Pakistan China Khunjerab border reopened for trade
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Gilgit: The Pak-China border has been reopened for trade, which was closed due to a coronavirus outbreak.
After the consent of the Chinese authorities, the Foreign Office has also issued a notification to open the border.
According to the notification, the Pak-China border will be opened under strict SOPs.
It may be recalled that the Pak-China border was closed in January 2019 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
It was informed that more than 2,000 traders and hundreds of labourers were facing severe financial difficulties due to the closure of the Pak-China border.
According to the notification, all employees of Customs, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and anti-narcotics have been vaccinated to open the border.
In this regard, a trader said that it has been decided to unload the goods from China at the border instead of the dry port.
Hundreds of people involved in cross-border trade in both countries are facing economic hardship after trade and travel were suspended.
Earlier, the traders had appealed to the government to come up with a mechanism to reduce their losses by ensuring a smooth flow of business activities from the next season.
He said that since the closure of the border in 2020, the suspension of shipments related to the Pak-China Economic Corridor (CPEC) has resulted in a loss of Rs 8 billion in revenue to the exchequer.
Later, Mehboob Rabbani, president of the Hunza Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said that thousands of people, including traders, transporters, labourers and hoteliers, had been affected by the closure.
He had said that about 30% of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan depend on border trade.
And speaking of the Coronavirus situation in China, China has taken full control of the Coronavirus pandemic.
A further 27 cases were reported in China on May 31, with no deaths recorded.
So far, China has vaccinated more than 620 million people.
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