May 12, 2021 :First-ever truck laden with goods from Uzbekistan under the convention of International Transport of Goods arrived in Pakistan earlier today. Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razzaq Dawood said. 

“MOC is pleased to inform that a new milestone has been achieved with the first-ever truck from Uzbekistan reaching Pakistan under the TIR Convention. This was the result of collaboration between the transport companies of the two sides,” he said in a tweet.

Earlier this month, Pakistan also sent its first successful shipment to Uzbekistan in a bid to initiate cross-border trade between the two countries. 

The adviser further said “This follows the successful shipment of first-ever cargo from Pakistan to Uzbekistan earlier this month. This is the beginning of a new era where trucks from both sides will take trade cargo using Karachi and Gwadar ports.”

Pakistan for long has been trying to increase cross-border trade with the central Asian republics ever since the launch of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The idea is to allow the landlocked cars to use its ports and roads in order to transport goods through the Gwadar and Karachi ports. 

Earlier, Pakistan customs had processed first-ever shipment to Tashkent via Afghanistan under the TIR convention. Afghanistan, which is part of the multilateral treaty will allow movement of goods through its borders duty-free. 

Around 77 countries are a part of this convention allowing duty-free movement of goods through the borders. 

Pakistan with its strategic geolocation has the benefit to tap into the land-locked CAR states in the northern region allowing them to trade through its ports. 

The Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention, 1975) is one of the most successful international transport conventions and is so far the only universal Customs transit system in existence. 

To date, it has 77 Contracting Parties, including the European Union. It covers the whole of Europe and reaches out to North Africa and the near and Middle East. More than 33,000 operators are authorized to use the TIR system and around 1.5 million TIR transports are carried out per year.