PESHAWAR - The business community has called for the removal of impediments to give further boost to the trade and economic relations between Tajikistan and Pakistan, and also other regional countries; especially, they have demanded earlier implementation of the Central Asian and South Asia (CASA-1000) project to meet the growing demands of energy in the country, said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI) President Zulfiqar Ali Khan on Friday.
Speaking to Tajikistan’s Ambassador to Pakistan Jononov Sherali, the KPCCI president said that not only the visa process should be made easier to enhance bilateral trade between Tajikistan and Pakistan, but Pak-Afghan transit trade mechanism should also be made simpler. “Other hurdles should also be done away with,” he emphasised.
Tajikistan’s Commercial Attaché Maruf Jon, Honarory Consul General of Tajikistan Engr Saeed Mahmood and KPCCI office-bearers were also present during the meeting. Zulfiqar said that (CASA-1000) was a significant power generation project, which could not only promote trade relations with Tajikistan, but would also help cope with the growing energy crisis in the country.
“KP is a golden-gate into Afghanistan and the Central Asian countries, Zulfiqar said, adding that all such factors should be removed which hampered trade relations between the regional countries. He especially stressed taking proactive steps on the official level.
The KPCCI president pointed out that quite a large potential existed to increase the existing trade volume of 89 million dollars, between Tajikistan and Pakistan, to 500 million dollars.
He stressed the need for trade agreements to give further boost to trade relations between the two friendly countries. He hoped that Pak-Tajik trade and culture festival would play a vital role in the promotion of trade ties between the two countries.
Speaking on the occasion, the Tajikistan ambassador said that his country gave lot of importance to its economic and trade relations with Pakistan. He asked the Pakistani investors to derive maximum mileage out of the opportunities existed in various sectors in Tajikistan.
He invited the KP investors to participate in the upcoming festival, which would be held from April 7 to April 11, 2016 in Dushanbe.