Govt to grant industry status to rice mills to boost exports

The federal government has decided in principle to grant industry status to rice processing mills to boost the commodity’s exports to $5 billion over the next four years.

In this regard, a high-level meeting reviewed in detail the targets set under the Economic Outreach Initiative (EOI) to be introduced by the Prime Minister’s National Security Division.

The meeting was attended by the federal secretary of National Food Security and Research, all four provinces’ industries and production as well as commerce secretaries, and Federal Board of Revenue and Rice Export Association of Pakistan chairmen.

Sources said that it was agreed in the meeting to complete all formalities for granting industry status to rice processing mills.

Sources said that several meetings have already been held in this regard and it is expected that a decision will be taken as soon as the sector is under the EOI introduced by the Prime Minister’s National Security Division.

The move is being given a lot of importance and Prime Minister Imran Khan himself is taking keen interest in this matter.

According to the sources, the meeting also discussed the mechanism of the sale of rice to increase prosperity by branding and registering Pakistani rice in the international market.

Sources said that the target is to increase rice exports to $5 billion over the next four years, while in the last financial year, Pakistan has exported a total of more than $2.1 billion worth of rice.