ISLAMABAD – Minister for Commerce Amin Fahim on Friday apprised the National Assembly that Pakistan’s exports had exhibited a tremendous upsurge in 2010-11 (July-March) and touched $17.799 billion compared to $14.072 billion in the corresponding period of last year.
“Our exports have registered an increase of 26.5 percent in the year 2010-11”, he said in reply to a question asked by Mian Marghoob Ahmad of PML-N during the question-hour session. He said that since March 2008 till present, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) aggressively marketed the country’s products in the world through participation in 184 prestigious international trade fairs, held across the globe and arranged visits of 39 outgoing and incoming delegations.
The TDAP, he said had also organised 26 seminars, workshops and interactive session in the country. He stated that, with an aim to achieve market access and help remove restrictions of Pakistan’s exports, TDAP invited various inspection missions of concerned authorities from international market for inspection. This helped in removing restrictions on the exports of kinnows, mangoes and rice to China and Iran, along with meat to UAE, he said.
He maintained that Pakistan imported over 1.4 million metric tonnes of sugar from different countries during the past three years in order to meet its domestic needs. He said that Pakistan has imported 125,743 metric tonnes of sugar in 2008-09, while it imported 501,759 and 789,515 metric tonnes in 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively.
During these three years, Pakistan imported sugar from Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Germany, Guatemala, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Romania, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Thailand, USA, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
He said that the country exported 260,840 metric tones of sugar in 2007-08, but export of the commodity was banned in 2008-09 “which still continues.” During that period, sugar was exported to Afghanistan, Austria, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the United Kingdom, he said.
