News
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to establish rail links* MoU signed for feasibility study for Torkham-Jalalabad, Chaman-Spinboldak-Kandhar rail links
By Sajid Chaudhry
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for establishing the Torkham-Jalalabad and Chaman-Spinboldak-Kandhar rail links.
The MoU, covering feasibility studies for both the projects, was signed by Federal Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and Afghan Finance Minister Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal on Wednesday.
However, both countries failed to break the deadlock over the transit facility for Indian goods that would be sent to Afghanistan via Pakistan under the proposed Afghan -Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA).
According to a joint communique issued at the end of a meeting between Pakistani and Afghan finance ministers in Islamabad, issues of business-to-business cooperation, Afghan-Pakistan transit trade and railway links were discussed in the meeting.
The meeting was inaugurated by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. In his welcome address, the minister expressed the hope that the dialogue would help bolster trade ties between the two countries.
Speaking on the occasion, the Afghan finance minister highlighted the importance of Pakistan for his country, and urged the Pakistani business community to avail the business opportunities in Afghanistan.
A meeting of the businessmen from both the countries was also held to promote trade between the two countries.
From the Pakistani side, businessmen, members of the construction industry, exporters, motorcycle manufacturers and representatives of the mining industry took part in the meeting.
The Afghan minister offered to take the process further and proposed a larger meeting to be held in Kabul along with an exhibition of Pakistani products.
Discussions on APTTA were held in the context of achieving larger economic cooperation between the two countries. Six rounds of negotiations were earlier held over the issue.
The statement said that “considerable progress” was made over the issue and both sides agreed to continue discussions on remaining issues to achieve complete agreement.
Both sides also agreed to start work on feasibility reports on the Torkham-Jalalabad and Chaman-Spinboldak-Kandhar rail connections.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk