ISLAMABAD: Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan informed the National Assembly on Monday of what he called major steps taken by the government to facilitate the oft-troubled Afghan transit trade, which he said he had also conveyed to Kabul during a visit there earlier this month.

The move, he said in a policy statement in the house, was in accord with the present government’s vision of economic integration and shared prosperity of this region.

The landlocked Afghanistan’s transit trade via Pakistan had been mired in problems for decades mainly over the issue of allowing Afghan goods trucks access up to the Wagah border with India and Pakistan’s concerns about most of Afghan imports from Europe ending up in its tribal areas for smuggling into the Pakistani market.

Also read: Smugglers abusing Afghan Transit Trade facility: FBR

Mr Dastgir said Islamabad had made serious and concerted efforts to address the Afghan business community’s concerns and as a result “substantial progress has been made on the implementation of decisions” taken in January at a meeting of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Coordination Authority (APTTCA).

He said his delegation that visited Kabul on April14-16 on the invitation of the Afghan government and met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and senior officials and informed them that Islamabad would implement these major APTTCA decisions:

• Allowing system-based partial shipment of Afghan transit goods instead of manual processing.

• Reduction in Afghan transit cargo’s scanning to 20 per cent from 100pc.

• Afghan trucks to be allowed to carry goods up to Wagah and on their way back carry Pakistani exports to Afghanistan.

• Almost 90pc of Afghan cargo being cleared on the first day, with 80pc cleared without scanning.

The minister said he had also informed the Afghan side about Pakistan’s efforts to operationalise its railway for the Afghan cargo’s transit to carry 400 containers of Afghan cargo to Torkham and Chaman border points by July 1.

WHAT AFGHANS MUST DO: Mr Dastgir said that during his meeting with the Afghan president, he also raised issues pending implementation by Afghan government.

These are:

• Initiation of talks on a preferential trade agreement between the two countries that would give more market access to Afghan goods in the Pakistani market and address the issue of smuggling.

• Removal of financial guarantees on Pakistani goods charged at the rate 110pc of customs duty and a tonnage fee of $100 per 25 tonnes while in transit to Central Asia.

• Avoidance of double taxation to facilitate investment in both countries.

• Multiple entry visas for Pakistani businessmen and skilled workers.

• Ban on the transit of liquefied petroleum gas via Afghanistan to Pakistan.

The minister said the Afghan president promised to immediately allow multiple visas for businessmen on a reciprocal basis and also address other issues “at the earliest” to make the agreement beneficial for both sides.

IMAM KAABA GREETED: Earlier, parliamentary leaders from both sides of aisle gave assurances of support of their parties for Saudi Arabia when the visiting Imam of Kaaba, Sheikh Khalid al-Ghamdi, briefly watched the proceedings of the house from a gallery before leading Maghreb prayers in the Parliament House.

The house unanimously adopted two resolutions expressing its “deepest condolences” to the families of more than 40 people killed by a rainstorm in Peshawar on Sunday and to the people of Nepal on the death of more than 2,400 people by an earthquake there on Saturday.

WOMEN LAWMAKERS’ PROTESTS: But it was after some hesitation and a lot of shouting that Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi granted requests from two opposition female lawmakers to offer a fateha prayer for the soul of social activist Sabeen Mahmud who was shot dead by an unknown assailant in Karachi on Friday night while she was driving home after attending a seminar on Balochistan.

Earlier, all female members of the house, including those from the ruling party, had walked out of the house to protest against what they called the present government’s policy to deny those of them elected on reserved seats allocation of development funds given to directly elected members.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed persuaded them to return to the house and, after some angry shouting from opposition benches provoked by Defence Production Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, assured them that their grievance would be conveyed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and would probably be removed.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play