Peshawar: Because of the obstacles erected by several government entities at the Torkham border crossing, trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been steadily declining. Traders experience challenges, according to exporter Muhammad Aamir, due to differing restrictions for commerce with Afghanistan at various border crossings.
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According to Aamir, due to the financial crisis in Afghanistan and the closure of a banking system, money from the neighbouring country is no longer flowing to Pakistani dealers, resulting in a 60% fall in orders for items to local retailers. On the other hand, due to congestion at crossing locations, the residual exports are slowly evaporating.
Another exporter, Abid Khan, claims that the national logistics unit is the main impediment to exporting to Afghanistan (NLC). Despite scanning the products, he claims, NLC officials open trucks to manually inspect export commodities because they don’t trust their own scanners.
Read More: Customs dept promises more facilities at Pak-Afghan border crossings
Rice, fish, vegetables, and other food products are sent from Pakistan to Afghanistan, while fruits such as apples, pomegranates, grapes, dried fruits, soup stones, and coal, which the government has now authorised, are imported from Afghanistan.
Despite the government’s authorization to open the border 24 hours a day, only about 200 export cars are cleared to go to Afghanistan, while roughly 300 vehicles are cleared to enter Pakistan from the other side.
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