Sarhad Chambers of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has called on the federal and provincial governments to relax the visa regime for traders moving in and out of Afghanistan. The demand was put forward by Senior Vice President of SCCI Shahid Hassan, who said that millions of traders are being affected by hurdles in the trade and visa policies of the two countries.

He said that there is a lot of potential for trade between the two countries and governments on both sides of the border should take steps to benefit the business community. He held that trade and business relations between the two countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan would uplift the whole border region out of poverty, adding that only stable and predictable trade relations could end the misery of the people of tribal areas.

Shahid Hussain said that the visa regime for the Afghan traders should be relaxed so that they could easily move in and out of Pakistan for their business purposes. He demanded an end to all the discrimination against Afghan traders and citizens and said that it is hurting the cultural relations of the two countries.

He referred to a recent report which stated that Pak-Afghan bilateral trade volume that stood at USD2.5 billion in 2012 had dropped to USD6 million in 2022, and said that such a declining trend in mutual trade between the two neighbourly countries is worrisome as it indicates a decrease in economic activity and consequent losses in income.

He informed that illegal trade in visa issuance is thriving in the border region and the price for getting a visa through under-the-table deals is as high as USD1,000. He said rich traders could easily get these visas but poorer people and traders stand at a loss due to these illicit trades.

He also lamented the lack of security for Pakistani businesses and traders and said that they could not get reliable data to start with nor they could gather it on their own for marketing purposes in Afghanistan. Shahid Hussain said that if visa regime is relaxed for the Afghans they could arrange their own transport and lodgings in Pakistan for business purposes, adding that language is not an issue for Afghan traders nor is there any lack of guidance for them.

He stressed on the need for a relaxed visa regime and collective policies to expedite the economic recovery of the war-ravaged border regions. He also highlighted the importance of connectivity and said that Afghanistan could be a gateway to the central Asian countries which boast a market of USD100 billion. He said that Pakistan and Afghanistan are not fully utilizing the trade potential through connectivity with the CARs.

“Traders and businessmen of central Asian countries faced the same problems of visa issuance from Pakistan. Sometimes, they have to wait for more than two months to get a visa,” he said. The SCCI senior official urged the relevant authorities in Pakistan and Afghanistan to take consistent and regular measures to facilitate the business communities on both sides of the international border and jack up the bilateral trade volume.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk