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Economic Press Review Kabul announces concessions for telecom investors Deleted items may be placed back on trade list Pakistan bans Afghan truckers' entry Food prices go up as import delayed: India wants access to Afghan market Pakistan, Afghanistan to sign accord on power supply Aziz due in Kabul on July 23 for JEC meeting $30m road project initiated in Helmand Pakistani PM to visit Afghanistan to discuss trade and security Pakistan to expand list of exports to Afghanistan Low tax ratio on imported goods harming local industry: Minister 900 licenses being issued to private entrepreneurs Dubai company offers holidays in Afghanistan Afghanistan launches regional air control center Incentives sought to raise trade with Kabul Tajikistan Moves To Set Up Fiber-Optic Network To Link Central Asia With Iran Top NWFP court allows urea exports to Afghanistan (Attached local press clippings)
Industrial Parks to provide
employment Press Clippings Kabul announces concessions for telecom investors By: Zainab Mohammadi KABUL, July 20 (Pajhwok Afghan News) The Afghan government Wednesday announced special concessions for private investors for extending telecom facilities to small towns and far-flung areas across the country. Announcement to this effect was made by Communications Minister Amirzai Sangin while speaking at a function organized by the Afghan Investment Support Agency (AISA) here. Besides others, the ceremony was attended by a number of private investors. The minister said special concessions like issuance of free licenses and fee waiver for one year would be extended to entrepreneurs who invest in provision of telecom facilities to people of the far-off areas. He said the government was planning to connect all parts of the country by extending the telephone facility to even smaller towns and backward and far-off districts of the country. The minister informed digital system had been working in 11 provinces under the government control, but they wanted the investors to come forward and extend the services to other provinces and areas of the country. "Connecting every village, town and district of the country through a communication network is our mission," said the minister, inviting investors to come forward to fulfill the mission. He said about four per cent of the country's total population had access to digital or mobile telephone. Officials at the ministry said the businessmen were free to select a province and personally establish communication network there. The government will link this network with digital system - the Afghan Telecom. The minister had previously said businessmen, who were eager to invest in the telecom sector, must have one million dollars capital with a promise to provide communication services to 50,00 people.
Deleted items may be placed back on trade list By: Pakhtun Sahar & Zainab Mohammadi ISLAMABAD/KABUL, July 20 (Pajhwok Afghan News) The Pakistan government Wednesday hinted at rethinking its decision on deleting six items including foodstuffs from the Afghan transit trade list. The articles struck off the transit trade list are cooking oils, cigarettes, automobile spares, tiers, television and telephone sets, which Islamabad complains are smuggled back to Pakistani markets. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, due in Kabul on July 23 for attending a meeting of the Pak-Afghan Joint Economic Commission (JEC), is likely to formally announce the inclusion of the products in the list. Dr. Salman Shah, advisor to the prime minister on economic affairs, said the two sides would confer on the six commodities before arriving at consensus on which products should remain on the transit trade list and which ones should be deleted. In an exclusive chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, he pointed out 24 items - often illegally brought back to Pakistan - had been excluded from the list governed by the 1965 Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA). But 18 of these items have since been placed back on the list over the last four years in the wake of the toppling of the Taliban government, the prime ministerial advisor explained. Commenting on the issue, Afghan Deputy Commerce Minister Ghulam Nabi Farahi said Kabul had urged Islamabad several times to reconsider the measure, but there had been no favorable response so far. "We are averse to trade restrictions in all manifestations and want an open regime for genuine businessmen," Farahi observed, arguing greater trade links would help bring the neighbors closer. Dr. Salman hoped the JEC session would give the go-ahead to plans for a cross-border bus service between Quetta and Kandahar and Peshawar and Jalalabad. The bus link is a longstanding public demand on both sides of the frontier. Meanwhile, an official at the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) confided to this scribe the JEC would also discuss an accord on electricity supply from Pakistan to Afghanistan.
