Pakistan launches first export consignment to Kyrgyzstan via land route
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
$59,314 consignment routed via Sost, China; new corridor opens Central Asia access amid Afghanistan route disruptions
Pakistan Customs has facilitated the first export consignment from the Karachi Export Processing Zone (EPZ) to Kyrgyzstan through a land route under the TIR regime, establishing a new trade corridor to Central Asia via Sost Dry Port in China.
As per media reports, the shipment, valued at $59,314 and weighing 23.9 tonnes, included oil, tea, henna, herbs, cream and soap exported by Hemani Group. The consignment was processed electronically through the Pakistan Single Window system after the EPZ was activated as a TIR station.
The Federal Board of Revenue said the Directorate General of Transit Trade, Karachi, led the system upgrade in coordination with PSW, TIR operators, PNCC-ICC and the IRU, enabling completion of all transit formalities, including electronic pre-declarations.
Officials said the development provides exporters in EPZs with direct access to Central Asian markets and supports Pakistan’s efforts to expand regional trade connectivity.
The new corridor comes as Pakistan diversifies trade routes following disruptions along the Afghanistan border. Traditional overland routes via Chaman and Torkham have remained closed since October 2025 due to security concerns, restricting transit trade to Central Asia.
In response, exporters have increasingly shifted to alternative routes, including corridors through Iran and China, to access markets in Central Asia as well as Azerbaijan and Russia.
The government has also notified multiple transit routes through Iran to facilitate regional trade flows.
Separately, Jam Kamal Khan held a meeting with Tajikistan’s Ambassador Sharifzoda Yusuf Toir to discuss measures to enhance bilateral trade, improve transit connectivity, and strengthen institutional cooperation between the two countries.
Reference Link:- https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2026/04/30/pakistan-launches-first-export-consignment-to-kyrgyzstan-via-land-route/
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
