ISLAMABAD, March 7: Pakistan is expected to bid this year for 600,000 tons of rice Japan imports every year through both the public and private sector.

Official sources told Dawn that Pakistan was also expected to hire the services of Mitsokushi, a Japanese firm, to introduce its textile and other products in Japan.

They said Japan was now looking at Pakistan as an alternate source of textile products to diversify its import dependence on China with which it had started facing problems.

The sources said Pakistan would also directly participate in the bidding of 60,000 tons tender that Japan imported through the private sector.

Although Japan itself is a rice producer, it imports around 600,000 tons of rice every year to meet its domestic requirements. It imports around 540,000 tons in the government sector, both through the nomination of countries from where it deals on government-to-government basis and through open tender.

Pakistan has been absent in both the channels. The Japanese government has told Pakistan that it would consider its rice for import and has asked to introduce its rice in Chinese, Indian and Pakistani restaurants.

The sources said Pakistan had also provided data on its mango varieties to Japan and would provide a comprehensive research data next year and was expected to start mango exports to Japan from 2005.

Japan’s principal imports are fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles and office machinery. The main sources of its imports are the United States with 19 per cent share, followed by China with 14.5 per cent, South Korea 5.4 per cent, Taiwan 4.8 per cent, and Indonesia and Australia with 4.3 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively.

However, the volume of bilateral trade is showing a declining trend over the last few years, both due to decline in exports to Japan and imports from Japan.

About 60 per cent of Pakistani exports to Japan are in the textile sector and around 50 per cent of imports from Japan are machinery and automobile.

The trade balance is heavily tilted towards Japan as Pakistan’s imports from Japan amounted to $519 million against its export of $166 million last year.

The Pakistan-Japan trade was the highest level in 1998-99 when it exported $271 million worth of goods against $785 million imports from Japan.

Major exports to Japan include fish and fish preparation, # leather, cotton yarn, cotton fabrics, apparel and clothing accessories of textile material and carpets.

Japan has provided over $10 billion in project and commodity loans, grants and technical assistance to Pakistan since 1961. In the 1990s Japan emerged as the largest bilateral aid donor to Pakistan.

Since the lifting of sanctions imposed on Pakistan and India following the nuclear tests in 1998, the Japanese government announced $300 million grant assistance to Pakistan for the period 2001-03.

Japan rescheduled Pakistan’s loans of $550 million under the Paris Club agreement. Pakistan’s overall debt liability towards Japan is about $5 billion.