ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday urged the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government to build a road to explore Tajikistan’s markets for Pakistani goods and further link it to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) so that the region could avail economic opportunities.

In a meeting with GB Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeez-ur-Rehman, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan said that already a jeep track, which runs through Ghizer district to the Wakhan border, connects Pakistan to Tajikistan and has been used by traders for a long time.

“In order to facilitate trade between Pakistan and Central Asia, a new route linking GB with Tajikistan through the narrow Afghan belt of Wakhan should be opened,” he said.

He also offered technical facilitation for establishing Gilgit Industrial Zone. “This will be the first meaningful incentive in GB to establish industries in that region,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2015