PESHAWAR: Following a notification by the federal government, authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have made arrangements to open two more transit trade routes with Afghanistan in the country’s northernmost Chitral district, officials and traders said on Wednesday.

According to a notification released on Tuesday, the provincial administration would open transit trade routes, known as Dorah Pass (near Shah Saleem border) and Arandu Pass, in Chitral district to enhance bilateral trade between the two countries.

Talking to Arab News, Tanveer Ahmad, a senior customs officer, said people of the Shah Saleem border areas had been demanding operationalization of the route, adding it would positively impact economic activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Expressing satisfaction over the decision, President of Chitral Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sartaj Ahmed Khan said thousands of people from both countries were associated with the business of precious stones and the opening of the border points would give a boost to commercial activities in the region.

“Our traders export and import warm clothes, gemstone, rugs, herbs, wool, dried fruit and other goods,” Khan added.

He expressed optimism that opening of the new routes would increase business activities up to Central Asia due to the geostrategic location of Chitral that shares border with Afghanistan’s Kunar, Badakhshan and Nuristan provinces.

Khan recalled that the two border crossing in Chitral had to be shut down for years owing to security challenges in the region, adding that the area witnessed trade worth billions of rupees in the past.

Bashir Hussain Azad, a leading trader in Chitral, told Arab News that most of the businessmen in the area depended on trade with neighboring Afghanistan, and the government’s decision to open the border at two strategically significant points would bring economic prosperity to thousands of families.

“This is the shortest possible way to Tajikistan. Apart from that, access to China is also easier through these routes. The business community in the area views it as a step taken toward durable development and prosperity,” Khan observed.