Afghanistan, Pakistan likely to endorse air-to-road corridor: report

Afghanistan and Pakistan are likely to agree on development of a multimodal air-to-road corridor for Afghan transit trade in a bid to boost trade between the two countries, the Express Tribune reported on Friday.

The two sides have proposed this addition to the revised Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade
Agreement (APTTA).

Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce, in recent briefing to a cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, pointed out that APTTA 2010 did not cover the multimodal bonded air-to-land transit of cargo.

However, the revised agreement, APTTA 2021, would cover it, but it had not yet been signed.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce, in order to facilitate uninterrupted supply of humanitarian aid to Kabul, sought approval of the cabinet for the multimodal bonded air-to-land transit of Afghan cargo from the Islamabad Airport and then onward shipment on trucks through the Torkham and Ghulam Khan crossing points via road.

Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue suggested to the Ministry of Commerce to allow the multimodal air-to-land corridor for Afghanistan’s imports from around the world and its exports through international airports of Pakistan.

The Express Tribune said that the introduction of the corridor would contribute significantly to economic development of Pakistan.