Pakistan bans Afghan truckers' entry By Wagma Saba Aamir TORKHAM, July 20 (Pajhwok Afghan News) Pakistani border guards at Torkham Wednesday slapped a ban on the entry of Afghan trucks, a step that led to long queues of heavy vehicles parked on both sides of the road. The restriction comes hard on the heels of a 10-day protest by Pakistani truckers against the attitude of Afghan officials, who allegedly tease them on their way to Kabul. Beginning their protest from July 10, many Pakistani drivers staged a noisy demonstration in Khyber Agency to denounce the hurdles created to their loaded vehicles by Afghan police. They chanted slogans against Afghan authorities and hurled stones at the vehicles plying the road in the semi-autonomous Pakistani tribal region. But Sher Ahmad, an Afghan police official in the border town, justified the roadblocks placed in Sarobi to test the trucks' roadworthiness before they reached the bumpy mountain road. "Vehicles that manage to clear the hurdles are allowed to go ahead." He admitted the lorries failing to climb the mound were sent back to Torkham, because they could not ply the Lata Band Road - zigzagging through a long range of mountains. However, the weird arrangement has infuriated the Pakistani drivers, who have parked nearly 2,000 trucks on both sides of the road - long lines stretching from Ali Masjid to the Torkham border town. Pakistani border officials implied the ban on Afghan truckers' entry had been imposed in retaliation for unnecessary problems created for Pakistani drivers and transporters. "The ban went into effect from today and will remain in place as long as the two governments reach an agreement on how to deal with the situation," said Bakhtiar Momand, Torkham's assistant political agent (APA).
Food prices go up as import delayed: India wants access to Afghan market Dawn By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, July 19 The import of five essential items from India allowed in the first week of May has not materialized even after the passage of 75 days and prices of some of these items have almost doubled since. Informed sources told Dawn on Tuesday that New Delhi was unwilling to facilitate the import unless Islamabad granted it transit facility to export Indian products to Afghanistan through land route. So far, only 200 heads of livestock through land route to Lahore and about 60 containers of beef and mutton through ships to Karachi have been imported, said Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Dr. Ashfaq Hassan Khan. The import of the rest of items like onion, potato, tomato and garlic has not taken place so far. As a result, the potato prices have increased from Rs15 per kg in May to Rs40-45 per kg now. The prices of garlic have increased to Rs90-100 per kg against Rs40-42 per kg in May. However, the prices of tomato and onions have either stabilized or slightly reduced. When asked whether more than 150 animals being imported by a private party from India had been stuck up at the Wahga border due to quarantine problems, Dr Ashfaq said the first consignment of about 200 animals had reached Pakistan. He said big hotels in Karachi had already imported in the past few days 60-65 containers of beef and mutton through ships, each containing 11-12 tons of meat. The landed cost of both beef and mutton in Karachi averaged Rs80-82 per kg, he said. He claimed that these imports had already helped contain the rising trend in meat prices as the average price of mutton had declined from Rs199 per kg to Rs190-195 per kg. Sources in the statistics division said there had been a lot of correspondence between Pakistan and India on the matter. Finally, Indian authorities informed the Pakistanis that there was no need for a fresh permission for such imports because most of these items were already in the active trade list. A meeting presided over by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on May 3 had allowed duty- and tax-free import of five essential commodities, including one million heads of livestock for meat per year, from India at an estimated cost of over $40 million through rail and land routes. The decision was aimed at containing rising inflation. Meanwhile, sugar prices have increased to Rs32 per kg in the wholesale market against its production cost of Rs14 per kg. The sugar prices were slightly over Rs18 per kg in October 2004. Market sources said a group of five-six sugar manufacturers had purchased a bulk quantity of the commodity from the UAE, causing an increase in its prices in the international market as normally very limited stocks are available in Dubai. The government in the meanwhile decided to import refined sugar through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan at the rate of 100,000 tons per month for three months. Earlier, the TCP had procured about 600,000 tons of sugar from the market at a cost of Rs17 per kg and started selling it to the general public through the Utility Stores Corporation at Rs23 per kg. The sources said that the landed cost of sugar in Karachi would be around Rs25-26 and inland transportation and storage cost would add another Rs2-3 per kg to the retail price. Hence the private sector price of Rs32-33 would automatically stand legalized.
