Railways, DHL to sign goods dispatch agreement under ATT

Pakistan Railways is going to sign agreement with DHL, international courier service for the dispatching of goods brought under Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) to Torkham border. Under the agreement, DHL will dispatch goods brought under Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) to Peshawar and then Torkham. For this purpose, DHL had already conducted a survey.
This was told during a meeting of the Senior Vice President (SVP), Pak-Afghan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PAJCC)) and chairman, SCCI Standing Committee on Railway and Dry Port, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi with Divisional Superintendent (DS), Pakistan Railways, Sufian Sarfaraz Dogar. Besides, Divisional Transport Officer (DTO), Omar Riaz, Chief Commercial Goods (CCG), Dry Port, Mehboob, Deputy Collector, Customs Dry Port, Azhar Naveed, Superintendent Customs, Malik Aman and other authorities were also present on the occasion.
During the meeting, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi briefed the DS Pakistan Railways regarding the lack of facilities at existing dry port and matters relating to non-operational Azakhel Dry Port. The chairman SCCI standing committee on Railway and Dry Port complained that due to the lack of export cargo, the exporters had been forced to transport their goods to Karachi through private trucks.
He said due to the ineffectiveness of Pakistan Railways, 70 percent of Afghan bound goods arrived under ATT had shifted to Bandar Abbas and Cha Bahar ports of Iran inflicting loss to the tone of billions of rupees on the railways and government of Pakistan. He also expressed reservations over the new Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) and said that since last six years, the agreement had not reviewed, which had made ATT concerned traders the victims of hardships. He demanded immediate review over ATT and taking of PAJCC and actual stakeholders into confidence.