PESHAWAR, April 28: Central Board of Revenue chairman Abdullah Yousaf has said the government is improving transit facilities in the tribal areas to boost exports to Afghanistan.

Speaking at the Tribal Chamber of Commerce and Industries here on Thursday, he said the Pakistan Railways was establishing a dry port in Azakhel near Peshawar and terminal facilities were being expanded to Jamrud in Khyber Agency. He said the Azakhel dry port would reduce burden on the dry port in Peshawar.

He said the United States had proposed establishment of a reconstruction opportunity zone in the tribal area and goods manufactured in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas would be exempted from import duty in the US.

He hoped that growing economic and trade activities would change the lives of tribesmen and urged the business community to exploit the opportunities.

Responding to a demand of TCCI senior vice-president Abdul Hakim Shinwari to upgrade the Landi Kotal railway station to a dry port, he said the government would consider the proposal.

Mr Yousaf said the NWFP governor’s secretariat had planned to set up two new industrial zones in the tribal area, adding that such schemes needed long-term policies.

He asked importers to prepare a list of items which they imported and then exported to Afghanistan. He said the government would reduce duty on such items which were not manufactured locally, adding that it would benefit local traders.

Later, speaking at the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the CBR chairman affirmed expansion of the tax net to fill the gap between tax and GDP ratio in the country.

He said that of 1.3 million tax payers in the country, 0.6 million were government employees. He said the trend was changing gradually and the total revenue had increased from Rs300 billion to Rs700 billion in a few years.

He said that like the previous year, the CBR would set the target of 20 per cent increase in the revenue growth for the current year.

Mr Yousaf said retailers and whole sellers had 16 per cent share in the GDP and 2 per cent in tax and the transport sector had 16 per cent share in the GDP and 4 per cent in tax. He said the number of retailers was 40,000.

He ruled out exemption from sales tax on minimum sale, claiming that it would not bring any positive results and it was impracticable. He said exports had increased by 28 per cent in rupees and 42 per cent in dollars during the current financial year, which was a record.

About difficulties in verification of export goods through customs authorities of Afghanistan, he asked the business community to propose a solution to the problem.