Pakistani traders expect better business with Afghanistan under Taliban-led government
Business leaders see improved business environment after new, inclusive govt
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan could prove beneficial for trade with Pakistan, members of the country’s business community have said.
The chairman of the PakistanAfghanistan Joint Chambers of Commerce said he believed Pakistani traders would be able to “capture” the Afghan market after a new government was formed in the neighboring country.
In a matter of weeks, the Taliban have seized most of Afghanistan as well as any weapons and equipment left behind by fleeing Afghan forces. They also control border crossings with Pakistan at Torkham and Chaman, from where most trade between the two countries takes place.
Last week, Pakistani traders said commercial traffic across the Spin Boldak/Chaman crossing had picked up as the shock of the Taliban’s lightning seizure of power began to ease and confidence returned.
They said truckloads of agricultural produce from Kandahar province were being driven across the border, a sign that trade was beginning to return to normal. Movement was strong in both directions.
Zubair Motiwala, chairman of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News he expected a change of regime in Afghanistan to be “transformative” in terms of trade policy.
“It will be easier for us to travel to Afghanistan more frequently to make investments,” he said. “Our money will be more secure, and we will be in a better position to capture the market after the government is fully formed in Kabul.”
Years of violence, instability and corruption have crippled Afghanistan’s economy, making it difficult for businesses to flourish and keeping much of the population impoverished.
Pakistani business leaders like Motiwala are now pinning their hopes on a more peaceful and stable Afghanistan and a better business environment once a new government is formed. They believe trade with Pakistan was not a priority for the last government of President Ashraf Ghani, which was considered close to Pakistan’s arch-rival India. Businessmen hope that the Taliban, who have long maintained close ties with Islamabad, will be more open to business.
Motiwala also said rampant corruption, endless conflict between warring factions and control of many
areas of the country by militias and warlords had hindered trade with Pakistan in the past. But things were already changing, he said.
“Trade has already increased with enhanced movement of containers at the border,” the businessman said.
‘200 percent increase’
An association of oil tanker owners in Pakistan reported a more than 200 percent increase in the movement of trucks across the country’s border with Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover.
“During the reign of the previous administration, about 70 to 80 vehicles would cross the borders from both sides, but the number has now increased to about 250 trucks a day,” the association’s spokesperson, Israr Ahmed Shinwari, told Arab News. “The process of clearance at borders has also become easier and our cost has drastically reduced due to the elimination of corrupt practices.”
Corruption in Afghanistan is endemic and has penetrated nearly all parts of the Afghan state, adversely affecting the government’s ability to maintain security for its citizens and deliver basic public services. Corruption is also embedded in social practices, with patronage politics and bribery an acceptable part of daily life. The large influx of money and poor oversight of contracting and procurement related to the international presence over the last two decades is believed to have exacerbated the problem.