Afghan Transit trade starts at Gwadar

Pakistan’s commerce ministry operationalised the Gwadar Port for Afghan transit trade on Friday, marking a first in sea trade between the two countries.

The trade business has commenced under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement-2010 (APTTA), authorities at the ministry informed.

In a series of tweets, Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razzak Dawood shared that a ship carrying 16,000 metric tonnes of urea and fertiliser for Afghanistan had arrived in Gwadar, beginning a new chapter of trade via sea route from the Gwadar Port to Afghanistan.

The adviser further added that it was for the first time that the fertiliser will be locally packed. He claimed that directives had also been issued to offer jobs and livelihoods to local labourers only.

The labourers are were said to engage in the packing of fertilisers, loading and offloading of the items in trucks.

Apart from fertilisers, Afghanistan will be granted permission for the transit trade of sugar and wheat from Gwadar, while trucks carrying fully sealed consignments will only be allowed to go to the neighboring country.

While this maybe a first in sea trade for the two countries, both Pakistan and Afghanistan have been engaged in continued trade transit through land routes as global trade activities witnessed a lull amid the pandemic.

Besides the movement of cargo, the two countries have also seen active repatriation of their citizens from the shared borders at Chaman and Torkham.