Pakistan signed a protocol with Afghanistan on Thursday for the three-month extension to Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) 2010 to continue the facility for the landlocked country.
Two of the countries have already exchanged drafts to revise the APTTA and it will be finalized later. Both parties showed their satisfaction on the extension of the agreement and the technical teams will be further decided to conclude the revised agreement soon.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Razak Dawood and Afghan Minister of Industry and Commerce Nisar Ahmad Ghoriyani signed the protocol on behalf of their respective countries.
The signing of protocol was held through video link respectively from Kabul and Islamabad.
According to an official announcement, Mr Dawood said that trade and economic relations with Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs) would make Pakistan a hub for trade, transit and transshipment.
“Our trade must be based on secure, open, consistent, reliable and legal movement of goods at the Afghan border along with enhanced connectivity with Afghanistan and CARs,” he said.
During the meeting, Pak-Afghan relations and the political situation in the region and issues of mutual interest also came under discussion.
