One year after the closure of the Torkham border, business communities, customs clearing agents and local residents are facing severe economic difficulties.

The closure has suspended trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan, affecting both exports and imports. It has also disrupted the livelihoods of thousands of labourers, taxi drivers, transporters, hotel owners and shopkeepers. According to estimates by trade circles, the total losses caused by the border closure have reached Rs380 billion to Rs400 billion.

Zahid Shinwari, former president of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said trade with Afghanistan was economically and traditionally important for Pakistan, as it provided Pakistani products with a nearby and relatively accessible market.

The short distances between neighbouring countries also reduced transportation costs, helping Pakistani products compete at reasonable prices.

According to Shinwari, disruptions to regional trade have caused losses for exporters and affected access to Central Asian markets. He said promoting legal trade with Afghanistan and other neighbouring countries was essential for increasing Pakistan’s exports.

He said Pakistan’s exports stood at around $32 billion, while imports amounted to approximately $75 billion. Promoting trade with Afghanistan could help reduce the trade deficit and identify new markets for Pakistani products. According to him, imports related to trade with Afghanistan were worth approximately $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion.

Shinwari said that, besides Torkham, Chaman, Ghulam Khan, Kharlachi and Angoor Adda were also important border crossings for trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, he noted that Torkham held a prominent position in bilateral trade. Disruptions to commercial activities there also affected business, industry, transport and service sectors across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said industrial activity was limited in the merged tribal districts, where alternative employment opportunities were scarce. A large portion of the local population depended on trade, daily-wage labour, transport and small businesses for their livelihoods. He urged the government to create alternative employment opportunities for local residents and take effective measures to restore legal trade.

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Haji Waheed Khan Shinwari, a customs clearing agent in Torkham, said Pakistan had previously exported products worth approximately $1.5 billion to Afghanistan annually, while imports from Afghanistan were also estimated to exceed $1 billion.

He said the border closure had caused losses to Pakistani exporters and affected foreign exchange earnings generated through exports. The government had also earned revenue through duties and other taxes on goods imported from Afghanistan, but this revenue had been affected by the closure.

According to him, traders, clearing agents, transporters and labourers had suffered substantial financial losses. He said Pakistan should restore trade with Afghanistan and take steps to improve access to Central Asian markets to boost exports and commercial activity.

Mujib Shinwari, president of the Torkham Customs Agents Association, said exports worth approximately $2.5 million and imports worth Rs540 million were being affected daily due to the border closure. He said estimates by trade circles put the total losses at between Rs380 billion and Rs400 billion.

Shinwari said customs clearing agents, labourers, vehicle owners, taxi drivers and people associated with hotels in Torkham were facing severe difficulties. Many families were struggling to meet their daily expenses.

According to local estimates, around 2,500 taxi drivers and 3,000 labourers in Landi Kotal have been left unemployed following the border closure. Some taxi drivers have even sold their vehicles because of the lack of work and their inability to meet expenses.

People associated with trade said that before the closure, daily earnings of labourers and drivers supported spending in Landi Kotal's markets, benefiting shopkeepers, hotels and small businesses as well.

With the number of customers declining, shopkeepers are finding it difficult to cover rent and other expenses. According to local traders, markets previously generated business worth hundreds of millions of rupees daily, but commercial activities have now slowed significantly in many areas.

Mujib Shinwari said trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan should not be linked to political differences and security issues in a way that brings business to a complete halt. He said practical mechanisms needed to be developed to ensure that legal trade could continue while meeting border security requirements.