Pakistan announced waiving off the regulatory duty on Afghanistan exports in a gesture to help Afghan economy

Pakistan on Saturday announced waiving off the regulatory duty on Afghan exports – in a gesture to help boost the war-torn country’s economy. During his visit to Kabul, Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had decided to waive off the regulatory duty, which was imposed in October last year on Afghan exports. The exports include grapes (fresh and dried), apples, pomegranates, apricots, watermelons, melons, cucumbers, gherkins, prunes dried and figs. In a statement, the Pakistan embassy said the waiver went into effect from June 8, 2018. In the meantime, Pakistan’s export to Afghanistan has reached to a two-year high during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year despite relations remain strained on political level between the two neighboring countries, it has been reported. The latest report from the State Bank of Pakistan shows the country’s exports to Afghanistan reached $1.282 billion during July-April 2917-18. This was higher than the figure of $956 million in the same period last year, according to Dawn News. The source further added that during the last five years, the outgoing government never made any serious attempt to improve trade ties with the war-torn neighbor. With the penetration of Chinese products in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s share has been further reduced. “In 2014-15, exports to Afghanistan were $1.699bn which fell to $1.230bn in FY16 before further declining to $1.165bn in FY17, reflecting the downward trajectory,” according to the report.
According to the latest report, Afghanistan imports mostly food products such as wheat flour, rice, meet, etc from Pakistan. However, up to 50 per cent of flour mills have now been closed due to low exports. Pakistan’s textile products have historically had a large share in Kabul but the recent penetration of Indian and Chinese products has .......
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