KARACHI: Amid negotiations between goods transporters and government departments to resolve a nationwide strike that has entered its 10th day, industrialists warned on Tuesday that each passing day was adding billions of rupees in trade and export losses.
Transporters said talks were underway with representatives of the federal and Punjab governments and relevant departments, including the ministries of ports and shipping and communications, the motorway police, the National Highway Authority (NHA) and senior officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Customs. They claimed the federal and Punjab governments had acknowledged that their demands were justified.
The negotiations were continuing late into the night and were ongoing at the time of going to press, officials said.
Earlier, transporters said the strike would continue until their demands were accepted. The Transporters’ Goods Association (TGA) also told a Sindh government committee at the Commissioner’s Office in Karachi that the shutdown would remain in place until issues raised in its charter of demands were addressed. The demands include designated parking for goods carriers near Karachi Port Trust (KPT), and matters related to licensing and the plying of 25- to 30-year-old vehicles.
Industrialists urge PM to end goods transport shutdown as containers pile up
Patron-in-chief of the Pakistan
Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMEA) Muhammad Jawed Bilwani described the halt in port activity as “economic sabotage” and said the strike had disrupted the national supply chain, pushing exports and imports towards a standstill.
He warned that exporters were being forced to consider costly and risky air consignments to meet delivery schedules and insisted that continued inaction could cause “heavy and irreparable” damage to the economy.
Mr Bilwani said port operations had come to a halt, leaving thousands of export and import containers stranded, while several hundred containers already loaded on vessels remained at sea, awaiting berthing space.
He cited Pakistan’s average daily exports at $92 million and monthly exports at $2.849 billion, adding that the textile sector alone accounted for $52m in daily exports and around $1.617bn per month.
