Customs official sees hike in trade via Torkham

LANDIKOTAL: A senior Customs official at the Torkham border said on Monday that despite several technical and logistic challenges, trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics was gradually increasing every month.

Deputy Collector Customs Amanat Khan told The News that Pakistan Customs had deployed staff of separate operational departments to smoothly run the export and import operations at the Torkham border.

“More than 1,000 loaded and empty trucks daily cross the Torkham border from and to Afghanistan,” he said.The official added that through a mutual agreement, goods transportation between Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics could be run without any hurdle. He added that a Pakistani truck loaded from Karachi could enter Afghanistan and it could further transport goods to the Central Asian states and vice versa.

The official said Tranzum Courier Service (TCS) and National Logistic Cell (NLC) have been issued licences for transportation of goods from Pakistan to Afghanistan and the Central Asian states.Amanat Khan said Pakistan exported herbs, spices and sports goods to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and other European countries while cotton, scrape, beans, etc were imported into Pakistan.