Chairman of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry's (FPCCI) Regional Standing Committee of Ahmad Jawad has sought the cooperation of Iranian embassy to get formal approval from Iranian agriculture ministry for import of kinnow and potatoes formally from Pakistan.
"We have held serious discussions with Iranian embassy officials requesting them to play their role to ensure that Iranian agriculture Ministry formally allows import of kinnow and potatoes from Pakistan in the upcoming season beginning from December 1," he said expressing hope that export of kinnow to Iran from Pakistan would begin in the first week of December. The exporters expect the export worth $220 million to Iran this year.
Jawad said that this year kinnow is of high quality. During the last season, the country had exported 340,000 tons of Kinnow at around $200 million. He said the export target more or less was same. However this year, the quality of fruit is excellent. Production seems to less than the last year. About the new markets, he said, Indonesia has given quota for February and March, while negotiations are underway for December and January, as well.
"Pakistan's total exports to Indonesia stand at around $171 million whereas our imports from there stand at $2 billion. There is no quota limits in Pakistan for Indonesian products, but still our products face several restrictions," he said urging the Commerce Ministry to pursue the issue with their Indonesian counterparts so that the 1,600 containers market could be properly tapped. One container carries 26 tons of Kinnow," he said.
Jawad said that this year exporters would also tap Chinese markets, which were lying dormant since long despite the fact there were no quota or quarantine restrictions. FPCCI standing committee chairman said Iran was likely to grant quota this year and Pakistan would be able to export 50,000 tons of Kinnow. He also elaborated that Iran was an important market for us and Pakistani kinnow had the capacity to tap 100,000 tons of volume in one to two years easily, but during the international sanctions, fruit had been exported through Taftan boarder crossing which hurt our farmers and exporters because of lack of formal trade hence the announcement of Iran market gave a positive message to the growers who anticipate good rates in the season from the exporters.
Jawad further said that $15 billion citrus varieties and its value-added products were in the international market and Pakistan could generate over $1 billion through exporting the fruit every year by introducing other varieties of kinnow in the country. He cited that PARC already introduced two new varieties of citrus and that needed to be planted at production hubs on priority. In this regard, Government may activate the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Company (PHDEC) so that necessary collaboration may take place with the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) and the Government of Punjab, he proposed.