The Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock has announced that trade challenges between Afghanistan and Pakistan have eased, and exports to the neighboring country are now proceeding normally.
The ministry’s deputy stated that fresh and dried fruits from Afghanistan are currently being exported to Pakistan through the Torkham, Ghulam Khan, and Dand Patan crossings.
Sadr Azam Osmani, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock, said: “The Torkham crossing is open, and although there were some issues at the Ghulam Khan crossing earlier, it has also been reopened for our fresh and dried fruit exports over the past two days.”
In the past, problems such as border closures and delays in cargo inspections caused significant portions of Afghanistan’s fruits and agricultural products to spoil before reaching Pakistani markets. These challenges also inflicted losses on Afghan exports this year.
However, several traders are calling for greater facilitation in areas such as business visas, transit, and exports with Pakistan.
Omid Haidari, a trader, said: “We ask the leadership of the Islamic Emirate to sign agreements with Pakistan, just as they resolved tariff issues, so that we have more facilities in the export sector.”
Another trader, Zalmai Azimi, said: “We face problems in obtaining Pakistani business visas. Sometimes, even within two months, a trader cannot get a visa for Pakistan.”
Earlier, Pakistani media had reported that due to trade and transit challenges between Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years, the volume of transit trade between the two countries dropped from $7 billion to around $2 billion, a decline that has caused heavy losses for traders on both sides.
