KABUL, 2 April, 2021 (TON): On Thursday, Afghanistan signed a protocol for a three-month extension of the Afghanistan–Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement 2010 (APTTA) to facilitate the movement of goods between the two countries.

Both the countries signed the protocol virtually, simultaneously at Kabul and Islamabad, between Pakistan’s Commerce and Investment Advisor Abdul Razaq Dawood and Afghanistan’s Industry and Commerce Minister Nisar Ahmad Ghoriyani.

The Afghan embassy said in a statement, “Both sides expressed satisfaction with the extension of the agreement and decided that the technical teams of the two countries will conclude the revised agreement soon.”

“Our trade must be based on the secure, open, consistent, reliable, and legal movement of goods at the Afghan border along with enhanced connectivity with Afghanistan & CARs,” he added.

However, the trade and economic relations between the two countries and with the other Central Asian Republics is making Afghanistan a hub for trade, transit, and transshipment with the rest of the world, although the violence in the country is increasing, however in a hope to halt discomfort.