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KABUL: Afghanistan will import 50,000 tons of wheat donated by India through Pakistan’s Wagga port to Afghanistan.
Taliban’s acting Minister of Commerce and Industry Noruddin Azizi said on Monday that the wheat will be transferred to Kabul by 1,200 trucks from Wagga port in Pakistan.
He also said that Afghanistan–Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) will be re-implemented with some reforms that would ease trade between the two countries.
Based on the agreement, the Taliban will allow Pakistani trucks to transfer the country’s exports to Central Asian states.
Pakistan agreed to remove tariffs on Afghanistan’s stock, ramp up active work hours for Afghan trade in ports, and issue 5-year visas for Afghan traders. Afghanistan would also resolve the visa problems of the technical staff of Pakistan. The agreement also calls for the development of trade between the two countries, the construction of the Kabul-Jalalabad highway, and to convene a summit on trade in Islamabad.
The minister of commerce and industry said that negotiations on the implementation of APTTA would be resumed soon.
“We reached an agreement to re-implement APTTA with new conditions,” he said.
The chamber of commerce and investment said that progress in trade ties between Kabul and Islamabad is important for Afghanistan.
“Afghanistan is a member of the TIR Convention and it has been decided that both (Afghanistan, Pakistan) countries should respect the TIR conditions,” said Mohammad Younus, acting head of the chamber of commerce and investment. “We can send our goods to China based on the TIR Convention, and we can export our goods to Karachi and Wagga port.”
The two countries also agree that 20 transportation vehicles would be provided at Torkham gate to ferry passengers through the crossing.
