Islamabad, 18 July 2022 (TDI): A Pakistani delegation has left for Kabul to hold talks with Afghan officials on bilateral cooperation. Secretary of Commerce Sualeh Ahmed Faruqi is leading this delegation.
The areas under discussion would be trade, transit, transport, and border facilitation. The delegation will comprise senior officers from the Ministry of Commerce, Federal Board of Revenue, and National Logistic Cell.
In addition, officials from the Ministry of Interior, and the Power Division will also be accompanying them.
🇵🇰🤝🇦🇫: A Pakistani delegation, led by Secretary Commerce Sualeh Ahmed Faruqui, is leaving for Kabul today [Monday], to hold talks with Afghan officials on bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade, transit, transport and border facilitation https://t.co/6mPs98wvGC @mincompk
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) July 18, 2022
Furthermore, the Pakistani delegation during its three-day visit will also discuss issues being faced by traders in bilateral and transit trade between the two countries.
Pakistan has discussed many cooperative programs in the fields of trade, transit, connectivity, and economic cooperation with Afghanistan. The visit is a continuation of this ongoing process of bilateral engagements.
Earlier this month, the Commerce Ministers of the two countries held a zoom meeting. Both officials agreed to enhance bilateral economic and trade ties and to work on increasing economic integration.
Pak-Afghan Relations
Building close cooperative relations with Afghanistan is a high priority of Pakistan’s foreign policy.
This includes strengthening people-to-people contacts, deepening trade and transit ties, and undertaking joint connectivity and energy projects for enhanced economic integration.
Pakistan is also assisting Afghanistan in capacity building in the fields of agriculture, banking, railways, military, and diplomacy.
The country’s development assistance is geared towards investment in infrastructure, education, health, agriculture, and capacity building of Afghan professionals.
Significantly, the two countries have substantial trade linkages. Pakistan is Afghanistan’s largest trade partner.
In addition to that, the institutional mechanisms in the domain of trade and economic cooperation include Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Cooperation Authority (APTTCA).
Moreover, it includes the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Business Council.
Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghan refugees for the last four decades. There are around 2.8 million Afghan refugees currently living in Pakistan.
