Govt urged to speed up international trade by road to save foreign exchange

City News Dec, 21 2022
Govt urged to speed up international trade by road to save foreign exchange
  • 162
  • 0

KARACHI: Trade and Industry of country urged government to speed up efforts for maximum utilisation of international trade routes by road, especially, efficient and commercial use of Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) corridor. Pakistan has already ratified United Nations Customs Convention on International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) in July 2015. But unfortunately, it has not been utilised way it should be. 

 Pakistan Turkiye Business Council Chairman and focal convener on TIR matters Amjad Rafi of FPCCI has been following up this matter for more than one year. Worldwide trading goods carnets are issued by International Chamber of Commerce and in recent past, Pakistan issued only 20 TIR carnets while Iran issued maximum number of more than 125,604 TIR carnets in year 2021 to TIR carnet holders making him biggest issuer of TIR carnets. Iran is sanctioned county and you cannot purchase or sell goods of certain types to that country but transit permission means that you loaded truck from Karachi, got Customs clearance and it would be opened after reaching its destination in Azerbaijan or Turkiye after passing through Iran. It means that you are internationally allowed to use Iranian roads corridor for trading purposes. If there is any suspicion about it there is an SOP established for this purpose, sources disclosed. 

Pakistan may have three most important advantages from TIR road transit trade through its neighbouring countries. We can save time which is an average of forty days by ship export to Turkiye while it would require only ten days if sent by road. Importance of this time factor could be assessed from fact that India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are competitor countries of Pakistan. In this case, our time will be limited to ten days but competitors’ time on shipping would remain 40-45 days. This is most valid factor in terms of trade to execute your export orders in ten days while their goods would remain delivered in more than 40 days. We will be ultimate winner in this regard having fast transactions while buyers would also prefer us for quick deliveries against longest period holders.

 Second biggest advantage is saving precious foreign exchange for country since it would involve NLC or any other local transporter companies instead of foreign shipping companies. Shipping companies are charging freight and other expenses in dollars and remit same outside country. Time is saved while foreign exchange would be saved for country by importers and exporters.

 Third advantage is that such goods are not prone to port charges or Terminal Handling Charges. Our commercial banks are afraid of Iran transit unnecessarily, they have no clear perception of this trade and its related business. Once they entered into this business they will enjoy it enormously.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 21 2022

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.

Nasir Mahmood
Nasir Mahmood https://www.dailynationalcourier.com/author/nasir-mahmood
Senior Journalist at Daily National Courier. Covering almost all beats including politics, current affairs, sports, metropolis for more than 45 years. Member of Karachi Press Club & KUJ.

NC Big Stories

PIA flight steward suspended for smuggling 16 mobile phones

KARACHI: Senior flight steward of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Faisal Majeed Pehnwar, was suspended for smuggling mobile phones from Canada. According reports, Customs officials discovered 16 mobile phones hidden on his person, leading to i...

Gold price per tola decreases Rs900

Karachi: Gold price  declined in line with decrease in international rate. In local market, price of gold per tola was down by Rs 900, clocking in at Rs 283,400 per tola. Similarly, ten gram gold was sold at Rs 242,970 after it recorded decrease...

PSX, KSE-100 gains 202pts

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) KSE-100 Index registering new highs, briefly crossing 91,000 level for first time during intra-day trading. KSE-100 started session positive, hitting an intra-day high of 91,054.84, followed by some selling in s...

PM Shehbaz to attend Future Investment Initiative in SA on Oct 29-30: FO

Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will undertake two-day official visit to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to attend 8th Edition of Future Investment Initiative (FII) being held in Riyadh from October 29 to 30, Foreign Office said. During visit, he i...

More like this
Related

KUJ elected office bearers for 2024-26 term

KARACHI: Karachi Union of Journalists Election Committee Chairman Sattar Javed, member Kafeel Ahmed and others announced results of Karachi Union of Journalists Elections 2024-26. According to results, green panel swept election for 5th time. Lanbi J...

PIA flight steward suspended for smuggling 16 mobile phones

KARACHI: Senior flight steward of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Faisal Majeed Pehnwar, was suspended for smuggling mobile phones from Canada. According reports, Customs officials discovered 16 mobile phones hidden on his person, leading to i...

Every step being taken to wipe out drugs menace: Sharjeel Memon

karachi: Sindh Minister Sharjeel Memon said that drugs are not only scourge but can affect anyone at any time. Perhaps this issue has even reached doors of our elected representatives. To combat it, we must work together and cooperate with one anothe...

Karachi weather forecast: Three more days of sweltering heat expected

KARACHI: Hopes for reduction in recent heatwave in Karachi have faded, as Meteorological Department has predicted three more days of heat. Karachi experienced hot day, with temperatures potentially exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, while temperatures co...
Need Help? Chat with us