By Raza Khan ISLAMABAD, April 8 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan exports to Central Asian countries increased by 87.54% during the last five years, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Exports to Central Asian countries rose to $144.97 million in fiscal year 2020-21 from $77.3 million in 2016-17, said the Ministry of Commerce Report, a copy of which is available with WealthPK. Kazakhstan remained Pakistan’s largest export destination in Central Asia with exports value of $379.51 million in the last five years followed by Uzbekistan. Exports to Uzbekistan were recorded $88.81 million from 2016-17 to last fiscal year. Pakistan exports to Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan during the period under review were recorded $62.48 million, $23.99 million, $12.73 million and $5.75 million, respectively. Exports remained $77.3 million in 2016-17, $112.4 million in 2017-18, $133.9 million in 2018-19 and $104.7 million in 2019-20. Highest year-on-year increase of 45.40% in exports was recorded in 2017-18 against the previous year, while highest addition of $40.27 million in terms of value was recorded in 2020-21 against the preceding year. Kazakhstan remained Pakistan’s largest export destination in each year from 2016-17 to last fiscal year. Exports worth $103 million to Kazakhstan in last fiscal year were the highest to any Central Asian country in a single year, while zero exports to Kyrgyzstan in 2018-19 were the lowest. Pakistan exports to Central Asia grew by 135% during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Abdul Razak Dawood, former advisor to prime minister on commerce, said in a statement. Exports to Central Asia were recorded $172 million during July-February this year against 72.5 million in the same period of last year, the advisor informed. Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), told WealthPK that Central Asian countries are the emerging markets for Pakistan. He said that trade with Central Asia was improving, but it was still below the real potential. “None of the Central Asian countries is among Pakistan’s top 20 export destinations,” he added. Pakistan’s exports were limited to commodities like clothes, leather, and pharmaceuticals, whereas Pakistan can export vegetables and fruits, meat, rice, engineering products and chemicals, he added. Dr Suleri said that transit trade agreement with Uzbekistan would boost Pakistan exports to Central Asia via land route through Afghanistan. Pakistan has signed Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and Transit Trade Agreement with Uzbekistan for enhancing cooperation in the areas of trade, culture, tourism, connectivity and climate change. Abdul Razak Dawood said that now Pakistan is perusing Transit Trade Agreement, Preferential Trade Agreement and Customs Cooperation Agreement with Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states to further explore the market while enhancing regional connectivity. Pakistan and Uzbekistan recently operationalised transit trade agreement. Pakistan will provide transit services to Uzbekistan to facilitate its trade, while in return Uzbekistan will be a facilitator for Pakistan for its connectivity with Central Asia.