Expo Pakistan 2017: Pakistan secures export orders worth millions

Officials say country has received good response in ongoing expo

KARACHI: Pakistan has secured new export orders worth millions of dollars from different countries in the ongoing Expo Pakistan 2017, according to leading fruits and vegetables exporters.

“Our members have received a very good response, especially from Indonesia, and we are confident about getting more orders worth millions of dollars,” Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchant Association (PFVA) former chairman Waheed Ahmed said.

Since the exhibition will continue for two more days, exporters say they are unable to compile the exact amount of new orders at this moment.



The four-day exhibition (November 9-12) will conclude on Sunday and it is being held at the Karachi Expo Centre.

Exporters say Indonesia can become a big market of Pakistani fruits, especially kinnow (mandarin). Pakistan’s major exports to Indonesia include textiles and clothing, vegetables and fruits (mainly oranges) while its major import item from Indonesia is palm oil.

Indonesia offers zero-rated market access to kinnow and oranges from Pakistan, providing a level playing field to this product in the Indonesian market. However, Pakistani exporters face tough competition in Indonesia as regional countries also export fruits to Indonesia on low duties due to the agreements among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) trading bloc.

Indonesia imports over $650 million worth of fruits and $550 million worth of vegetables annually. Now that Pakistan is regaining its share in Indonesia’s fruit imports, its exporters want to export more vegetables as well.

Bilateral trade between Indonesia and Pakistan is expected to reach $2.5 billion this year, according to Indonesian estimates. However, the trade balance is in favour of Indonesia as it exports over $2 billion of goods to Pakistan.

The exhibition has attracted trade delegations from different countries such as Russia, the UK, Thailand, Tunisia, Australia, Vietnam, The Netherlands, Jordan, Argentina, Italy, Kenya, Belgium, Japan, Turkey, Sweden and Lithuania.

Focus on Africa

Due to low exports to African countries, the Ministry of Commerce has decided to give 2% duty drawbacks on exporters who export to Africa, Federal Secretary for Commerce Mohammad Younus Dagha said on Friday.

“We have decided to increase our exports to Africa due to current low trade base with African countries,” said Dagha while speaking at an interactive session on ‘Look Africa Trade Forum’.



The seminar was held at the sidelines of the exhibition by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP). The gathering was attended by consul generals and other dignitaries from many African countries.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister of Commerce Mohammad Pervaiz Malik has commented that Pakistan is looking to double its bilateral trade with African countries to $6 billion from $3 billion in the next five years.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2017.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.