ISLAMABAD, Sept 15: The ministry of commerce has proposed that national trade corridor improvement programme be strengthened for enhancing annual export of fruits, vegetables and flowers from current $130 million to $400 million in the next five years.

Under the programme, around 39 pack-houses, completely automated and equipped with advanced electronic devices for packing, grading and storage plans, would be set up at 31 fruit and vegetable growing areas throughout the country.

According to Horticulture Development Export Board, 23 facilities for cold storage and controlled atmosphere would be established at the fruit production areas, airports and seaports in the country.

Two container yards in Karachi and Lahore with a pool of 200 refrigerated containers and 50 controlled atmosphere refrigerated containers at each location will be established. Karachi pool will serve the needs of Sindh and Balochistan, while Lahore pool will meet the requirement of Punjab and NWFP.

The ministry of commerce had carried out detailed studies on state of domestic commerce covering all important activities relating to competitiveness, protection, subsidies, market regulations, wholesale markets, retail markets, storage and warehousing, transport and real estate.

The studies focused on key areas, including firm characteristics, competitiveness, efficiency and regulations. The findings of studies brought out various strengths and weaknesses of domestic commerce sub-sectors and made specific recommendations for improvements.

The recommendations also take into account some improvement in wholesale, retailing sectors and better marketing techniques introduced in some sub-sectors in recent years. Sustainable improvement required co-ordination among several federal divisions, state bank and provincial departments.

The ministry of commerce has already created a domestic commerce wing. It has been decided that the scope of the wing will be enhanced. The wing would engage additional core experts and consultants to prepare specific action plans for approval after coordination with all the concerned agencies. Meanwhile, the sub-committee on infrastructure of the task force on horticulture finance and competitiveness has found that the horticulture industry required major support in the area of infrastructure.

This included particularly dedicated refrigerated trucks, rail cars and containers, space on aircraft and improved connectivity with international market. It was also noted that there was disparity between the infrastructures in the Punjab where facilities were generally better than other provinces.

The committee recognised the need for a national approach that can link production in remote areas with main market.