ISLAMABAD, Feb 16: Pakistan and Afghanistan will jointly establish qualified industrial zones (QIZs) in border areas in an effort to reduce poverty and eradicate the menace of extremism.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai stated this while responding to a question following a speech to the members of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Thursday.

Mr Karzai said that though the proposal was at an initial stage but his government had already sought United States help for establishing QIZs.

During the recent visit of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to the United States the proposal for QIZs also came under discussion.

The proposed QIZs would be established on the pattern of Israel-Jordan QIZ model to generate employment in remote areas of both Pakistan and Afghanistan to reduce poverty and improve the living standards.

The Afghan president said that goods produced in these zones could be exportable to all countries particularly to the US duty-free or at preferential customs duty.

Pakistan could unilaterally establish factories in the QIZs or it could establish them in Afghanistan in collaboration with the Afghan government.

Answering a question, the Afghan president said that the bottlenecks in the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) would be removed and the issue would be considered at a commerce ministry level meeting.

Responding to a proposal of the ICCI about the preferential trade agreement (PTA), Mr Karzai said that it would also be considered in that meeting. “We are ready to sign PTA with Pakistan to increase bilateral trade,” the president added.

“Nothing serves better the nation than exchange of goods,” he remarked. For this both countries have to increase their current volume of trade, he added.

Earlier, in his speech the Afghan president said that Pakistan’s export to Afghanistan may cross $1.5 billion mark this year as demand for Pakistani goods was rising.

He attributed the growth in exports to stability and peace in Afghanistan during the last four years which helped in creating demand for goods particularly for reconstruction purposes. “At the time of Taliban, Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan was in the range of $25 million,” he added.

“We are building our infrastructure and we need raw materials. For import of these goods Pakistan is our immediate neighbour,” he said. He also quoted massive growth in Pakistan’s export of cement to Afghanistan during the last years.

Karzai said that Afghanistan was currently providing employment to a large number of Pakistani skilled workers mostly in the re-construction activities.

He also invited investment from Pakistan. “We would provide every protection right from corruption practices and cumbersome procedures,” the president assured.

He particularly invited investment in the industrial sector. He said that Afghanistan would provide links to Pakistani products for export to Central Asian Republics (CARs).

The president said that Pakistani brands should come first to the Afghan markets.