News Desk |
Pakistani manufacturers, businessmen, and traders should frequently visit China and explore opportunities to enhance exports to the all-weather friend, Shamsul Islam Khan, Member Managing Committee, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said on Wednesday.
“China with a population of around 1.4 billion is the world’s largest importer of grain, cotton, rice, sugar, meat, and milk and our country produces almost all these in abundance,” he told APP here.
Production of Kinnow during this year is expected to be around 2 million metric tons, however, due to limited availability of good quality of exportable Kinnow, the export target has been curtailed this year.
Shamsul Islam is currently visiting China to explore further business prospects following the successful visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Beijing and first China International Import Exp held in Shanghai.
He pointed out that rice was one-third of Pakistan’s total agriculture export and Pakistani traders could target the Chinese market for non-basmati type rice. Expecting a substantial increase in export of rice to China after the free trade agreement between the two countries, he proposed that Pakistan should pay attention for the value addition of its agricultural products to increase its exports.
Shamsul Islam said the export of fruits could also be enhanced to China. Most prominent among these was a citrus variant known as kinnow, which hit a record high export figure in the 2017-18 Season.”We have a capacity of exporting 50,000 to 80,000 tons of kinnow to China in the next few years.” About the export of mangoes, he said this fruit revered as the king of fruits in Pakistan and its export to China could be enhanced.
Read more: Indonesia allows unlimited kinnow import from Pakistan
About the prospect of seafood to China, he pointed out that seafood consumption among the Chinese people was very high and Pakistan could take advantage and increase its export to China. He said there were only a few outlets of Pakistani food in China and asked the Pakistani businessmen to come forward and open Pakistani restaurants in different cities of China to introduce Pakistani high-quality cuisine which was already very popular all over the world.
He also suggested the opening of shops and stores in different cities of China to display and introduce Pakistan-made commodities to make Pakistan’s product more popular among the common citizens in China. About the China Import Expo held in Shanghai, he hoped Pakistan export to China would increase substantially.
Iran is an international market having a capacity of 80,000 ton to 100,000 ton of Pakistani Kinnow which had been closed for several years.
“Being a market economy, the Chinese government can encourage traders and businessmen to import from Pakistan, but as for what to import and how much to import, it would mainly be determined by the market and it is also closely related to the promotion of Pakistan products,” he said.
Pakistan, as a country of honour, had set up a pavilion at the expo and displayed its main products and highlighted the development process and achievements in science and technology, information technology and other areas.
Meanwhile, All Pakistan fruit & vegetable exporters, importers & Merchants Association (PFVA) has set the current year export target of Kinnow to 325,000 tons by reducing 50,000 tons compared to the last year. The export of Kinnow is due to commence from 1st December 2018. Production of Kinnow during this year is expected to be around 2 million metric tons, however, due to limited availability of good quality of exportable Kinnow, the export target has been curtailed this year.
Read more: Kinnow exports skyrocket: Exports to Indonesia boost to $48 million
According to Waheed Ahmed Patron-in-Chief –PFVA & Vice President-FPCCI a record export volume of 375000 tons was attained during last year fetching foreign exchange of US$ 200 million while with the current export volume of 325000 tons, the country is expected to earn foreign exchange of US$ 180 million.
Due to the high cost of production of Citrus fruit and with a stiff competition with big exporters of Citrus fruits namely – Turkey, Morocco and other big producers of Citrus Fruits in the International markets, Pakistan is confronted with real tough competition – Waheed deplored.
The devaluation of Pakistani currency has lost its favorable impact due to an upward revision of freight charges by the shipping companies, rise in the cost of packing material and a substantial increase in local transportation charges while with an increase of Rs. 100, the cost of purchase of Kinnow has become Rs 800 per mound this year.
Read more: Pakistan’s Horticulture Industry: Issues & ways to step forward
Russia, Indonesia, Gulf countries and Middle Eastern countries are big importers of Pakistani Kinnow while Iran had also been a big buyer as well, however, this is the seventh consecutive season of Kinnow, Pakistan continues to face a ban on import of Kinnow by the Govt. of Iran. Iran is an international market having a capacity of 80,000 ton to 100,000 ton of Pakistani Kinnow which had been closed for several years.