Pakistan offers Turkiye rice exports at competitive rates

Pakistan is fully prepared to supply both Basmati and non-Basmati rice to Turkiye at internationally competitive rates and Turkiye can consider increasing imports as Pakistan's primary objective is to enhance volumes rather than maximise prices in order to safeguard farmer incomes and sustain the agricultural value chain.

Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan stated this during a meeting with Turkish Ambassador Dr Irfan Nezirolu. The meeting was held on the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has called for strengthening agricultural exports, particularly rice, amid intensifying global competition.

During discussions, the federal minister highlighted that Pakistan had reaped an excellent paddy harvest in the current season, ensuring both quality and ample exportable surplus. However, he noted that aggressive pricing by competing exporters, especially India and Vietnam, created challenges in global markets and exerted downward pressure on prices despite Pakistan maintaining strong export volumes.

He informed the Turkish side that the government, in close consultation with rice exporters and industry stakeholders, had developed a price support mechanism to ensure competitiveness in international markets. Under the mechanism, Pakistan is prepared to match prevailing global prices so that buyers do not face cost disadvantages when sourcing rice from Pakistan.

Both sides discussed activating government-to-government (G2G) trade channels alongside existing private-sector mechanisms. Under the proposed framework, Pakistan's state trading entities would coordinate with relevant Turkish public and private-sector institutions, including state-owned grain procurement bodies, to enable bulk purchases where price competitiveness is ensured.

The federal minister also raised market access issues, including tariff-rate quotas (TRQ), import licensing procedures and the possibility of zero or reduced tariffs on Basmati rice. He called for expansion and better utilisation of the existing TRQ of 18,000 metric tons under the Pakistan-Turkiye Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), noting that the quota had remained underutilised due to procedural constraints.

The ambassador reaffirmed Turkiye's commitment to strengthening economic ties with Pakistan. He observed that bilateral trade remained below potential despite strong political relations and pointed to the $5 billion trade target set during the Strategic Cooperation Council meeting.

Both sides agreed on the need for increased engagement between business communities, including trade delegations, exhibitions and B2B interactions to improve awareness of commercial opportunities. It was also decided that technical delegations would meet in the coming weeks to advance discussions on rice trade, PTA expansion and broader cooperation in agriculture, food processing and value-added rice products such as parboiled rice.