Business
Afghan, Pakistani officials hammer out transit agreement to facilitate trade
Afghanistan and Pakistan trade and transit officials met earlier this month to discuss the implementation of Temporary Admission Document (TAD) which would enable free movement of cargo trucks between the two countries.
Via video link on March 1, Afghanistan’s acting minister of industry and commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, and Pakistan’s advisor to the prime minister of Pakistan on commerce and investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, also discussed “the finalization of APTTA and other trade and transit matters”, the Pakistan government said in a statement Wednesday.
“Both sides agreed to allow free movement of trucks between Afghanistan & Pakistan subject to agreed modalities via TAD procedure and cross stuffing, effective from 21st March 2022,” read the statement.
“Transporters from Afghanistan side can apply to obtain TAD from Pak-Embassy at Kabul & consulate in Kandahar. Transporters from Pakistan side can apply to obtain TAD from Consulates of Afghanistan based in Peshawar & Quetta.”
Both sides termed it to be a historic moment and said they were committed to chart out a joint road map for the resolution of pending transit and trade issues.
The Afghanistan–Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (also known as APTTA) is a bilateral trade agreement signed in 2010 by Pakistan and Afghanistan that calls for greater facilitation in the movement of goods amongst the two countries.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Thursday it has signed cooperation agreements with ten institutions to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, said: “In the implementation of projects, we must pay special attention to our activities and actions and try to make useful use of the projects according to the requirements and benefit the beneficiaries.”
These ten institutions are to present their projects, the total value of which is around over $1.1 million. The projects will be carried out in Kabul, Baghlan, Ghor, Herat, Logar, Nangarhar, Balkh, Badakhshan and Jawzjan provinces and provide direct jobs for about 1,000.
To date, the ministry has signed MoUs for 72 projects in total, collectively valued at about $53.6 million.
These agreements have been signed with domestic and foreign companies for the establishment of small and medium-sized businesses.
In accordance with the principles and laws of the Islamic Emirate and prioritizing the implementation of projects for immigrants and returnees and internally displaced people, the ministry said 635,865 people will benefit through jobs directly and over 4.3 million will benefit indirectly in 25 provinces once these projects are implemented.
The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) confirmed Tuesday that in the last month of solar year 1402, (March 2024) Afghanistan’s exports totaled $141.1 million and imports totaled $789.6 million.
This was down from $174 million for exports in the same period in 1401. However, imports increased by $99.2 million in 1402, up from $690.4 million.
Most exports in the last month of 1402 went to Pakistan, India and the United Arab Emirates, while in the last month of 1401 exports went to Pakistan, India and China.
The Ministry of Interior said the governor of Herat province Islam Jar met with Alim Khan Yasin Gildaye, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Afghanistan, to discuss various issues around trade.
According to the ministry, the two sides discussed the expansion of trade facilities, increasing the volume of trade exchanges between traders of the two countries, reducing customs tariffs, solving the challenges of traders and issuing visas to them.
The Afghanistan-Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce has been opened in Herat in order to facilitate and increase trade between the two countries.
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