July 31, 2002	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 20,1423

PESHAWAR, July 30: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has urged the tobacco companies to focus on increasing the export of tobacco products to earn maximum returns for themselves and for the tobacco growers as well.

Presiding over a meeting regarding the tobacco industry and boosting up of tobacco exports here on Tuesday, the governor, however, expressed concern over the attitude of the tobacco companies towards the growers.

The meeting was attended besides others by the chairman of Pakistan Tobacco Board Sahibzada Riaz Noor and director Leaf Pakistan Tobacco Company, agriculture secretary and additional secretary to the governor.

The governor referred to the prevailing practice of determining the prices of the tobacco crops, saying that the interests of the farmers must be protected at all costs. For this purpose, he added, the companies should notify the prices as well as the required quantity of the produce well ahead of the growing season.