Pakistani businessmen invited to invest in Afghanistan

KARACHI: Pakistani investors can set up their industrial units in Afghan tax-free zones that would help them penetrate in the Afghan market along with gaining access to the Central Asian Republics, said Janan Mosazai, ambassador of Afghanistan.
Speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Saturday, the ambassador said the Afghan government is ready to offer additional facilities to Pakistani investors as compared to investors from other countries with a view to further strengthen economic and trade ties between the two countries.
Pakistan and Afghanistan must work jointly to deal with common issues of terrorism, illiteracy, poverty, water shortages, energy crisis and infrastructure development, etc, he said.
The ambassador asked the Karachi Chamber to organise a delegation’s visit to Afghanistan to explore trade and investment opportunities.
Identifying various sectors for undertaking joint ventures, he said the business communities of the two countries can undertake joint ventures in agriculture, education, construction, mining, precious stones, natural resources and other important sectors of the economy.
“There is also a huge potential in Afghanistan for Pakistani rice exporters who cannot only export rice to Afghanistan, but also to the Central Asian Republics through Afghanistan,” he said.
Mosazai stressed the need to develop highways, railways and air links between two countries.
“Various memorandums of understanding and agreements had already been signed in this regard, now it is high time to implement all these projects,” he said.
Earlier, KCCI President Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra said the local industry of Pakistan suffers badly due to misuse of Afghan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement. In order to effectively deal with the situation, he proposed the duties and taxes on imported goods arriving at the Pakistani ports for Afghanistan should be collected on behalf of the government of Afghanistan by Pakistan Customs and transmitted to the Afghan government upon evidence of transit goods reaching their declared destination, which would surely help deal with the smuggling and misuse of APTTA.