessary. Hashim Razzak Paracha, Chairman Korangi Association of Trade and Industry said that the general perception is that Pakistan would be a loser in this trade because Pakistan has not been given any special facility to enhance it trade and business, as Pakistan already has access to Central Asian countries for trade.
He said that ATTA has already been a major source of smuggling into Pakistan causing huge revenue losses to the economy and adversely impacting local businesses.
“This accord seems to have been singed in hurry and under pressure, when negotiations were going on why it has not been approved by the parliament?” said Saleem Parekh, Chairman Site Association of Trade and Industry.
According to some estimates, ATTA accounts for 75 percent of an estimated $5 billion worth of smuggled goods entering Pakistan annually. Many of the items imported under ATTA, are not even meant for the Afghan market.
The businessmen said that till that time they appeal to the government to reconsider and take the decisions in consultation with the concerned business community and this must not be implemented as it is. The new APTTA should plug all loopholes completely.
They however, appreciated allowing Pakistan to export its goods to Central Asia through Afghanistan under APTTA. But stressed that if Afghan containers and trucks could be allowed to carry goods up to Lahore, then the Pakistani containers and trucks should also be allowed on reciprocal basis to carry Pakistan’s goods through Afghanistan to Central Asia and for this purpose road links should be established with Central Asia.
By Moonis Ahmed
KARACHI: Traders and businessmen have expressed their dismay over signing of the Pakistan-Afghanistan accord on transit trade, saying that the APTTA is a copy of old Pak-Afghan Transit Trade and will not be giving any specific benefit to industry of Pakistan.
They said, it apparently seems that there is no benefit for Pakistan but through this accord quantum of smuggling and involvement of unscrupulous elements would multiply, damaging the legal import and manufacturing sector.
Abdul Majid Haji Muhammad, president Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said that this is strange that the declaration of accord states that Pakistan would allow Afghanistan a thoroughfare from Wagah to India and in return Pakistan would also be allowed thoroughfare from Afghanistan to Central Asian Republics which is absolutely not the case, whereas, Pakistan is already doing trade with Central Asian Republics and they charge 10 percent service charges.
He said that it is natural that in the absence of good bilateral relations with India, we are all suspicious about the trade. He opined that Afghanistan-India may do trade under international law through sea via Karachi.
Majid said that the business community is worried about the damaging repercussions of local industry as it is strange that on the one hand we are talking about curtailing or putting quantitative restrictions over the imports through sea, as last year only more than 10,000 containers were imported by Afghanistan out of which 6,500 were of commercial nature.
He said that in the number of meetings held in Kabul or Islamabad, private sector was very well represented by Muhammad Zubair Motiwala, former President-KCCI while representing KCCI and at the end of each meeting it was categorically stated that we cannot allow any byroad trade through Wagah to India and all the pros and cons were discussed which were minuted officially by both the governments. “We at KCCI, are of the firm opinion that in the name of thoroughfare, the quantum of smuggling and involvement of unscrupulous elements will multiply. This will damage the honest importers of goods as well as the manufacturing sector”, he said adding, therefore we believe before taking any decisions, the private sector input is more than necessary. Hashim Razzak Paracha, Chairman Korangi Association of Trade and Industry said that the general perception is that Pakistan would be a loser in this trade because Pakistan has not been given any special facility to enhance it trade and business, as Pakistan already has access to Central Asian countries for trade.
He said that ATTA has already been a major source of smuggling into Pakistan causing huge revenue losses to the economy and adversely impacting local businesses.
“This accord seems to have been singed in hurry and under pressure, when negotiations were going on why it has not been approved by the parliament?” said Saleem Parekh, Chairman Site Association of Trade and Industry.
According to some estimates, ATTA accounts for 75 percent of an estimated $5 billion worth of smuggled goods entering Pakistan annually. Many of the items imported under ATTA, are not even meant for the Afghan market.
The businessmen said that till that time they appeal to the government to reconsider and take the decisions in consultation with the concerned business community and this must not be implemented as it is. The new APTTA should plug all loopholes completely.
They however, appreciated allowing Pakistan to export its goods to Central Asia through Afghanistan under APTTA. But stressed that if Afghan containers and trucks could be allowed to carry goods up to Lahore, then the Pakistani containers and trucks should also be allowed on reciprocal basis to carry Pakistan’s goods through Afghanistan to Central Asia and for this purpose road links should be established with Central Asia.
Asian.Century
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