GUJRAT: The local electric fan exports to the turmoil-hit Yemen have suffered a major setback at a time when the demand for the product swells with the scorching summer season’s peak in the troubled country.

The local manufacturers say the orders placed by the Yemeni importers are ready to be dispatched whereas the previous consignments sent by the exporters have stuck somewhere in the middle, blocking payments of millions of rupees within Yemen.

The exporters say that prior to the aerial bombing by the Saudi-led coalition forces on Yemen, the export mechanism was partially functional. But, since the fighting erupted in Aden, a major seaport of Yemen, exports have come to a grinding halt, they say, adding that even the Yemeni importers have not been in contact with them for the last three to four weeks.

According to local fan manufacturers, the annual volume of exports to Yemen has been around Rs1 billion which is increasing every year.

Yemen has been a major market for Pakistani fans because of their durability and performance in the harsh clime of the region, giving the country an edge over its Chinese and Indian competitors.

Haji Ilyas, one of the first exporters of locally-made fans to Yemen since 1996, told Dawn that most of the businessmen had either manufactured the product ordered by

Yemeni traders or were in the process, while payments for already sent consignments were stuck there.

However, he said the exporters were quite confident that if normalcy returned to Yemen, especially Aden, the exports could again be restored.

The total export of Pakistani electric fans worldover is around $60 million.

Another exporter advised the government against taking any such decision with regard to Yemen conflict which could hit local business interests in the region.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2015

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