Chairman Businessmen Panel and Pakistan Business Group Alliance of FPCCI Mian Zahid Hussain, Presidential Candidate Abdul Rahim Janoo, Candidate for Sr. Vice President Mian Anjum Nisar for FPCCI Elections 2017 & Chief Convenor Election Cell Syed Abdul Waheed Shah has said government should consider reducing taxes and duties on import of edible oil to promote this sector.
The import duty, sales tax and other Government revenues are highest in Pakistan compared to our neighbouring countries therefore problems of Edible Oil sector should be recognised and resolved on a fast track basis, they said. They said that Pakistan imports around 2.1 million tonnes of Palm Oil products worth $1.8bn from Indonesia and Malaysia to fulfil domestic consumption of around 3.2m tonnes of ghee and cooking oil annually.
Reduction in the taxes will encourage vanaspati manufacturers to invest in oilseed production with an aim to achieve self-sufficiency and even exports in the longer run, they added.
They said that international prices of palm oil have gone down providing opportunity to many countries including India and China to build up reserves of the edible oil which should be considered by policymakers at home. Prices of ghee and cooking oil have surged by Rs 30-50 on a five-kilogram carton in last one year for which all the stakeholders blame each other. They said that the export of Ghee to Afghanistan and the Central Asia has become a good source to earn precious foreign exchange therefore export quota under DTRE should be enhanced three times from 1000 metric tonne, they demanded. They said that exporters should also eye Gulf and Middle Eastern markets.