Pakistan, Afghanistan to sign accord on power supply Islamabad, July 19, IRNA Pakistan and Afghanistan will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on export of 50 megawatts of electricity to Afghanistan's Khost province. Some other agreements will be also signed during Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's upcoming visit to Afghanistan on July 24, local press reports said on Tuesday. Under the agreement, Pakistan would supply 50 megawatts electricity to Afghanistan's Khost province. The agreement would be signed on July 25, following finalization of documents by the Joint Economic Commission of both countries, the daily explained. Prime Minister Aziz would also inaugurate the Allama Iqbal Department at the Kabul University, Foreign Office said on Monday. The two countries' leadership were already working on developing Pak-Afghan qualified industrial zones at border areas for poverty reduction. Pakistan sought duty-free export of its products in these zones. Meanwhile, sources said that Pakistan is likely to remove the remaining six items from the negative list of Afghan Transit Trade. The sources said a two-member delegation including the CBR chairman and commerce secretary is scheduled to visit Kabul, before premier Aziz's visit there, to discuss the issue. Aziz due in Kabul on July 23 for JEC meeting By: Pakhtun Sahar ISLAMABAD, July 18 (Pajhwok Afghan News) Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will pay a two-day visit to Kabul from July 23 to attend a meeting of the Pak-Afghan Joint Economic Commission (JEC). At a news conference here on Monday, Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said besides other important engagements, Shaukat Aziz would meet President Hamid Karzai on a whole host of subjects. "Along with his Advisor on Economic Affairs Dr Salman Shah, the prime minister will participate in the JEC meeting in Kabul on July 23 and 24," revealed Jilani, who hinted the participants would mull increased two-way trade and expanded cooperation in different sectors. Apart from regional and global issues of mutual interest, Jilani told a questioner, Shaukat Aziz and Hamid Karzai would also confer on Pak-Afghan trade links and lasting peace in the conflict-crippled country. In response to a query, the spokesman observed in view of high-ranking Pakistani officials' visits to Kabul, the current month had a special significance in the context of good neighborly relations. Despite the existing tensions spawned by a spate of anti-Pakistan statements by Afghan leaders, Jilani hoped the prime ministerial trip would go a long way towards building bilateral confidence and forging closer links between the two Muslim nations.
$30m road project initiated in Helmand Abdul Samad Rohani LASHKARGAH, July 18 (Pajhwok Afghan News) Construction work on the 48 kilometers Lashkargah-Kandahar road kicked off the other day. The road, linking the provincial capital with the Herat-Kandahar Highway, is being constructed with $30 million assistance from the United States. Haji Mohiuddin, secretary to the Helmand governor, told Pajhwok Afghan News the contract for the road construction had been assigned to an Indian company, which would complete it in six months. Residents of the area have hailed initiation of the road construction work, saying it would solve their problems to a large extent. It will also help reduce the road fares. A van driver, Bulbul said dilapidated condition of the road often caused problems to commuters as well as transporters. When completed, the road will reduce one and a half hour distance to 20 minutes besides curtailing fares.
Dawn By our correspondent LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), July 18: Oil supply to Afghanistan remained suspended on Monday as oil tankers? strike entered eighth day after their representatives and officials of the Afghan government failed to reach an agreement on release of more than 100 oil tankers stranded in Afghanistan. A 12-member delegation of oil-tanker drivers association held a series of discussions with representatives of the Afghan government in Kabul and Jalalabad for restoration of supply of oil to Afghanistan. Afghan authorities in Latha Bund area had stopped more then one hundred oil tankers due to bad conditions of un-metalled road. The Afghan authorities had diverted traffic from the main Kabul-Jalalabad road to Latha Bund road due to construction of the main road. Amin Shah, a representative of the drivers, told Dawn that the 12-member delegation, including a representative of Khyber Agency political administration, had held talks with the governor of Nangrahar in Jalalabad and the minister for transport in Kabul but their talks remained inconclusive as the Afghan government officials insisted that only mechanically fit vehicles would be allowed into Kabul. Amin Shah, however, accused the Afghan traffic police in Latha Bund of demanding money from oil tanker drivers. He said that those who succumbed to their pressure were allowed to travel to Kabul. Meanwhile, the oil tankers association held a meeting in Landi Kotal and warned to stop all sorts of traffic to Afghanistan if their demands were not accepted.
