Pakistan and Afghanistan have reached an agreement to give six-month visas to truck drivers on a reciprocal basis to facilitate the cross-border movement of goods between the two countries. The issuance of visas will facilitate the flow of trade, Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar stated. The issuance of visas is one of the measures to facilitate trans-border trade.
On July 5, the government took a major decision to allow trade of all products to Kabul in the rupee via land routes owing to the non-availability of tradable currency through banking channels. More measures were taken to facilitate trade with Kabul since August 2021.
Islamabad mulls similar arrangement with Uzbekistan.
In the year 2019-20, imports from Afghanistan were just $470.9 mln. The data showed that the massive imports from Afghanistan led to dollar outflows and cause undue pressure on the rupee.
Source: dawn.com