PESHAWAR - Trade between Kabul and Islamabad will see a major boost with the completion of a dry port in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, hopes a Pakistani business leader.
Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) leader Ziaul Haq Sarhadi said the completion of work on the Azakhel dry port in Nowshera district would also help restore trade activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In a statement on Monday, Sarhadi complained the delay in completing the new dry port had severely affected business activities in the northwestern province and trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Peshawar dry port, which has been established as a temporary arrangement, lacks facilities. The dry port, set up in 1986, has not been upgraded even after 32 years of its creation.
Sarhadi said the Afghan had shifted much of their trade to Chabahar and Bandar Abbas ports in Iran due to lack of required facilities at the Peshawar dry port and increase in transport fares for transporting goods from Karachi to Afghanistan.
He called for removing flaws in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade to put an end to the Indian dominance of Afghan markets.(Pajhwok)