ISLAMABAD: The National Logistics Cell (NLC), in coordination with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has completed 24-hour cross-border trade arrangements with Afghanistan through the Torkham border terminal that is expected to open next week.
The terminal has been operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on a trial basis and will be formally opened at a ceremony to be held in Torkham.
Work to improve the terminal began after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, on his last visit in June, asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to facilitate trade between the two countries through the border crossing.
On Sunday, the NLC said in a statement that development entails significant benefits for landlocked Afghanistan, as it would drastically reduce its dependence on other countries. The measure will facilitate export and import business, reduce congestion and facilitate the movement of pedestrians between the two countries and will particularly improve transit trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan is around $ 2.6 billion a year.
Move will facilitate export and import, and reduce congestion
The NLC has made additional arrangements for the accommodation of Customs offices, Nadra, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and other departments such as Frontier Corps (FC) to fulfill its obligations related to cargo regulation and passengers movement. More containers and luggage scanners, CCTV monitoring, lighting and other amenities for the proper functioning of the terminal have been implemented.
The NLC said the Torkham border terminal had caused a paradigm shift in the regulation of the two-way movement of passengers and cargo and had helped curb the cross-border movement of criminals, illegal trade, narcotics trafficking, as well as the flow to behind commercial transit goods. to Pakistan
The NLC, which operates the terminal, said that it has not only become an important instrument of the general border management system, but also stopped the consequences of smuggling imported goods into local industry. The border terminal is causing a major cultural change since Torkham is no longer free for all border crossing points, since everything is documented and accounted for, according to the statement.
According to an official, the border terminal, which will be extended in two shifts day and night, will particularly facilitate the movement of Afghans who cross the border in large numbers to receive treatment in hospitals in Peshawar.
He said the number of scanners for scanning 40-foot long containers has increased to two. "Similarly, two additional baggage scanners were also added when previously only one was in place," the official said, adding that the new border terminal will now provide a single platform for all government departments, for example, the FIA and FC, to mention a few. These measures were also taken to cover the gaps that allow smuggling.
The official said that the ease of trade would make it easier for entrepreneurs who trade with perishable products.
According to the NLC, the border terminal has generated important economic activities in the area, which greatly benefits the local KhugaKhel Shinwari tribe.
The tribe is being paid a good portion of the income generated monthly, in addition to the annual payment of millions of rupees instead of the land provided for the border terminal under a lease.
“The work to improve the facilities at the border terminal has already begun under the Integrated Commercial Traffic Management System. The border terminal will meet all international standards after completing the higher category project, ”said an NLC official.
The official said that trade takes place between Pakistan and Afghanistan through Kharlachi in the Kurram district, through Ghulam Khan in North Waziristan and Chaman.
Posted on Dawn, September 16, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1505465/terminal-to-make-round-the-clock-afghan-trade-possible