Pakistani PM to visit Afghanistan to discuss trade and security AFP 18 July 2005 Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will visit neighboring Afghanistan this weekend to discuss trade and security issues, the foreign ministry said Monday. Aziz's visit starting Sunday will be his first since becoming premier in August last year, said ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani. "It is a very significant visit. During the visit all facets of bilateral relations, mainly economics and trade as well as security, will come up for discussion," Jilani said. Aziz will also lay the foundation stone for the Allama Iqbal faculty block at Kabul University. A Joint Economic Commission grouping the two countries will meet from July 23- 24 in Kabul before the visit. Jilani said economic and trade cooperation had seen an "impressive rise" in the last couple of years and bilateral trade was worth more than one billion dollars. Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Pakistan in March. But the two countries have recently traded accusations about which country is to blame for failing to catch militants linked to Al-Qaeda and to Afghanistan's toppled Taliban regime, who are believed to be hiding out in border areas. Pakistan has deployed about 70,000 troops along its border with southeastern Afghanistan to track down foreign militants in the tribal area. Taliban attacks in the south and east of Afghanistan have surged in recent months ahead of landmark parliamentary elections in September. Al-Qaeda and Taliban members fled to the deeply religious region after the Taliban regime, which was once backed by Pakistan, was toppled in late 2001 by US-led attacks. Pakistan to expand list of exports to Afghanistan Pak tribune (Pakistan) 18 July 2005 ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan has decided to expand the list of exports to Afghanistan under the new trade policy. Scheduled to be announced on July 21, the trade policy for the new financial year will allow addition of food and daily use items, including ghee and cooking oil to the list of exports to Afghanistan. A source in the Pakistan's Trade and Commerce Ministry confided to Pajhwok Afghan News Afghanistan was a vast market for Pakistani products and special attention had been focussed on trade with that country in the new policy. "Pakistan is planning to build big stores and godowns in Afghanistan to ensure rapid supply of its products to Afghan markets as and when the need arises," said the source. Low tax ratio on imported goods harming local industry: Minister Mustafa Basharat KABUL, July 17 (Pajhwok Afghan News) Minister for Mines and Minerals Mir Mohammad Seddiq Sunday suggested increase in the ratio of taxes on imported goods to improve the country's tattering economy. Speaking at a press conference here, the minister said the only way to encourage local entrepreneurs and boost domestic products was to increase the ratio of customs duties on imported goods. He said the local industry and investors were facing a threat due to the import of foreign goods. The local industrialists often complain the inflow of foreign goods were ruining the local industry as well as harming the country's economy. They are in favor of taxing the imported goods. Finance Ministry, however, say being hit by decades of conflict, domestic industry was unable to cater the country's rising demands. This is why more than 90 per cent goods are imported from abroad. Press officer of the ministry Aziz Shams told Pajhwok Afghan News prices of commodities would go up if ratio of taxes was increased on imported goods. He said the ultimate sufferer will be the people of Afghanistan. President of the Afghanistan International Chambers of Commerce (AICC) Hamid Qadri said hike in custom duty on imported goods was no solution to the problem. He suggested the government should provide relief to the local investors in terms of taxes on import of raw material and machinery. Finance 24 (South Africa) 17 July 2005 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has approved a $55m grant to rehabilitate the war-ravaged road network of Afghanistan. The grant will cover the 90km between the towns of Qaisar and Bala Murghab which is the last unpaved section of the national primary road, Mania-based ADB said. "The project area is one of the least developed areas that the ring road touches, and, due to its remoteness and extreme weather conditions, people living in the area are in need of continued aid and assistance in basic social services, which an improved road will help facilitate," the ADB said.
