ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani delegation is paying a 3-day (July 18-20) visit to Kabul for negotiations with the interim Afghan government for resolution of trade, transit and transportation issues facing the two sides, including night-time operations of border facilities for coal imports.

The delegation will be led by Secretary Commerce Sualeh Ahmed Faruqui and comprise senior officials of the ministries of power, interior, commerce and the Federal Board of Revenue and National Logistics Cell — the state-run logistic fleet operator, a statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday.

“Bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade, transit, transport facilitation and border facilitation will be discussed during the meetings between Pakistani and Afghan officials in Kabul”, the Ministry of Commerce said, adding that issues being faced by traders in bilateral and transit trade between the two countries will also be discussed during the talks.

The meeting is a continuation of an ongoing process of bilateral engagements between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the fields of trade, transit, connectivity and economic cooperation, it added.

Pakistan decided a couple of days ago to relax trade conditions with Afghanistan, including barter trade and transactions in Pakistani rupee and wants border facilities to operate round the clock to facilitate coal imports from Afghanistan throughout the night. At present, trade facilities at border points operate only during day time and most of the time is consumed in movement of people and import of Afghan fruits and vegetables into Pakistan.

The federal cabinet on Friday approved amendments in Paragraph 3(1) of the Import Policy Order 2022 to allow import of goods of Afghan origin against Pak rupee and without the requirement of Importers Electronic I-Form (EIF) forms for a period of one year. However, Afghan exporters will provide a Certificate of Origin issued by Afghan Customs proving that the goods have originated from Afghanistan.

The decision was taken in view of political and economic situation in Afghanistan. The absence of formal banking infrastructure transactions had badly impacted the trade between the two countries. Afghanistan would benefit from the relaxation that has already been in place for 14 items since April 14 this year to facilitate Afghan traders exporting fruits to Pakistan.

Also, on the request of the World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations, Pakistan has made a reservation of 120,000 tonnes of wheat for Afghanistan from the imported wheat stock of PASSCO on the latest import price in view of the situation in the brotherly neighbour and on humanitarian ground.

The amount of supplied wheat along with cost and incidentals would be charged in US dollar. The wheat will be locally ground into flour and supplied to Afghanistan by WFP, subject to relaxation of ban on the export of flour to the extent of the instant proposal of 120,000 tonnes of wheat, an official announcement said.

Earlier this month, Pakistan started importing coal from Afghanistan for its power plants, particularly 1,320MW Sahiwal Coal Power Project in Punjab in view of record making coal prices in the international market.

Power Minister Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan had reported on July 7 that a major progress on import of coal from Afghanistan had been made and 1,320MW Sahiwal Coal Power Project had reached an agreement with a private Afghan entity for coal supplies with active facilitation of Pakistan and Afghan governments. According to the power minister, another 1,320MW China-Hubco Coal Power Plant was in negotiation for the procurement of Afghan coal.

Mr Khan had, however, declined to share the details of the agreement, saying these would become public once these were submitted to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) for tariff approval. The minister had confirmed that the Afghan government had increased duty on coal export from $90 to $200 per tonne and still it was cheaper than international imports from elsewhere as coal prices had gone beyond $400 per tonne from $90 a few months ago. He said that the best thing was that the trade would be in Pak rupee which will help the government in saving foreign exchange.

The Pakistani delegation will hold discussions with Afghan authorities on how to streamline coal supplies on permanent basis and would request the interim Afghan government to ensure round-the-clock border operations to ensure uninterrupted coal supplies, particularly in the night. The delegation would also raise the issue of incre­ased duties on coal supplies to Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2022