Trade opportunities with C’ Asian Republics highlighted

PESHAWAR: A business community leader at a session here on Tuesday highlighted the opportunities for trade with Central Asian Republics (CARs) and suggested steps for achieving the purpose.

The event, titled “Connectivity between Central Asian and South Asia via Pakistan,” was arranged at the Area Study Centre of the University of Peshawar.

The main speaker was Manzoor Elahi, senior vice-president, Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

Accompanied by Junaid Altaf, SCCI vice-president, the speaker presented a comparison in terms of distance and cost between trade carried out through Bander Abbas, a port city in the southern coast of Iran, and Karachi and Gwadar port city on the southwestern coast of Pakistan.

He said the trade route though Karachi was less expensive for imports and exports to CARS.

Manzoor Elahi dwelt at length at the APTTA or Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement signed in the year 2010 between Afghanistan and Pakistan and pointed out the gaps in the agreement.

The speaker called for initiation of an independent transit trade agreement by Pakistan with individual CARs, adding under the Geneva Conventions, the country was bound to provide access to landlocked CARs.

He appreciated the security cover in Afghanistan provided to the transport of goods, as more effective.

The SCCI office-bearer suggested the promotion of trade with Afghanistan through various routes which, he said, would turn into a major source of income for local people.

The speaker believed that the federal bureaucracy was showing laxity in improving the business and trade with the CARS. The presentation of the speaker followed a question-answer session between the speaker and the participants.

In the end, it was decided to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Area Study Centre and the SCCI to explore the trade between Pakistan and CARs through a more inclusive perspective of the local business community and academia.