900 licenses being issued to private entrepreneurs Zainab Mohammadi KABUL, July 17 (Pajhwok Afghan News) In a bid to boost foreign and domestic investment and restore economic activity to the war-ravaged country, the government, over the last four months, has allowed 900 private companies to do trade and business in Afghanistan. The government had released same number of licenses to investors in the first six months of the last financial year indicating a rising trend in economic activity this year. The volume of investment stood at around $800 million the previous year, creating jobs for about 100,000 people. Shakib Noori, a senior official of the Afghan Investment Support Agency (AISA) told Pajhwok Afghan News on Sunday, about $200 million had been invested over the last four months, promising jobs for more than 37,000 people. He said most of the investors were Afghans, who had invested in construction, industrial, agricultural and other sectors. He added the investors and their projects were being registered under with the Commerce Ministry. Noori said a favorable atmosphere was taking roots in the country and the considerable increase in investment this year was the proof of government's efforts to provide maximum facilities to the investors. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, complained they were confronting problems like bureaucratic hurdles, high ratio of tariffs, law and order situation and non-availability of electricity and other facilities in pushing forward their businesses. It merits a mention here that the government had set the goal of achieving ten per cent economic growth for the current financial year. Dubai company offers holidays in Afghanistan Kashar News (Pakistan) 16 July 2005 A Dubai-based adventure tour company plans to take adventurous holidaymakers from the Gulf to Afghanistan despite the security situation, to aid reconstruction of the war-ravaged country. "The US State Department approached me to do adventure tours in the country as a way to restart the adventure tourism industry in Afghanistan," said Paul Oliver, founder and owner of Absolute Adventure, a company that specializes in adventure tours. He told Gulf News that Afghanistan was known for its mountain-trekking opportunities in the 1960s and 1970s before the Soviet invasion in 1979 and the US invasion in 2001."Since then, they haven't had many visitors due to the invasions," he added. Rashid Dr. Mohammadi, Afghanistan consul-general to Dubai, said Oliver's company was the only one in the Gulf that was providing adventure tours to his country, although he hoped others would follow. He said rebuilding the tourism industry in the resource-rich country would create many job opportunities for Afghans, who after two decades of war are suffering from poverty and unemployment. "It is the strategic priority of Afghanistan to stop depending on foreign aid. Tourism can help," he said, according to a gulfnews.com report on Saturday. While admitting that the security situation in Afghanistan is less than ideal, Mohammadi insisted that it is not as risky as some media organizations say. "A lot of the security incidents happen near the border so if they avoid it, they should be all right," he said. Oliver said every precaution would be taken to prevent any untoward incident to tourists in his group, including hiring locals as guides and interpreters. "The people in the group will have to stay on the route I chose so that they don't stray into a minefield and get blown up or something," he said. Oliver added that part of the income from the trip would go to educating street children in the Afghan capital Kabul. Afghanistan launches regional air control center July 16, 2005 COMBINED FORCES COMMAND AFGHANISTAN COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER KABUL , Afghanistan ?History was made for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan with the official opening of the Kabul Air Control Center on July 12 in a ceremony led by the second vice president of Afghanistan . ?This achievement offers significant potential for the people of Afghanistan to revitalize their military and commercial infrastructure in the 21st century, reaping the benefits of todays globalize world trade,? said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Allen G. Peck, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command?s Combined Forces Air Component, during the ceremony. The Kabul ACC took control of the high-altitude air routes over Afghanistan on May 15, servicing commercial airliners and cargo aircraft over-flying the country, and then took control of the low-level routes July 11. By July 15 Afghanistan had handled more than 10,000 aircraft in the high-altitude routes and 500 aircraft in the low-altitude routes. Each flight generates hundreds of dollars of revenue to improve infrastructure and promote the establishment of a comprehensive aviation structure for Afghanistan. The ceremony also inaugurated the installation of an instrument landing system at Kabul International Airport. The ILS allows