Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL: The Pak-Afghan Liaison Committee held a meeting on Saturday and discussed different issues, ranging from impediments to the smooth sailing of bilateral trade to the promotion of commercial activities in the region.
The meeting was attended by members of the Pak-Afghan Liaison Committee, including Director Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce (PAJCCI) Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, former SVP Sarhad Chamber, Engr Manzoor Elahi, President Khyber Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Syed Jawad Hussain Kazmi, VP of Frontier Custom Agents Association, Imtiaz Ahmad Ali, Commercial Attache Afghan Consulate, Waheedullah Himmat, Deputy Attache, Hameed Fazil Khel, and others.
The director of trade and transit for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Arbab Qaiser Hameed, chaired the meeting.
Speaking on the occasion, Director PAJCCI, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi raised the point that goods checking by different departments is causing delays in the clearance of containers, which is creating a lot of problems for businessmen.
Zia said the clearance of containers at the Karachi seaport takes more than ten days, resulting in the imposition of demurrage and detention charges.
He said despite the issuance of a notification regarding the cross-tufting of containers in Karachi, the decision was not implemented as a result of the fact that the containers were going to Afghanistan and taking a lot of time to reach back, forcing businessmen to pay extra money under the heading of detention charges.
The participants also demanded permission for the transportation of Afghan Transit Trade Goods by rail besides their shifting to bonded carriers.
They also demanded approval for the filing of goods delivery (GD) at Azakhel Dry Port so that the customs clearing agents could continue their business.
Director of Transit and Trade, Arbab Qaiser Hameed, said that he was well aware of problems facing the business community.
Arbab Qaiser, who is also Chairman of the Liaison Committee, extended his full assurance and cooperation to the business community and said decisions would be taken with mutual coordination and consultation.
