ISLAMABAD/ASTANA – In a significant milestone for trade relations, Kazakhstan has successfully sent its first transit consignment to Pakistan via the Afghanistan Route, marking a new era of trade between the two countries.
The landlocked country has sent several trucks on a new trade route to Islamabad through Afghanistan in a pilot mode as part of a recently launched project, the country’s Vice Minister of Trade and Integration Kairat Torebayev said.
In the initial phase, Astana is in talks with a Pakistani logistics firm that will safely ensure trade between the two countries.
Cargo from Central Asia to South Asia and back travels nearly 4,000 kilometers, and the road trade route holds huge potential for regional development.
Kazakhstan reaffirmed to bolster cooperation with Pakistan, and other nations to supply flour and grain to Afghanistan.
The country further offered a discount on the transit of goods through the territory of Turkmenistan in the direction of Afghanistan, reports suggest.
Kabul allows Astana to gain access to Pakistan and its seaports of Karachi, which is said to improve trade ties between the two sides.
Pakistan and Kazakhstan hold bilateral trade relations, as countries are members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) engaged in various trade activities. The major items of trade between two sides included textiles, cotton yarn, rice, and pharmaceutical products, oil and gas, minerals, and metals.