aircraft to land in all types of weather. ?The Coalition maintains a commitment to support this achievement and all goals ensuring the speedy and effective transition of airspace control to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,? Peck said. The ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the July 11 milestone was hosted by Dr. Enayatullah Qasemi, Afghanistan?s minister of transport, at the Kabul International Airport terminal. Afghan school children kicked off the ceremony with traditional songs for the Afghan and U.S. government officials who attended, including Karim Khalili, Afghanistan?s second vice president. Institute for War & Peace By : Amanullah Nasrat in Kabul (ARR No. 178, 15-Jul-05) New government program plans to bring internet services to the masses.In a country where communications are often either poor or nonexistent, the Afghan government has launched a major effort to make internet access more widely available by introducing a digital wireless network. Currently operating only in the capital, the network will soon be available in 12 provinces and should be operational throughout the country by the end of the year, according to Communications Minister Amirzai Sangeen. So far, the government has spent 70 million US dollars on creating, and expects to spend another 50 million to complete the project this year. Sangeen said that 9,000 digital phones are ready to be connected to the network. Linking Afghanistan up via wireless internet connections is seen as vital to both economic and political development, as the government in Kabul continues to struggle to exert control over some provinces. "Trade centers, government offices, schools and other institutions will benefit from the internet network," said Sangeen. Deputy Communications Minister Baryalai Hasaam said the government had contracted two Chinese telecommunications companies ? ZPE and Huaway ? to build the network. In addition to providing improved communications for the government and private business, officials hope ordinary people, who until now have been unable to afford internet access, will benefit as well. Currently, access to the web is available through the internet cafes that dot Kabul. But prices, as much as one dollar an hour, mean using the internet is too expensive for most people in a country where civil servants and teachers often earn as little as 60 dollars a month. Although specific rates have yet to be set, the government plans to charge 30 per cent less than these private firms, and night-time rates could be as low as 20 cents per hour, said Sangeen. In addition to having their own computer, said Hasaam, customers will need to buy a wireless digital phone, costing between 140 and 160 dollars, and have it installed. They will also have to buy a pre-paid card that will provide them with a certain number of minutes. In addition, the government will impose a four-dollar-a month tax on such connections. Hasaam said the government plans to provide the first two months of service to new customers free of charge. Not everyone is happy with the new network. Hasaamuddin, who runs the Sabah Internet caf?in Kabul, said the lower costs offered by the government network will hurt his business. "This new system of the ministry of communications will damage our business by 50 per cent. People will get web access at a low price, and no one will walk through my internet caf?door any more," he said. But the Afghan Wireless Communications Company, one of the largest of the 12 private companies currently providing wireless communications in the country, said it welcomed the government?s new project. Mohammad Naeem Haqmal, a spokesman for the company, said, "We are in favor of peaceful competition. Whether it is the ministry of communications or other companies that are providing facilities to ordinary people it is still a kind of service." Incentives sought to raise trade with Kabul Dawn By Intikhab Amir PESHAWAR, July 15 Exports to Afghanistan can surpass the existing level of $1 billion if the Pakistan-funded Torkham-Jalalabad highway is completed soon and the export of products high in demand in the Afghan market is facilitated through effective policy measures at the federal government level, trade and business circles say. Businessmen are of the view that Pakistani products had comparative advantage over those of its competitors in terms of capturing the Afghan market. But Pakistan might witness this advantage slipping out of its hand because of increasing competition from Indian, Chinese and Iranian products which, according to the Peshawar-based businessmen, had already captured a considerable chunk of the growing consumer market in the war-torn country. ?We should capitalize on the advantage we have as Afghans, after having lived for 30 years in Pakistan, have developed a special taste for our products,? said Ghulam Sarwar Momand, former president of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). He said the government should take effective measures to curb the smuggling of poplar trees to