Sindh Governor House to host biryani festival

Move aimed at increasing rice exports

KARACHI: It's official! The Sindh Governor House will host an international Biryani Festival every year.

This was announced by Governor Imran Ismail at a lunch gathering organised by the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) on Thursday. He said that the government will help increase rice exports to $4 billion.



Currently, rice exports are estimated at $2b, said the governor, adding that the REAP's members would have to work toward the target.

The governor explained that the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was giving special weightage to every export commodity in order to increase the foreign exchange coming into the country. "People are right about us being inexperienced in corruption," he said. "But we want to bring Pakistan out of debt," he added.

The governor said that rice exporters were one of the largest breadwinners for the country. "Our government gives special importance to your needs," he told the REAP's members.



Earlier, former chairperson of REAP, Abdur Raheem Janoo, had addressed the gathering in which he had lamented that rice exports to China had decreased to the current 7,000 tonnes from 30,000 tonnes at one point.

Janoo said that the REAP wanted to organise a Biryani Festival at the Governor's House. "Rice exports had increased when REAP organised Biryani Festivals in 14 countries," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2019.