Co-Chairman of Pak Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) Khan Jan Alokozai, held a meeting with National Security Adviser, Moeed Yousaf.
During his visit to Afghanistan, Alokozai shared the voice of the business community of both sides, providing feedback to both governments and bringing issues to the table with the objective of beneficial and long-term resolution.
According to a press release issued here on Monday, Khan Jan Alokozai shared the ongoing obstacles in trade activities and their impact on long term trade and economic relationship with Afghanistan resulting in revenue loss, socio-economic effects on people living on borders, widening trade gap, loss of livelihood increasing hardships for people and unrest in border areas.
He reiterated high impact issues highlighted by Chairman PAJCCI, Zubair Motiwala like withdrawal of Cash on Counter facility, the requirement of advance payments and the reluctance of banks to accept third party payment in case of Afghanistan leading to halted trade across the border.
Due to halted banking infrastructure and lack of foreign exchange, this new regime has caused significant business loss and affected trade quantum.
He emphasized that currently non-issuance of EIF by the State Bank of Pakistan has gravely affected their transactions and requested to abolish this requirement till the appropriate procedure may be devised, as non-issuance of these forms lead to the decline of the transaction by WeBoC, halting consignments and creating congestion at the borders.
Advisor considered this appeal and confirmed that for the next 45 days EIF will not be required thus providing instant relief to the business community and reducing congestion and pending clearance at borders.
PAJCCI has also been instrumental in convincing the Afghan Government to develop a mechanism for barter trade and will support all related chambers working with PAJCCI to trade equally in Afghanistan.
In this regard, Advisor agreed that there should be a practical mechanism for barter trade between two countries and a committee will be formed in this regard comprising representatives from both sides.
Both governments will nominate the members within 2 days, once the committee is formed it will present the barter trade mechanism in 15 days.
It was also agreed that joint investment opportunities, policy and guidelines for joint and bilateral investments will be developed, trade promotion facilitation, cooperation in the agriculture sector, frequent exchange of trade & economic delegations will be undertaken.
National Joint Trade Committee and localized Border Committees to resolve issues, deliberate future undertakings and initiatives for promotion of trade will be formed.
Moeed Yusuf was leading a delegation that included cabinet ministers and economic and security experts. He met the Taliban’s acting deputy prime minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi.
Hanafi invited Pakistani entrepreneurs and companies to invest in Afghanistan’s energy, mining, and agriculture sectors. Chairman PAJCCI, Motiwala considered this an important milestone and urged the Government of Pakistan to facilitate visits of business delegations across the border to ensure reaping of benefits mutually.
He further offers to facilitate the constitution of a delegation from all relevant sectors as PAJCCI encompasses members from all the segments.
