Pak Afgan Border Trade

[ghazi52]

PM Imran inaugurates 24/7 border crossing at Torkham

September 18, 2019

Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurates the 24/7 Torkhan border crossing on Wednesday. — DawnNewsTV
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday formally inaugurated the opening of the Torkham border crossing for 24 hours.

The premier was accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan as he inaugurated the Integrated Transit Trade Management System. He was also given a briefing on the border terminal.

Addressing a press conference on the occasion, Prime Minister Imran said the round-the-clock opening of the border crossing will facilitate trade in the region.

"I consider this to be a very historic day," he said, noting that trade with Afghanistan had jumped by 50 per cent during the trial of the 24/7 border opening alone.

He said the region will be transformed as soon as peace is established in Afghanistan and the trade activities will reach as far as Central Asia.

"The lives of people in this region will be changed," he said, adding that Peshawar will become a regional hub of business activities which will generate employment opportunities.



The prime minister also inaugurated the Pak-Afghan Friendship Hospital at Torkham. According to Radio Pakistan, Afghan patients arriving in Pakistan via the crossing point will be provided medical facilities in the hospital.
✔@PTIofficial

Construction of Pak-Afghan Friendship Hospital in #Torkham, Khyber District is completed. Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI will be inaugurating it today











Imran Khan is also expected to address tribal elders.

Pakistan, for the first time, opened its Torkham border with Afghanistan round the clock earlier this month on a trial basis, to enhance bilateral trade and facilitate movement of pedestrians across the border.

The National Logistics Cell (NLC), in coordination with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has completed arrangements for the round-the-clock, trans-border trade terminal.

The work to upgrade the terminal began after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, on his last visit in June, requested Prime Minister Imran to ease trade between the two countries through the border crossing.

The NLC said that the Torkham border terminal had brought about a paradigm shift in regulating two-way movement of passengers and cargo and had helped curbing the cross-border movement of miscreants, illegal trade, narcotics trafficking as well as backward flow of transit trade goods to Pakistan.

According to the NLC, the border terminal has generated significant economic activities in the area which is largely benefiting the local KhugaKhel Shinwari tribe.

 

[ghazi52]

Round-the-clock border opening eases traffic mess at Torkham

September 16, 2019

LANDI KOTAL: The local traders, custom clearing agents and transporters have expressed satisfaction with the arrangements made for the 24-hour opening of the Torkham border crossing on a tribal basis since Sept 2.

They said traffic congestion on the border crossing had eased as the vehicles carrying trade goods were cleared as late as midnight, while empty vehicles, which used to remain stranded on the Afghan side of the border, entered Pakistan at own convenience both in the daytime and at night.

President of the local transport union Haji Azeemullah said the nighttime border operation had provided a huge relief to transporters.

Traders, transporters hail new measures

He complained about the manual checking of loaded vehicles by guards at zero point and demanded the installation of an additional scanner.

“The manual checking not only takes lots of time but it also hampers the free movement of vehicles at the zero point. This is against the essence of round-the-clock opening of the border crossing, which ensures the speedy and smooth vehicular movement,” he said.

Custom clearing agent Sabir Khan told Dawn that bilateral trade would gradually gain momentum with the 24-hour border opening.

He said the new arrangements had significantly reduced both vehicular and pedestrian congestion on the border as there was no time bar for crossing the border.

Mr Sabir said a further improvement in the electronic scanning of trade vehicles along with the internet service, which was required for the web-based One Custom, would expedite the custom clearing of export goods and ease the misery of both clearing agents and transporters.

Another clearing agent Habibur Rehman said most of his colleagues were satisfied with the new arrangements and hoped that trade activities on the Torkham border would get the much needed boost.

They said they had to come to Pakistan frequently in connection with the transportation of trade goods, so their visa applications should be processed speedily.

 

[Baz]

stoneage technology being used. manual checking . yeah 24 hours manual checking.

 

[jupiter2007]

stoneage technology being used. manual checking . yeah 24 hours manual checking.

stoneage technology being used. manual checking . yeah 24 hours manual checking.

We need top of the line X-ray scanners for the main trade route. There are many system available, Chinese made scanner might be cheaper.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

There is enormous potential here. As PMIK says Peshawar could become the hub for trade with not only Afghanistan but all of Central Asia and even going north to Russia. This was the case before the British and Russians came to build borders/walls that divided the region. Peshawar could be link between CPEC and Central Asia/Afghanistan. This would bring enormous job and trade opportunities to Pakhtunkwa.

 

[313ghazi]

stoneage technology being used. manual checking . yeah 24 hours manual checking.

I'd rather they get checked than not checked at all. Scanners/tech etc all costs money, long term it's the way to go, but politics is about the quick wins and the headlines as much as it is about substance.

 

[Fawadqasim1]

stoneage technology being used. manual checking . yeah 24 hours manual checking.

With proper checks and supervision it's still
The best and most reliable system.

 

[Type59]

Good initiative.

 

[ghazi52]

Muharram, Karachi, Pakistan - 07 Sep 2019

Donation of 4 X-Ray Scanners by the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan
to the Customs Wing, Federal Board of Revenue (Pakistan Customs) on January 10, 2019.

 

[ghazi52]

.,.,.,

Trade resumes after key Afghan border crossing with Pakistan reopens​

AFP
February 25, 2023