PESHAWAR: The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry has sought help of Afghan consul general to release thousands of empty trucks and containers of Pakistani exporters stuck near the Torkham border for past many weeks.

According to a statement issued here on Saturday, the demand was made by a delegation of SCCI headed by Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, former senior vice president of Pak-Afghan Joint Chambers of Commerce and Industry, during a meeting with Najeebullah Ahmadzai, Afghan Consul General in Peshawar.

The delegation apprised him of the problems being faced by the Pakistani traders in Afghanistan.

The traders and the Afghan diplomats agreed to make joint efforts to remove the hurdles in Pak-Afghan trade.

The delegation, which also included Ahmad Shah Yarzada, informed the Afghan officials about the issues facing the business community, and also gave suggestions for amicable solution to the problems.

The Afghan diplomats agreed with the proposal of the delegation to strengthen bilateral and transit trade relations by removing impediments. The SCCI delegation said around 6,000 empty trucks and containers linked with Afghan transit trade had been stuck in Afghanistan, as a result, the exporters had toface extra chargesfor delayin handing over the containers to relevant companies.

The delegation suggested round the clock opening of Torkham and Chaman borders for trade activities.

The consul general and other officials assured to implement the proposal for promotion of mutual trade.

The traders expressed the hope that the efforts for boosting the bilateral trade and to resolve the longstanding demands of the business community would bear fruit.