Daily Times

Pakistani and Afghan business leaders believe the potential between both the countries is approximately $10 billion but due to deteriorating confidence building measures, lack of communication and increasing trust deficit, the volume is declining significantly. Currently, bilateral trade is less than $2 billion.

Traders from the two countries met in Dubai on Monday and agreed that if trade is properly channelised and facilitated, the quantum would immediately increase.

Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) organised the two-day business-to-business (B2B) event to explore regional economic opportunities and disseminate these to a wider audience than possible in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Organisers said the meeting provided a platform to Afghan and Pakistani business leaders to connect and share information on possibilities for future investment and connectivity across both states. They said businesses across Afghanistan and Pakistan are currently engaged in numerous sectors, with the majority of the focus being on facilitating bilateral and transit trade.

The deliberations focused on opportunities available at both the sides and how they can be explored. Additionally, the traders tried to identify challenges that hamper the intended results, according to a PAJCCI statement received here.

Sector based breakout sessions were held to let the participants discuss opportunities in their respective sector with the counter partners. Traders were of the view that there are limited platforms for private sector engagement between businesses in Afghanistan and Pakistan, largely due to restrictive visa regimes and security challenges.

Besides, they noted that misinformation or lack of information about policies governing trade between both countries, such as tariff barriers and customs regulations and significant procedural hindrances in ensuring safe and timely transfer of goods between both countries, with fear of damages to goods – particularly perishable items due to procedural obstacles.

They also pointed out limited opportunities for joint business ventures and investment beyond base-level trade in goods and services and issues of double-taxation and facilitating policies for joint business ventures and investment.

They discussed the futuristic approach to refocus the efforts in enhancing joint ventures (JV) and mutually beneficial investment regimes that remain untapped. Various business actors have expressed interest in expanding and developing such links.

The importance of the multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Special Economic Zones was highlighted and Pakistani participants argued that it is a big offering from the Pakistani Government where it seeks Joint Ventures and also offer it as a potential hub for Afghan transit requirements.

Organisers said the 2-day B2B event has brought together medium-sized businesses with an interest and expertise in specific sectors of relevance to Afghanistan-Pakistan trade.

The event allows these businesses to showcase their expertise to counterparts across the border, develop new networks, and clarify through direct interaction, some of the challenges inherent to trade in the region.

This conference is the first of its kind specifically focusing on tapping the resources of the Afghan diaspora in the Middle East and to substantiate connectivity, trade and investment across Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Most of the events organised in Dubai are generally Dubai – business centric, whereas this event mainly aims for tapping diaspora to reinvest in their own countries preferably in a joint form for a mutually attainable benefits.

Dubai as a neutral hub, offers more opportunities for interaction of both Pakistani and Afghan businesses transacting via that platform.

The conference would help leverage their presence in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) across the region. This also allows Consortium to merge its trade-focused B2B event (as initially planned for Kabul) with a wider agenda of encouraging private sector investment in both countries.

It was noted that during the visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in June this year he had sought businesses to invest in their Mining sector. However, the main segments where Pakistanis have explored their potential in Afghanistan since 2002 are banking, audit, management consultancies, transport & logistics, education, health and construction.

The participants noted that the sectors that offer attractive prospects across the border included cement, paints, packaging, mining and minerals, energy solutions, pharmaceuticals, engineering, service sector (training and development, audit, education) Telecommunication and I.T solutions, textile, food processing, dairy products, transport and logistics, banking, construction and infrastructure.