ESHAWAR - Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz has voiced deep concern at the snail-paced clearance of export goods trucks at Torkham.
Long queues of trucks and containers from the Ring Road in Peshawar to Torkham border could be seen as the clearance process was so slow, he told a meeting in Peshawar.
He said there was a lack of facilities on the other side of the border as well, deploring that the government and relevant departments were reluctant to resolve the issue amicably.
Anwar noted with concern: “This inaction is negatively impacting the economy by affecting exports to Afghanistan and other countries.”
The SCCI head said exports to Afghanistan via Torkham had witnessed a decline despite the Pak-Afghan border staying open round the clock.
Anwar said the business community and exporters had never faced such a situation even at the time when the Torkham border used to remain open for eight hours. He lamented exports had fallen instead of going up.
Food and perishable items loaded onto trucks/containers were going rotten, inflicting huge financial losses on the exporters, he said.
No government department was ready to take responsibility and address the issue, he deplored, saying that the trade volume between Pakistan and Afghanistan was already low
The SCCI president urged Prime Minister Imran Khan, his Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood and other relevant officials to take effective measures to resolve the issue. (Pajhwok)