March 4, 2002	Monday	Zilhaj 19, 1422

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MULTAN, March 3: Concrete steps will be taken to enhance mango export, including installation of scanning and weighing machines at Multan airport.

This was stated by Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) director-general Tariq Iqbal Puri while talking to growers and exporters at a meeting here on Saturday.

He said seminars would also be arranged which would help growers not only in increasing their mango production but also improving its quality.

A mango show, he said, would be arranged in Multan for which growers from all over the world would be invited.

Local EPB president Anees Ahmad Sheikh asked the director-general to remove hindrances that caused decrease in export in the past.

He said the cargo complex in Multan had yet not been put into use due to the high rent demanded by the Civil Aviation Authority. He said the cargo complex should be handed over to PIA.

The space quota for Multan cargo should be fixed for other countries besides installing grading and packing plants in the city, he demanded.

He said the airport should be upgraded so that huge planes carrying heavy cargo could be handled. International flight for Dubai should also be restarted from Multan, he exhorted.

The complex procedure of export refinance and high mark up rates causing inconvenience to exporters should be made easy and reduced, he said.

Others who attended the meeting were former Pakistan Tanneries Association president Khawaja Yousaf, local EPB vice-president Abdul Rehman, scores of growers and industrialists.