Dry ports help in increasing exports and are not a source of smuggling claims Muhammad Ishaque

Dry ports help in increasing exports and are not a source of smuggling claims Muhammad Ishaque

Saturday, February 4, 2012: Muhammad Ishaque , Sialkot Dry Port Trust Chairman, in an interview claimed that dry ports in Sialkot are a source of increasing export and are not used for inappropriate works, such as smuggling.

Dispelling the view prevailing in business class of Pakistan, Ishaque said, “It is just a perception that dry ports are involved in smuggling whereas the reality is entirely different.”

Ishaque divulged that these false claims nearly brought an end to dry ports had it not been for the former president General Pervez Musharraf, who visited the Sialkot dry port and stopped all efforts to lock the dry ports. The
Sialkot Dry Port Trust Chairman said, “The belief was so strong that at one time the government was going to shut down all dry ports of the country.”

Supporting his claim, Butt said about 98 per cent of commercial imports came through the country’s seaports and only two per cent import cargo was handled by dry ports. Even 2 per cent was doubtful and the figure may be even below
this level.

“The fact that only two per cent of total imports come through dry ports is enough to dispel the perception that dry ports are facilitating smuggling, otherwise this percentage would have been 10 or 15 per cent,” he stressed.

Established in 1985, the Sialkot Dry Port, by exporters of the city, was the first private-sector dry port in Pakistan as well as Asia, a new concept for the private sector at that time. Today, there are seven private-sector dry
ports operating in the country.

Butt, who is also a former president of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the dry port had immensely helped improve exports from Sialkot and other industrial cities of the region.

According to export figures of 2011, Sialkot was leading the triangle with $1.35 billion of exports, of which the dry port handled around 75 per cent.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=11791

Posted by Wajahat Javed on Feb 5 2012. Filed under Business, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry