KARACHI: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed on Saturday to strengthen cooperation in the fields of customs and taxation to increase bilateral trade.
The development follows a 2019 visit by Saudi Customs Authority officials to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to discuss exchanging real-time information on the value of goods originating from Islamabad and Riyadh, and joint law enforcement measures to control illicit flows of currency and prevent drug trafficking.
On Saturday, Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Malki met with FBR chairman Muhammad Javed Ghani in Islamabad.
“It was agreed in the meeting that relevant departments of both countries would further promote the cooperation in the field of customs and tax and would learn from each other’s best practices which would result in increasing the trade volume between the two countries,” the FBR said in a statement after the meeting.
Pakistani businessmen said the development was a “step in the right direction.”
“The trade between the two countries could only be increased by easing out tax and custom procedures of both the countries,” Sardar Shahid Ahmed Laghari, chairman of the Pakistan‐Saudi Arabia Business Council of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), told Arab News, as he lauded the Saudi ambassador’s efforts to resolve the issues faced by the business communities of both the countries.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia strengthen customs, tax cooperation to enhance trade
https://arab.news/pr8dv
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia strengthen customs, tax cooperation to enhance trade
- Development follows a visit by Saudi Customs Authority officials to the Federal Board of Revenue in 2019
- Pakistani businessmen say strengthening cooperation is a ‘step in the right direction’
Pakistan army hits Afghan Taliban drone storage facility, ammunition depot in Jalalabad
- Around 435 Afghan Taliban fighters killed, over 630 injured in Pakistani military offensive, minister says
- Several countries, global bodies have urged both sides to exercise restraint since the conflict began last week
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army struck a drone storage facility and ammunition depot of Afghan Taliban in Jalalabad, a Pakistani security official said on Monday, following Pakistani strikes on more than 50 locations in Afghanistan amid ongoing hostilities between the neighbors.
Pakistan launched Operation ‘Ghazb lil Haq’ against Afghanistan on the night of Feb. 26 following an attack by Afghanistan on Pakistani military installations along their shared border.
The worst fighting between the two neighbors in years erupted after Pakistani airstrikes targeted what Islamabad called militant hideouts inside Afghanistan on Feb. 21-22, accusing Kabul of harboring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants behind the attacks on its soil. Afghanistan denies the charge.
A Pakistani security official, who requested anonymity, said the army was continuing “strong retaliatory action” against the Afghan Taliban and blew up multiple border posts, forcing them to abandon their positions.
“Pakistan forces are effectively targeting the bases and military installations of the Fitna Al-Khawarij and the Afghan Taliban,” he said.
“During the effective counter-operation of the Pakistani forces, the ammunition depot and drone storage site of Fitna Al-Khawarij (TTP) and the Afghan Taliban in Jalalabad was destroyed.”
Separately, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said more than 400 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed and over 630 wounded in the Pakistani military offensive so far.
Pakistan destroyed around 188 check posts and captured 31, according to a post on X by Tarar. Over 180 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns were also destroyed in Pakistani air raids at 51 locations across Afghanistan.
On Sunday, Pakistani state media shared a video of what it said were Pakistani soldiers crossing into Afghanistan in the northwest to capture an Afghan post. Pakistan has seized a 32-square-kilometer area of Afghanistan, another Pakistani security official said.
Afghan officials earlier said that dozens of Pakistani soldiers had been killed and several Pakistan posts had been captured by their forces. None of the casualty figures or battlefield claims from either side could be independently verified.
Since the conflict began last week, diplomatic efforts have intensified, with several countries and international bodies calling on both sides to exercise restraint.
The United Nations, along with China and Russia, has called for calm, while US President Donald Trump said Pakistan has the right to defend itself against cross-border militancy.
