Times Report
PESHAWAR: Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) has urged concerned authorities to allow a one time clearance of more than 10,000 containers stuck between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the last more than 100 days due to closure of border trade.
In a press statement issued here on Thursday, PAJCCI office bearers including Senior Vice President, Zia ul Haq Sarhadi and Ahmad Shah Yarzada, Board Director PAJCCI Afghanistan chapter said that re-export process is very complex and will inflict additional losses of around US dollar 75 million to Afghanistan traders.
The re-export process require additional charges in terms of freight cost from Karachi back to port of origin, Terminal Handing charges, port charges, freight to Bandar Abass in Iran, they added.
The closure of border between Pakistan and Afghanistan has already caused losses in billions of rupees to the businessmen of both the country and re-export of containers will add a further burden on them.
Ahmad Shah Yarzada said the closure of trade/transit in the 105 days caused losses of US$233 million to Afghan exporters.
While Afghan importers face a daily loss of US$1.2 million in fines, with an estimated loss of US$126 million in the past 105 days. Afghanistan’s exports to Pakistan are worth US$800 million annually.
Afghanistan’s exports to India via Wagah are about $200 million a year and trade ban caused a loss of US$58 million to Afghan exporters. An estimated $720 million losses inflected to the Afghan economy.
About damage to Pakistan, Zia ul Haq Sarhadi said Afghanistan is the closest market for Pakistani products, with advance payment before delivery of goods, means a market that pays full payment in advance.
Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan are worth US$1.5 billion annually. Since the trade halted for the past 105 days, it caused USD 437 million loss to Pakistani exporters, he claimed.
Pakistan’s exports to Central Asia through Afghanistan are worth US$900 million annually. The closure of trade/transit caused a loss of $262 million to Pakistani exporters, Zia continued.
He said Pakistan used to import a significant quantity of cotton and foodstuffs, commodities, etc. from Central Asian Republics.
The cost of commercial goods from Central Asia to Pakistan via Afghanistan is very cheap, but the closure of this trade/transit not only caused a significant increase in prices in the Pakistani market, but also lost huge amount in terms of import customs duty & taxes collection.
Besides Pakistan also lost billions of Rupees in terms of import customs duties & taxes due to stoppage of fresh fruits / Agri cultural products from Afghanistan.
PAJCCI office bearers said Pakistan revenue generation through transit trade is estimated as US dollars 160 million on annual basis as Afghanistan’s import volume through Karachi is about 40,000-45,000 containers per year.
The average transit cost per container, such as transportation/cash, warranty/terminal handling fees/port fees/customs agents/transit facility fees, etc., is $4,000.
Business/transit closures accounted for $40 million in losses in the past 3 months. The estimated loss to Pakistan Economy is more than USD 1 billion, they added.
Both the businessmen made a humble appeal on behalf of farmers, importers, exporters, transporters, forwarders, customs clearing agents, industrialists, traders, to Government of Pakistan & Afghanistan is to review current disastrous situation and shall facilitate re-start of bilateral trade/transit trade & connectivity in the region on priority basis.
Since the closure of the bilateral trade / transit trade is not serving the purpose of either Pakistan/Afghanistan, it is better to review the situation otherwise additional irreparable losses are expected which will add more challenges both in terms poverty and security in the region, they opined.
It is the bilateral and transit trade connectivity in the region which feeds millions of poor people in the region otherwise the closure of trade/transit is further hurting the people and will cause more problems and insecurity in the region.
It is not a wise decision to hand over a market which was established following countless efforts in the past 50 years so easily to other countries in the region.
They expressed the hope concerned authorities will realize ground realities and shall take the appropriate steps to avoid further deterioration of the situation otherwise neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan will be the winner in this unpopular trade war except the rival countries region.
Leave a Reply