Afghanistan. If the government?s agencies managed to rectify the situation, then the NWFP-based match factories would have a greater chance of strengthening their grip over the Afghan market. ?Because of poplar trees? smuggling to Afghanistan, local match manufacturers are not left with much raw material, and therefore cannot meet the Afghan market?s demand side by side feeding the local market,? said Bakhtiar Ahmed, manager of a match manufacturing unit. Mr. Momand said that apart from the match manufacturing sector, the NWFP-based pharmaceutical manufacturers had good prospects of increasing their business with Afghanistan. ?The government should take measures to facilitate exports of medicines to Afghanistan for which the ministry of health would need to play a proactive role in facilitating the local manufacturers,? said Mr. Momand. Exports of medicines to Afghanistan via NWFP have recorded a substantial increase during the last two years. The exports of medicines to Afghanistan jumped to Rs192 million in 2004-05 from Rs104 million in 2003-04. In 2002-03, medicine exports via NWFP was worth a mere Rs25 million. ?We still have an opportunity to capture the medicine market in Afghanistan and counter the increasing presence of Indian and Iranian products by reducing transportation cost and giving incentives to the NWFP-based pharmaceutical sector,? said Mr. Momand.Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, a Peshawar-based freight dealer, urged the federal government to give subsidy on freight meant for Afghanistan. ?The Indian government has given duty drawback facility to its transporters dealing with Afghanistan that has reduced the transportation cost, giving a comparative advantage to its exporters to compete with products imported by Afghanistan from Pakistan and other countries of the region,? Mr. Sarhadi said. He said that Pakistani exporters were constrained to bear higher transportation cost than their competitors from India who, despite lacking access to Afghanistan through direct land routes, were paying much less than the cost met by the Peshawar-based exporters. Tajikistan Moves To Set Up Fiber-Optic Network To Link Central Asia With Iran (Avesta, Tajikstan) 15 July 2005 Dushanbe, - Tajikistan will connect Central Asian countries with Afghanistan and Iran via fibre-optical cable, Tajik Minister of Communications Said Zubaydov has told a news conference summing up the ministry's work in the first half of 2005. He said the ministry had started looking for a preferential credit to implement the project. Currently, the ministry is holding talks on the allocation of credits with representatives from Shanskiy [as published; presumably Shanghai] Cooperation Organization and the Swiss Euro management company. The minister also noted that the implementation of the "Transport telecommunications network in Tajikistan" project will make it possible to transmit Tajik TV and radio programs to all the countries in the Central Asian region. Top NWFP court allows urea exports to Afghanistan By: Pakhtun Sahar ISLAMABAD, July 14 (Pajhwok Afghan News) A top court in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) has ruled in favor of continued chemical fertilizer exports to Afghanistan. The Peshawar High Court (PHC) handed down the verdict allowing fertilizer supplies to the neighboring country after hearing exhaustive arguments from lawyers for an export company. A two-member bench comprising Justices Shah Jehan Khan and Mohammad Raza Khan announced the decision on a petition the Shahzad Enterprises had filed to challenge a ban on fertilizer supplies to Afghanistan by the company. Ishaq Ali, a counsel for the export firm, told Pajhwok Afghan News the federal minister for commerce and trade had initially permitted the Shahzad Enterprises to export urea fertilizer to the war-ravaged country. "But the minister later revoked the no-objection certificate (NOC) issued to my clients for fertilizer supplies from the NWFP to Afghanistan," said the lawyer, who saw no rhyme or reason for the ministerial decision. The company, which had inked a string of agreements with Afghan traders, ran into trouble as a result of the scrapping of the NOC, the defense counsel argued, saying the credibility of many firms involved in the deals had eroded. However, the PHC judgment has paved the way for the Shahzad Enterprises resuming urea supplies to Afghanistan, where many people are reliant on farming. Via Afghan Press Monitor Published by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (No 110, 14 Jul 05) (The Kabul Times) A new air traffic control system at Kabul International Airport was inaugurated by the second vice president, Mohammad Karim Khalili on July 12. The system cost three million US dollars and was funded by the World Bank. Transport Minister Enayatullah Qasemi said that with the installation of the system, Kabul will be able to communicate with high-altitude aircraft. (The Kabul Times is a state-run newspaper published every other day.)
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