The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has worked out a concessional duties and taxes structure on the selling of goods at the proposed Pak-Iran common border market (CBM) for controlling cross-border smuggling between Pakistan and Iran.
In this connection, an inter-ministerial meeting on the Pak-Iran common border market and trade between Pakistan and Iran would be convened in coming days at the commerce ministry.
Sources said the senior CBR officials would participate in the meeting to brief other ministries on the proposed duties and taxes package.
They said the proposed CBM would be set up with an estimated cost of over Rs 105 million on experimental basis at the Pak-Iran border to curtail smuggling and to provide employment opportunities to the people living along the border.
On Balochistan government's recommendations, the government has identified four places for setting up CBM at the Pak-Iran border. These include Taftan-Mirjaveh, Ladgasht-Jalaq, Parome-Kuhak, Mand-Peshin and Suntsar-Nobandan.
On the background of issue, the sources pointed out that a proposal for establishing common border market (CBM) with Pakistan was made by Iran on the pattern of other such markets, which it has with Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan.
Since Pakistan did not have the experience of operating such markets, a delegation consisting of representatives from Balochistan and other relevant organisations and commercial counsellor of Pakistan at Tehran visited Iran. The Pakistani delegation after the visit had a general consensus on establishing a CBM.
The rationale for establishing CBM is to promote legal economic activities at the border areas with a view to providing economic incentives to the people of those areas, the sources added.
They said the people living on both sides of the border of Iran and Pakistan have little exposure to education, and the traders normally avoid procedural obligations, adding the climate of the area, which is arid and depends on rainwater, does not support agriculture, hence scarcity of population does not encourage industrial growth.
The setting up of such market would eliminate smuggling, increase employment opportunities, strengthen historical and cultural linkages, and promote medium and small-sized enterprises, they added.
The Balochistan government while recommending to establish the CBM has specified above four sites for setting up this market.
The CBR while agreeing to the establishment of the Common Border Market has proposed for concessionary tariffs on the selective items of imports through the proposed Pak-Iran Common Border Market.
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