Pakistan gets big share in rice markets

Adviser says country can export local commodity to boost agriculture exports

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has attained a huge space in the global rice market for exporting local rice in potential markets of Middle East, North America and African regions to achieve the target of increasing the agricultural exports, said Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood.

Talking to APP on Saturday, he said that the government intended to uplift exports to their highest level ever and for that purpose, it was taking different measures to reclaim traditional markets besides accessing new ones.

He added that a rice delegation from Mexico would hopefully arrive in Pakistan in June to appraise various rice exporters to attain permission for exporting rice to Mexico.

The adviser said the all members of the Rice Exports Association Pakistan (REAP) should prepare themselves for this opportunity so that maximum exporters could receive approvals for orders in the Mexican market.

Dawood said that rice was the largest agri-export commodity in the country’s export basket with a total value of over $2 billion, which would be increased to $5 billion in the next five years.

He urged the local rice exporters to introduce new varieties by investing in research and development to enhance production and quality.

Replying to a question, he said that even in the current critical situation, the country’s food exports to the Middle Eastern market, especially meat and poultry, have increased compared to the same period of previous year.

Replying to another question, he stressed the need for making preparations to exploit the economic and trade opportunities expected to emerge post Covid-19 pandemic.

“We expect more opportunities to promote bilateral trade and strengthen linkages with potential markets including European Union, China, Middle East and African region besides promoting regional trade in post pandemic environment,” he said.

He underlined that the pandemic would bring a paradigm shift and will create great opportunities, adding that the coronavirus had changed the world and now the business processes would be completely different.

Dawood said that the government was focusing equally on all sectors of the economy including textile, non-textile and agriculture and engineering sectors to build export potential of the country in coming months.

Talking about the external trade situation during the past three months, he said exports had declined in April 2020 by around 54% compared to the same month of last year and the reason behind the decline was obviously the spread of coronavirus across the world.

Dawood said that the government was prioritising ‘Made in Pakistan’ policy to boost local production and reduce dependence on import and enhance exports.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2020.

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