Pak-Afghan bilateral trade crosses $2b

PESHAWAR: Pakistan and Afghanistan continue to maintain an upward trajectory of trade during the last two years and trade between the two countries have crossed $2 billion mark in 2017-18. According to the Pakistani embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan’s exports to Pakistan increased by 29.53 percent during Pakistan’s financial year 2017-18, ie from $342 million in 2016-17 to $ 443 million in 2017-18. Pakistan remains the largest export market for Afghanistan. On the other hand, Afghanistan continued to increase its imports from Pakistan as Afghan imports increased from Pakistan by 18.33 percent for the period that was $ 1,271 million in 2016-17 to $ 1.576 billion in 2017-18. In 2017-18, Pakistan’s top export commodities were sugar, fresh fruit and vegetables, rice, wheat flour, cement, petroleum products and medicines.