ISLAMABAD, May 13: Pakistan and Afghanistan would hold their joint ministerial committee (JMC) meeting in July to review the bilateral economic relations and development and reconstruction activities to identify future areas of cooperation.

This was decided at a meeting between Ashraf Ghani, Finance Minister of Afghanistan and his Pakistani counterpart Shaukat Aziz here on Thursday. An official statement said the two sides reviewed bilateral economic cooperation, trade and discussed measures to realize its full potential.

To promote formal trade, the Afghan Finance Minister was informed that Pakistan had, in addition to Chaman and Torkham, opened two new posts at Kili Ghulam Khan and Shahi in Dir. With opening of these posts, the entry points to Afghanistan had increased to four including Chaman and Torkham.

The daily truck traffic from Pakistan has increased from around 350 trucks to 500 trucks. He was told that Pakistan was in process of upgrading Torkham and Chaman custom facilities to facilitate quick clearance through installation of modern equipment.

Ashraf Ghani proposed construction of Ghulam Khan-Khost road. He said the Afghanistan government had earmarked funds for building rail link between Chamman and Kandahar. The two sides also reviewed progress on Torkham-Jalalabad road, feasibility of constructing railway line between Chaman and Kandahar and speedy custom clearance for transit to Afghanistan.

Shaukat Aziz informed his Afghan counterpart that in the financial sector the two countries had made substantial progress. National Bank of Pakistan was already operating in Kabul while it had been granted licence to open its branch in Jalalabad.

In the near future the Bank is also expected to operate from Kandahar. Similarly, the Habib Bank has also established its branch in Kabul. Three PIA flights are operating every week. PIA is also providing international connections to Afghan passengers.

The two ministers also reviewed $100 million grant offered by Pakistan over a period of five years and expressed satisfaction over the projects being financed under this facility.

The major projects are construction of Torkham Jalalabad road, kidney centre in Kabul, faculty block in Kabul, IT and orthopaedic centre at Mazar-e-Sharif and other projects relating to establishment of social infrastructure. Ashraf Ghani said Kabul had earmarked $80m to upgrade customs facilities to improve revenue generation and encourage formal trade with neighbours.