15 August 2004	Sunday	28 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

KARACHI, Aug 14: Minister of State and Chairman Export Promotion Bureau Tariq Ikram has said that shipping lines cannot be allowed to mortgage country's external trade by dictating their own terms for freight rates.

Speaking at a dinner hosted by the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) here on Friday evening, the EPB chief said there had been a significant increase in freight charges and a solution had to be found to protect country's external trade of around $25 billion.

"Despite the fact that there was a weakness on our part because as a nation we do not have our own shipping lines in the private sector to carry our own cargoes, but yet a solution has to be found," he maintained.

Mr Ikram said he held meetings with the shipping lines, but on every occasion he was told that adjustments in freight rates were a matter of demand and supply and it was little they could do on their own.

Responding to a point raised by REAP vice-chairman Muhammad Anwar Mianoor, he said a solution could be found for resolving the sales tax issue on jute bags.

He said although the trademark registration was a tough and lengthy procedure, yet it paid in a long-run to the products marketed on brand names. He assured the rice exporters of evolving a system with the help of IT where the trademark registration could be made easy.

Expressing his satisfaction over the achievement of export target of $12.3 billion last fiscal, he said that a sustained growth was necessary to consolidate last three years' achievements on the export front.

"Despite the fact that our exports in a short period of four years registered a growth of 43 per cent, but on the other hand Indian exports grew by 53 per cent." Nevertheless, Mr Ikram said that after the 9/11, Pakistan was declared as a front-line state against terrorism, therefore, the 43 per cent growth was quite encouraging.

The EPB chairman said Pakistan would have an edge of 12 per cent over other competitors of textile products in the world market because it had its own raw material (cotton).

"Since our 65 per cent of exports constituted textile and textile products, therefore, we have a major role to play in the quota-free regime from 2005." He said textile exporters had told him that besides China and India, Pakistan would be among the three leaders in textile exports.

Referring to rice exports, he said last year (2003-04), a high target of $640 million was achieved, which was mainly because of higher prices. "But if you look at the volume, there was a concern as it declined."

Mr Ikram stressed the need for export of parboil rice that was in great demand in the West and Saudi Arabia. He said that France's 50 per cent rice imports are of parboil rice, and there was a growing demand from the UK, the US and Saudi Arabia.

The EPB chairman expressed his displeasure that out of a huge rice market of 700,000 tons in Saudi Arabia, only 60,000 tons were exported from Pakistan. Similarly, he suggested that rice exporters should 'storm' the Chinese rice market to get their due share.

He expressed his satisfaction over the information given by former REAP chairman Abdul Rahim Janoo that around 15 to 20 parboil rice units were being installed in the country and said that there was a big market for parboil rice in the world.

About the WTO, the EPB chief said Pakistan was in a comfortable position because its applied rates of tariff are much lower than the bound rates of about 100 pet cent. "Therefore, at any given time our industry will not face difficulty in competing with import goods."

Mr Ikram said that after the failure of Cancun talks, the West in July had agreed to remove subsidies on their farm goods, which came to around $1 billion a day. The EPB chief was optimistic about getting benefit from the removal of farm subsidies.

"At present we can't market our farm goods in the world market where goods from developed countries are being sold at much cheaper rates. However, once the subsidies are gone we will have greater chance to sell our products easily in the world market," he added.