Afghanistan-Pakistan Trade: Basing the Future on Land-based Commerce

Abstract

This policy brief, while focusing on Afghanistan-Pakistan will take the subject well beyond the exchange of goods and commodities between these two neighbors. It will suggest for trade to become a real driver of growth and social improvement in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, for which a significant paradigm shift will be required. It envisages the development of land based commerce linking not only the two countries but other landlocked countries in Central Asia as well. Five of these are spread over an enormous landmass with no access to open seas. Linking them with western parts of China and providing better access to Afghanistan and through it to Pakistan and South Asia will lead to the development of new trade routes and industries and other economic activities that will contribute to the inevitable increase in trade. We also believe that Afghanistan's economic and trade prospects could increase dramatically if the country's economy could be embedded in the geographic region of which it is a part. To begin with links with Pakistan and to a lesser extent with India and Iran could be improved and expanded to Central Asia.