The Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MoCI), in a meeting held in Kabul on Sunday on supporting the world Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), said it will submit an official letter of complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the closure of business routes by Pakistan.
 
Pakistan closed its border a week ago. Although the deputy minister of Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Mohammad Qurban Haqjo, is optimistic of the reopening of the border in the near future, said the department will submit an official letter of complaint to the WTO.
 
“We will complain to the WTO. Currently our teams have gone to customs to observe the situation and show that borders are closed and travelers are stranded. Business traffic has stopped and we will calculate the losses that we have suffered because of border closure,” said Haqjo.
 
Meanwhile, officials of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) said the Trade Facilitation Agreement under the WTO will provide big opportunities for Afghanistan and that government should get the most out of these opportunities.
 
Once the agreement is implemented, it will increase the international trade exchange to one trillion dollars.
 
“You know that we are members of the WTO and that government should use the opportunities in developing sustainable progress,” said Abdul Qadir Bahman, deputy head of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce.
 
Officials of the MoCI, have however said that due to the challenges existed in the country, Afghanistan will in the following year be able to use the TFA agreement opportunities.
 
According to the ministry, currently the administrative issues regarding exportations takes 48 hours, while in other countries, it only takes three hours.