Chinese expert believes ‘Green Corridor’ to boost Pakistan’s agriculture

•  Rising demand in China will boost agricultural sector in Pakistan, says Chinese expert.
• Pakistani and Chinese customs administrations have principally agreed to implement ‘Green Corridor' project.

The implementation of the newly agreed ‘Green Corridor’ project between China and Pakistan would greatly benefit the agricultural sector of Pakistan, as more agricultural products from Pakistan can be expected in the Chinese market.

This was stated by Zhou Rong, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. Zhou said that as China becomes the biggest importer of agricultural products in the world, the rising demand will boost the agricultural sector in Pakistan.

"Key imports of agricultural products from Pakistan include rice and cotton," Zhou said, quoted the Global Times, a Chinese daily. "Agricultural imports from Pakistan still account for a very limited amount of China's total imports, but as the market grows and as production and quality inspection standards are standardized, more products from Pakistan can be expected in the Chinese market."

However, in order to take full advantage of the project Zhou said that transportation needs to be further improved apart from the simplification of custom procedures.  "Due to geographical conditions and extreme regional weather, many products involved in bilateral trade are still airborne, adding to the cost of transportation," Zhou said.

Pakistani and Chinese customs administrations on Thursday principally agreed to implement the ‘Green Corridor' – a fast track customs clearance system exclusively for speedy clearances of the perishable agricultural products, under the proposed Green Corridor at Sust-Khunjerab border.

The salient features of the Green Corridor which distinguish this expeditious customs clearance system include; firstly, the fresh fruit and other agricultural produce imports and exports will be cleared on priority on fulfilling of due customs and import policy requirements. Secondly, there will be dedicated customs staff and separate shed/area for the handling, examination, storage and clearance of such cargo. Thirdly, there will be minimum intrusive examination, with more reliance on risk-based selective examination and automated processing.