Pakistan Opens New Border Corridor with Iran in Panjgur to Boost Trade and Employment

Quetta:The federal government, in collaboration with Iran, has announced the opening of a new border corridor in Panjgur at the Pak-Iran border, aimed at facilitating legal trade activities, discouraging smuggling, and providing employment and business opportunities to local communities along the border.

According to a report by *Dawn*, the new trade route in the Kohak Chidgi area will promote business activities in the Panjgur region of Balochistan. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued a notification for the establishment of the fourth official border crossing point between Pakistan and Iran in Kohak Chidgi.

A letter signed by Zubair Shah, Secretary of Transit and Border Trade, directed the Customs Collectorate of Gwadar to take necessary steps in the Kohak Chidgi area and coordinate with relevant stakeholders and departments to ensure the immediate development of the required infrastructure. The FBR also requested a progress report on the developments.

The opening of this new border crossing has been welcomed by Balochistan’s business community. Muhammad Ayub Mirani, President of the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Haji Akhtar Kakar, Senior Vice President, and other chamber leaders have expressed their appreciation. They emphasized that the opening of this crossing was a long-standing demand of Balochistan’s traders and that efforts had been made through various forums to open the crossing for boosting trade activities.

With the notification of this new trade route, formal trade between the two countries will begin, creating job opportunities for local people and promoting business activities. Moreover, the new border crossing will ease the process for traders involved in legal imports and exports and help curb smuggling between the two nations.

In December, Pakistan and Iran had also inaugurated the Gabad-Rimdan border crossing to enhance trade and people-to-people exchanges. The Rimdan crossing, located in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan, is about 120 kilometers from the Iranian port of Chabahar and 70 kilometers from the Pakistani port of Gwadar. The Foreign Office clarified that the aim of the Gabad-Rimdan and other proposed border crossings is to enhance ‘people-to-people connectivity’ and facilitate travel and trade between the two countries. The Foreign Office further noted that discussions took place at various levels between Pakistan and Iran regarding the opening of the Gabad-Rimdan crossing.