Pakistan and Afghanistan on Sunday underscored the need for taking practical measures to enhance the bilateral trade from $2.4 billion to $5 billion in the years ahead. This was discussed in a meeting between Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan Syed Abrar Hussain and a delegation of Pak-Afghan Joint Chambers of Commerce and Industries (PAJCCI) and senior government officials, led by Afghan Deputy Minister for Trade Mozammil Shinwari which met him in Kabul, said a press release issued here on Sunday.
Both sides discussed the prospects of expanding the bilateral trade and the problems facing the traders' community of the two countries.
The ambassador informed the Afghan delegation that the government of Pakistan wanted to encourage and improve regional trade, particularly with its neighbouring countries, that was vital for the economic development of the region.
"In order to improve regional connectivity and trade with the neighbouring countries, Pakistan would like to construct a motorway and railway lines from Peshawar to Jalalabad and Chaman to Spin Boldak, which would play an instrumental role in the economic development of the region," the ambassador told the delegation.
Similarly, he said, Pakistan also wanted to extend the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement to Tajikistan, which was highly beneficial for the economic prosperity of the three countries.
He asked the traders' community to invest in Pakistan because it provided investment-friendly environment to foreign investors.
He assured the delegation to facilitate the Afghan traders by addressing their problems relating to customs' clearance and others.
The meeting also discussed the forthcoming 5th meeting of Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Co-ordination Authority (APTTCA) to be held in Islamabad and hoped that it would help address the traders' problems as well as enhance the bilateral trade.
The delegation comprised Mozammil Shinwari, Deputy Minister for Trade; Khan Jan Alokozay, President of Pak-Afghan Joint Chambers of Commerce and Industries; Younas Momand, Vice-President PAJCCI; Dawood
Moosa, Legal Advisor of PAJCCI; Nizamuddin Tajzada, Director pf PAJCCI; Dr Najeebullah Wardak, Director General (Customs); and Rafiullah Iftekhar, CEO of Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA).
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