KARACHI, Oct 3: The country’s first agricultural export processing zone, which is being set up at Super Highway near Subzi Mandi at a cost of Rs360 million, will encourage growers to export their products directly eliminating the role of middlemen.

The zone will enjoy all tax incentives available to the export processing zones and will be equipped with cold storage facility, grading and vexing units and packaging plant to meet the conditions set by the overseas buyers of fruits and vegetables.

Director Projects Sindh Ministry of Agriculture Mohammad Aslam told Dawn that the zone would be accompanied with eight collection centres in main agriculture areas in the province where farm products would be received and after initial processing would be transported in refrigerated trucks to the export zone for further processing, grading and packing.

This would also greatly help in curtailing wastage of fruits and vegetable during their transportation from growing areas to the markets. “These collection centres located at Ghotki, Naushero Feroze, Badin, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Mirpurkhas, Khairpur and Karachi are near their completion,” he added.

The agriculture export zone is expected to go operational by June 2009 and presently allotment of plots is underway and a committee headed by the chief minister is scrutinising all applications before giving approval for allotment.

A ministry official told Dawn that in the export zone 70 per cent plots had been reserved for growers and 15 per cent would be given to the exporters on performance basis and special quota of 15 per cent had been reserved for new exporters.

“The ministry is responsible for the development of infrastructure not only at the zone but also at the eight collection centres,” the official added.

The Pakistan Horticulture Export Development Board (PHDEP) has been mandated to set up a food irradiation plant which is used for special processing of the green stuff resulting in increase their shelve life. The zone will have a modern display centre for foreign buyers and a special section for processing and conserving flowers, which have a good export potential.

The zone will have one-window export documentation facility aiming at saving exporters from running to customs and ports to complete shipment formalities.

Meanwhile, Chairman All Pakistan Fruits and Vegetable Exporters and Importers and Merchants Association Abdul Wahid talking to Dawn that the establishment of the export processing zone would not only increase the export of farm products, which will be processed in accordance to world standards, manifold but also help exporters to fetch good price. It may be pointed out that Karachi is the main centre for export of fruits and vegetable. With establishment of this zone mango and kinno exporters would be able to enjoy modern facilities at the zone.