PESHAWAR: Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry expressed grave concerns over the undue delay in the implementation of the replacement of the existing banking guarantees with insurance guarantees for transit trade through the Pak-Afghan border.Â
Fazal Moqeem Khan, president of the SCCI, in a statement here on Thursday, urged the government to take concrete steps for the replacement of bank guarantees with insurance guarantees to boost Pak-Afghan bilateral and transit trade.
Earlier this year, he stated that the government announced the policy to facilitate transit trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Traders associated with the cross-border trade have serious concerns over the unnecessary and prolonged delay in the implementation of the replacement of bank guarantees with insurance guarantees for Afghan transit trade, the SCCI chief said.
Fazal Moqeem Khan reminded that a policy was announced over five months ago, which has yet to be implemented. What, he says, would further delay and hamper regional trade, disproportionately affecting businesses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that rely heavily on commerce with Afghanistan.
He continued to say that unjustified delay in enforcement of the policy would have serious impacts on transit trade, besides raising the cost of businesses, disrupting trade continuity, and undermining the KP strategic role in Afghanistan and Central Asian.
The SCCI senior office bearer urged the Ministry of Commerce and FBR to operationalize the insurance guarantee without further delay, backed by clear guidelines and inclusion of KP-based traders in the implementation process.
Similarly, he asserted the government in collaboration with relevant authorities, should take pragmatic steps to remove hurdles in the implementation of the policy at the earliest.
Fazal Moqeem Khan said the proposed reform is essential for restoring trade flow, lowering costs, and strengthening KP’s role in regional commerce.
