KABUL: A delegation from Pakistan’s commerce ministry is due to arrive in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Monday to explore ways to remove obstacles to transit and bilateral trade, an Afghan official said.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch confirmed that a Pakistani delegation headed by Commerce Minister Khurram Agha would make a two-day visit.
“Pakistan remains committed to promoting trade and people-to-people relations with Afghanistan,” Baloch added.
Other delegates from Pakistan include Joint Secretary (Ministry of Commerce), Maria Qazi, Additional Secretary for Commerce Dr. Wajid Ali Khan, Director General of Transit Trade and Additional Home Secretary Khushal Khan.
These will be total bilateral and transit trade, said a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Commerce.
“We will deal with the issue of banning several transit items. Pakistan has banned the import of certain items under the transit agreement. About 50 percent of the transit trade has reduced and shifted to Iran due to this ban,” Jawad said.
The talks will take place amid efforts by both sides to normalize relations following the March 18 attacks by Pakistani airstrikes in two Afghan provinces.
Afghan chargé d’affaires Sardar Shokaib Ahmad rushed to Kabul to inform officials of his meetings in Islamabad.
Shokaib met Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaq and briefed him on recent developments in Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takkal said.
“During the meeting, Mawlawi Sardar Ahmed Shakib, Acting Head of the Afghan Embassy in Pakistan, shared the report of his recent meetings with Pakistani officials with FM Muttaqim and had a detailed discussion about it,” Takkal wrote on X.
“After the briefing, FM Muttaqi gave necessary instructions to the Acting Head of the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad keeping in view the existing situation and relations between the two countries,” he said.
The Afghan embassy earlier said Shakib met Pakistan’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani on March 22 and “addressed recent issues between the two countries, revitalization of political, trade, people-to-people and other aspects of bilateral relations”.
On March 11, Afghanistan’s Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi held an online meeting with Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce Secretary Khurram Agha and explored ways to forge closer ties, resolve issues and prevent barriers to trade and transit between the two countries, the ministry wrote on X.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Commerce said the two sides discussed progress made over the past two years. They discussed the possibilities of increasing the volume of bilateral trade, solving problems and removing trade and transit barriers, providing more facilities, establishing close relations between the public and private sectors of both countries and increasing regional cooperation.
The Afghan minister also invited Khurram Agha to visit Kabul with a delegation to hold further talks on bilateral trade issues. Pakistani and Afghan businessmen expect talks in Kabul to be useful.
Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) Khan Jan Alkozai said the new government in Pakistan will address the concerns of Afghan importers. Alkozai mentioned the 10 percent increase in import duty on Afghan transit trade introduced in October last year. He also complained about adding more transit items to the negative list.
“Major problems for Afghan importers arose during the interim government in Pakistan. Pakistan and the Islamic Emirate should pave the way for normalization of bilateral and transit trade,” Alkozai told Dawn.com from Kabul today.
He said that transit through Pakistan has decreased substantially and Afghan importers have shifted their business to ports in Iran.
