PAKISTANI transport operator, TCS Logistics, has received a Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) carnet from IRU member, PNC-ICC. This marks the first Pakistan TIR transport from Karachi heading to Kabul via Peshawar and Jalalabad.
This development follows recent meetings in Istanbul between Afghanistan and Pakistan - where TIR was highlighted as the customs standard to facilitate transport and transit between the two countries and the two TIR stakeholders agreed to initiate test operations from Karachi to Kabul and vice versa, reported AJOT.
Savings in time and costs have already been reported by an Afghan transport operator, which sent three trucks from Torkham, Afghan-Pakistan border crossing point, to Dushanbe, Tajikistan using TIR. TIR was also particularly useful in avoiding large transshipment costs at the border with Tajikistan.
IRU secretary general Umberto de Pretto said: 'With the TIR system now live in Pakistan, we will see the potential unleashed for Pakistan to become a pivotal transit country linking China to the Middle East and Africa.'
Pakistan Customs transit trade director general Muhammad Javed Ghani said: 'The TIR system offers a solution for harmonised processes at borders across the region and we should now see cross border transport and transit become much more streamlined and secured.'
'We are delighted to see the first TIR trucks leaving Karachi,' added PNC-ICC chair Tariq Rangoonwala. 'This is the next milestone in our strategy to streamline transport and trade in the region, which will benefit the economies and the communities along these corridors in Pakistan and beyond.'
Next steps include the activation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under the TIR system, which will connect China with the Middle East and Africa.
In addition, the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad trade corridor, which has the potential to link Pakistan to the markets of Iran, Central Asia, Turkey and eventually Europe will be activated under the TIR system that saw the first inbound TIR operation from Iran to Pakistan earlier this year.
This development follows recent meetings in Istanbul between Afghanistan and Pakistan - where TIR was highlighted as the customs standard to facilitate transport and transit between the two countries and the two TIR stakeholders agreed to initiate test operations from Karachi to Kabul and vice versa, reported AJOT.
Savings in time and costs have already been reported by an Afghan transport operator, which sent three trucks from Torkham, Afghan-Pakistan border crossing point, to Dushanbe, Tajikistan using TIR. TIR was also particularly useful in avoiding large transshipment costs at the border with Tajikistan.
IRU secretary general Umberto de Pretto said: 'With the TIR system now live in Pakistan, we will see the potential unleashed for Pakistan to become a pivotal transit country linking China to the Middle East and Africa.'
Pakistan Customs transit trade director general Muhammad Javed Ghani said: 'The TIR system offers a solution for harmonised processes at borders across the region and we should now see cross border transport and transit become much more streamlined and secured.'
'We are delighted to see the first TIR trucks leaving Karachi,' added PNC-ICC chair Tariq Rangoonwala. 'This is the next milestone in our strategy to streamline transport and trade in the region, which will benefit the economies and the communities along these corridors in Pakistan and beyond.'
Next steps include the activation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under the TIR system, which will connect China with the Middle East and Africa.
In addition, the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad trade corridor, which has the potential to link Pakistan to the markets of Iran, Central Asia, Turkey and eventually Europe will be activated under the TIR system that saw the first inbound TIR operation from Iran to Pakistan earlier this year.