Islamabad: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently completed its review of Pakistan’s border costs and procedures and issued a number of recommendations to improve the country’s trade-oriented logistical efficiency, according to a news report. These suggestions were released in a report issued by the bank after it measured and evaluated trade facilities in the nations falling under its Central Asia Regional Economic Corridor (CAREC) region.
Some of the areas of improvement the ADB identified were customs procedures, port congestion, and excessive inspections. High transport costs and long border-crossing times were also cited as issues that needed to be addressed. The Corridor Performance Measuring and Management (CPMM) unit evaluated that a 40ft shipping container travelling from Karachi to Jalalabad costs approximately USD 4,000 – translating to USD 1,320 per tonne over 50 kilometres.
ADB recommended some measures to resolve all these issues. The report stated that bringing private stakeholders on board in the development of the national transport policy would be beneficial. It also recommended the government to initiate a truck renewal programme, due to the prevalence of freight by road in Pakistan. This would reduce the costs of operations and improve the trucking sector’s profitability.
