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Pakistan: Kinnow export target unlikely to be achieved
Posted by Labels: Citrus Fruit, Export, Fruit, Indonesia, Oranges and Mandarin, Pakistan
The year 2012 may turn out to be a bleak year for Kinnow industry as the ambitious export target of 300,000 is unlikely to be achieved due to variety of reasons and uncertain political situation in the country.
While the growers are being affected by a number of issues and political responses to them seem to be slow and ineffective, expected exports to Indonesia are also looking unlikely to go ahead as the required political agreements have failed to take place due to instability in the country.
"It is time to pull the socks," said CEO Harvest Trading while talking to Business Recorder.
The government must come forward and help the citrus exporters by developing banking channels, exploring new markets and developing relations with the existing market buyers.
Export target for the year was an ambitious 300,000 tones, but according to all available indications it is unlikely to be achieved, he said.
Another serious issue is corruption, which has led to a bad reputation amongst buyers of Kinnow.
Customs officials have been known to steal containers of the fruit that are in the process of being exported.
This inevitably deters foreign investors considerably.
He said this seeming apathy of the authorities in dealing with the situation is unfortunate given that the main outcome of all this is set to cause damage to the national economy as the country loses out on exporting an iconic element of its produce and on the income of foreign currencies
This going season prices of our Kinnow are low in Saudi Arabia and UAE markets due to arrival of bulk containers.
The reasons for this are varied and include complete cessation of exports to Iran due to non issuance of required export documentation from the banks.
Iran is a considerable importer of the fruit, usually accounting for more than 50,000 tonnes per annum.
Ahmad Jawad further said that we cannot afford to export Kinnow every year in the four main markets only.
Japan may be good market for Pakistan Kinnow in the coming years with the expected volume of 50,000 to 60,000 ton, provided Pakistan Horticulture Development & Export Company (PHDEC) makes serious efforts to explore this market as we did in mangoes last year.
The planners need to realise that there are certain areas where the private sector cannot help exports grow.
We should learn from Chile, Holland and Thailand, which multiplied their horticulture exports within a few years, taking them to billions of dollars.
Given Pakistan's natural endowments - four seasons and fertile land - it is surprising that we cannot learn from their experience and increase exports to 20 to 30 per cent of domestic production, Jawad added
He also welcomed the statement of Ambassador of Indonesia, Mr.
Ishak Latuconsina to bring duty to zero tariff for Pakistani orange (Kinnow) which will be good push for this industry in future.
The CEO Harvest Tradings further emphasized it is time to start working on Pakistan's image building, counsellors should work as marketing managers and explore new markets, fully knowing about demand and quality of products as well as selling tactics used by Pakistan's competitors.
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