Abdul Rahim Janoo has been elected unopposed as Chairman, Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) for the year 2008-09, while Mian Haroon ur Rashid and Rafique Suleman have been elected unopposed as Vice-Chairman and Treasurer, respectively.
Both Abdul Rahim Janoo and Rafique Suleman hail from South Zone while Mian Haroon ur Rashid from North Zone. A 20 member managing committee of the association has also been elected unopposed. 10 members each from the North and South Zones were elected to the managing committee.
Results of the elections were announced at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) held here on Saturday. The ceremony was addressed by former Reap chairman Syed Najaf Shah, newly elected Chairman Abdul Rahim Janoo and Mian Haroon ur Rashid.
Those who have been elected from North Zone include Haroon ur Rashid, Muhammad Tariq Aziz, Haji Lal Muhammad, Barrister Syed Najaf Hussain Shah, Amjad Nazir Butt, Malik Muhammad Jahangir, Kh. Amer Anees, Muhammad Ilyas, Muhammad Shafique and Chaudhry Ejaz Ahmed Samma.
From South Zone Abdul Rahim Janoo, Rafique Suleman, Shamsul Islam Khan, Haji Hamdullah Khan Tareen, Muhammad Hussain Khandwala, Irfan Ahmed Sheikh, Muhammad Usman, Mehboob A. Peracha, Muhammad Pervaiz and Abdul Aziz Ghaffar.
Syed Najaf Hussein Shah announced on this occasion that two lady members would also be taken in the managing committee, one each from North and South Zones. Half of the managing committee members have been elected for two years and half would have one-year tenure, he told the participants.
Speaking on this occasion, the newly elected Chairman Abdul Rahim Janoo asked the members of the association to work with unity for the promotion of trade of rice exports to strengthen the national economy. He said that the coming year would be a challenging time as far as rice trade would be concerned and the members have to show the same commitment as they had shown in the past and especially during the last year.
He said that time to come would be tough due to the appreciation of dollar, higher interest rates, liquidity crunch and economic situation. Janoo said that they would be striving to set up two technical schools one each in Karachi and Lahore so as to make available skilled labour and technicians for the rice millers and traders.