In accordance with the Government of Pakistan’s vision of improving regional connectivity with Central Asian Republics, the National Logistics Corporation (NLC) conducted its 1^st direct shipment of cargo under the Agreement on Transit Trade between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Tajikistan, and the multilateral Transport Internationaux Routier (TIR) regime.

To mark the arrival of the convoy of three trucks in Dushanbe, a welcome ceremony was held at “Tajikvneshtrans” Terminal, Dushanbe on 1 April 2024. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Transport of the Republic of Tajikistan, Mr. Azim Ibrohim; Director General of NLC, Major General Farrukh Shehzad Rao; Pakistan's Ambassador to Tajikistan, Muhammad Saeed Sarwar; senior officials of the Tajik government; representatives of Association of International Automobile Carriers of the Republic of Tajikistan; and members of the local business community.

The Minister of Transport, in his remarks, welcomed the NLC consignment and underlined that the arrival of the first cargo convoy from Pakistan to Tajikistan is the result of the implementation of agreements between the two friendly countries. He opined that this initiative would provide more opportunities for Tajikistan to access the seaports of Karachi and Gwadar.

In his remarks, Director General NLC announced that with the arrival of the first TIR shipment from Tajikistan to Pakistan, the NLC had now connected all Central Asian Republics to Pakistan. Referring to NLC’s strong credentials in multimodal logistics services, the Director General offered NLC services for facilitating trade between Pakistan and Tajikistan.

Ambassador of Pakistan to Tajikistan congratulated the NLC for achieving another milestone by conducting the first shipment under the bilateral Agreement on Transit Trade and the multilateral framework of the TIR. Highlighting Pakistan’s potential as a regional hub for connectivity and trade, he invited the Tajik traders to use Pakistan’s seaports, which offer most efficient, shortest and economic route to connect with the markets in Middle East and beyond.

Following the reception ceremony, the two sides had delegation level talks at the Ministry of Transport. A range of issues were discussed in order to further enhance bilateral cooperation in areas of common interest. To this end, a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between the “National Logistics Corporation” of Pakistan and State Institution “Automobile Transport and Logistics Service” of Tajikistan to expand cooperation in the field of transport, logistics and transit trade.

The National Logistics Corporation is a government-owned organization that specializes in multimodal logistics and transportation services.

2 April 2024

Dushanbe