Pakistan urged to clear goods bound for Afghanistan on 'humanitarian grounds'

Co-President of Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI), Khan Jan Alokozay, said the Nato supplies halt also brought the daily-use cargo bound to Afghanistan consumer markets to a suspension, wanting the key US ally -Pakistan to try to clear the long detained goods on humanitarian grounds.
In an interview with Business Recorder here on Thursday on the sidelines of a joint-meeting session between Afghan and Pakistani trade bodies at a local hotel, Alokozay appeared rather hopeful about the trade growth for both countries under PAJCCI banner.
He said Pakistan government's move to disallow cargo bound to the Nato and American forces in Afghanistan also caused long detention to the general use of cargo for the Afghan markets.
"A large number of importers have finally withdrawn their rights to lift the detained goods from Karachi harbours for huge customs and port charges," he pointed out. He asked both the governments not to allow the fragile trade between both countries to fall to political disputes and keep the economic issues on safe side in all seasons.
He also wanted Pakistani ports and shipping authorities to speed up the cargo clearance operations particularly at Karachi Port Trust (KPT) as delays in goods supplies to the Afghanistan markets were causing the importers huge demurrages and customs charges.
He, however, lauded the operations at Port Qasim where, he said, automotive scanners and fast cargo clearance mechanism used to helped the cargo importers to transport their goods at the earliest, where at KPT the issues were largely related to the bureaucratic hurdles. Co-President of PAJCCI said the trade volume between both the neighbouring countries surged significantly in post-2001 era as both the countries began to serve each other land as a transit ways for goods supplies.
He said before the 2001, the trade between both the countries was limited as Pakistani traders were only able to transport their products to mere Jalalabad and not beyond there. "Whereas, now Pakistanis are able to find new venues beyond Kabul in Afghanistan and across the border to Central Asian states to widen their trade horizon," said Alokozay.
In return, he said, Pakistan received coal, cotton, iron, steel and such other products from Central Asian countries, adding that the transit trade from Pakistan to Afghanistan should also need a big rise from mere 40 percent at present to almost 100 percent. He said for Afghan markets Karachi ports is the closest harbours wherefrom these could easily lift the cargo to dispense it within a few days to its markets across the country without facing huge problems.
However, he pointed out that Afghanistan at present is relying some 60 percent on Iran's Port Bandar Abbas for its cargo supplies as a transit corridor along with Chabahar. He favoured transit trade with Pakistan, saying such a trade with Iran is too expensive and always troubling in terms of time consumption.
Alokozay also complained about the freight charges by Pakistani transporters, besides other tactics which they used to fleece the Afghan traders for supplying their goods, he said, such an errant trend has also damaged the Afghanistan trade. He said Afghanistan's goods were being stolen at terminals in Peshawar and elsewhere in Pakistan during their supplies en route across the border. Co-President, PAJCCI hoped the joint trade body of both the countries would help solve big and small issues on permanent grounds.