ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Senate was informed on Friday that Pakistan is making serious efforts to address the issue of Afghan Transit Trade to promote trade between the two countries.
The annual volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan is around $2.5 billion while the two governments have pledged to increase it to $5 billion in the next few years.
“Pakistan attaches great significance to trade and commercial relations with Afghanistan,” the Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan informed the House on Friday.
The minister reiterated Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s vision to share prosperity through economic integration, and told that the economic cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan has gained momentum in the recent months.
“We are building on this momentum and moving from hostility to amity,” he said.
The commerce minister further said that the two countries are also in the process of finalizing the Preferential Trade Agreement which will enhance market access to business of both the countries.
Moreover, the informed the House that the two countries have also started seriously addressing the issue of smuggling.
Khurram Dastgir recently visited Kabul where he held separate meetings with the Afghan officials including President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and his Afghan counterpart Daud Saba.
During his meetings with the Afghan officials, the minister discussed trade relations between the two neighbouring countries and measures to promote business activities in the region.
