Slow Clearance and difficulties of Pak-Afghan Transit Trade

Ports in Pakistan come into use for delivering goods to local community as well as to neighboring Afghanistan. The country being landlocked has only way out for sea trade and it is through Pakistan.

A good share of total cargo at the major port of the country is for the country on western borders. Exactly forty percent import orders are of that very nation so snail-like movement of containers would make it more congested throughout on route.

Recent terrorist attacks pushed authorities for severe steps that include border sealing too and that resulted in slow down in clearance of cargo at Pak-Afghan borders. Ultimately a pileup on Karachi port is inevitable that has made further unloading quite slow.

The transit trade always suffer when such attacks happen in either countries that is why peace is in interest of the two and both must coordinate at all levels to eradicate this menace immediately.

Long Queues and Limited Scanning Facilities

Custom authorities at borders are unable to scan long queues of trucks with containers so at every stage difficulties are there that should have been tackled for possible increase in trade volume.

With China-Pakistan Economic Corridor definite improvement in trade is expected and to deal with it train is the best source. American General Electric has showed interest in providing locomotives to Pakistan Railways.

With this step it becomes possible to supply required fuel to power stations more efficiently and also to deliver imports to major cities without any delay. Infrastructure development is key to sustainable economic development that involve goods transportation at massive scales so all means must have required capacity to play their respective roles in progress.

Demurrage and increased cost of imports

The situation damages interests of importers as they are bound to pay demurrage for not discharging ships bringing cargo from UK to Pakistan. Increase in cost is major worry and delay in delivery is another for trade companies so instant clearance is demanded.

Concerns of national security are the top priority and cannot be put on stake for any reason whatsoever. The other charges that have been added due to this problem are port charges for holding goods in stores for longer periods.

Thousands of commercial containers are transported to Afghanistan every year and worth of this activity is hundreds of millions of dollars.

First in South Asian Nations

Pakistan would be first South Asian nation that would have evolution series train engines and with such modern technology it would be able to strengthen its means to carry goods from ports to all major parts of the country.

Improved fuel efficiency would lower down cost of the service and lengthy overhaul cycle results in better impact on environment by essential freight transport source in a developing nation.

In this year fifty-five locomotives will be delivered and couple of them reached last month to come in use without any delay. All will come to Karachi port in different phases throughout this year and hopefully till end all will become functional on different routes all over the country to offer excellent cargo services.