Russian market, which has remained unexploited due to lacklustre policies of the government, has a huge potential and offers a big market for the export of Pakistani kinnows and mangoes.
Ahmad Jawad, Chief Executive Officer of Harvest Trading Pakistan, a leading exporter firm of perishable fruits and vegetables, told Business Recorder here on Friday that it was time that the government drew its attention towards encouraging exports of fresh produce industry of Pakistan, particularly kinnow and mangoes.
He said that currently 70 percent of these two products are being exported mainly to Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia, where the return is minimal. He regretted that every year exporters bear a huge loss because they do not have proper marketing strategy to access other profitable markets. "The result is that Pakistani exporters do not get better return from these markets," he added.
He emphasised that the government should draw a workable strategy to lift the exports of fresh produce industry. "Our focus should be on Russian market with regard to kinnow and mangoes which is ready to absorb as much as we are able to export," he said.
Last year, Russia imported citrus fruits at the rate of $738 per ton, which was an excellent rate for Pakistan's exporters, he said, adding that Pakistani citrus fruits and mangoes are the best in the world both in taste and quality.
Jawad said: "We can not only meet but even exceed our export target of $20 billion for the year 2010-11 if proper attention is paid to exploit Russian market as it imports, particularly food and agriculture items, worth $35.2 billion from all over the world. We can achieve better results if we strengthen our relations with Russian government and create proper banking channels." He suggested following six points, which could go a long way in boosting Pakistan's fresh produce industry exports through public/private sector partnership:
-- Determine the quota of exporters for every year (in the field of citrus fruits and mangoes) on the basis of their performance or the category of bigger or smaller in order to strengthen the process which would help to increase foreign remittances as well as bring better results in exports.
-- Explore European markets and strive for confidence-building with Russian and Ukrainian importers.
-- Five-year strategy should be drawn for the fresh produce industry with the help of some consortium.
-- Quarterly meetings should be held under the umbrella of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Company (PHDEC) on resolving exporters' problems, if any.
-- Determine the countries in the light of quota for registered export firms, and
-- Training and Development in quality packing and quality product measures.