PESHAWAR, March 25: A senior Afghan diplomat has complained that some Pakistani traders are exporting substandard medicines to Afghanistan that damages reputation of genuine exporters in the market.

During a meeting, Peshawar-based Afghan Consular General Syed Mohammad Ibrahimkhel told officials of Fata Civil Secretariat on Monday that Afghanistan imported medicines worth $40 million every year. The share of Pakistan in the export of medicines to Afghanistan was 95 per cent, he said.

There were complaints that some Pakistani traders were exporting substandard medicines to Afghanistan that was bringing bad name to genuine exporters, said a handout quoting the Afghan diplomat.

Mr Ibrahimkhel said that Afghanistan had become major market for Pakistani manpower and presently 60,000 to 70,000 skilled and unskilled workers were in Afghanistan with some of them were even earning up to $25,000 a month.

The meeting was called to discuss problems of the business communities from the two countries and suggest solutions in this regard. Representatives of Tribal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) were also present in the meeting.

Production Secretary Farukh Sair, Fata Investment Facilitation Authority (FIFA) Secretary Arshad Majid and TCCI president Zubair Ali also attended the meeting.

Both the sides agreed in principle to adopt effective measures to restore confidence of the business communities from both the countries and take practical steps to improve trade activities between the two countries with particular reference to Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Afghan diplomat said that building of a new Afghanistan was in the full swing and it provided golden opportunity to the Pakistani investors to invest in number of fields in the war-torn country.

“The Afghan markets have great potential for Pakistani traders, who can capture Afghan markets by introducing quality products of high standard,” he said.

Zubair Ali apprised Afghan consular general of some main issues confronting Pakistani business community specially traders of Fata with major being the Afghan visa policy which he said needed to be relaxed.

He called for facilitating Pakistani investors in getting lease of the coalmines in Afghanistan. Mr Ali complained of some security issues faced by Pakistani traders in Afghanistan.

He suggested issuance of business card by the Afghan authorities to the traders to facilitate their stay and trade activities in a peaceful atmosphere.