Pakistan Opens Land Route for Fruit Export to Russia

Pakistan has started exporting fruit to Russia through a land route roughly 6,000 kilometers long. Sixteen trucks of Pakistan’s National Logistics Corporation (NLC) carrying oranges entered the Russian cities of Derbent and Grozny over the weekend. The NLC’s efforts were commended by Russia, with appreciation expressed for the promotion of bilateral trade between the two countries. NLC is a state-owned enterprise facilitating the export of Pakistani products such as bananas, meat, and seafood to Central Asia and China. In September 2023, goods from Russia reached Pakistan under the Transport International Routes (TIR) Convention, a global transit system enabling the movement of goods across borders without intermediate customs checks. Pakistan and Uzbekistan, both signatories of the TIR Convention, have taken significant steps to enhance bilateral trade this year, including the signing of a $1 billion trade deal in February. Pakistan is actively seeking better trade relations with its neighbors and central asian countries. Besides trade, it is striving for foreign investment, primarily from the Middle East, to support its forex reserves and stabilize the rupee, which has devalued significantly int the past few years.