FAISALABAD, April 21: Minister of State and Chairman, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Tariq Ikram, has said the dry ports of the country were contributing substantially towards the promotion of exports through quick and fast handling of the cargo.

Speaking to the local exporters, importers, executives of shipping companies and trustees of the Faisalabad Dry Port here on Saturday, the EPB Chairman said that after the inception of this dry port, over 25 per cent increase in the export of value added products had been registered from Faisalabad.

He said advised the local exporters to avail the export facility at their doorstep. He said the FDP was providing exporters with a complete service structure that included railway and road linkage, loading and unloading facilities, transport machinery and equipment, custom offices, arrangement for double shifts and round-the-clock service to handle high volume of exports.

Tariq Ikram said the EPB was providing most useful information to the exporters by arranging seminars and trade fairs at the international and domestic level. He pointed out that there were lot of opportunities for the export of ready-made garments, made-ups, fish, fruit and vegetables. Pakistan is earning $35 million from the export of citrus only. The fish is being exported at the rate of 2.5 dollars per kg, which could be increased to 18 dollars per kg.

Earlier, FDPT chairman Mukhtar Ahmed Sheikh said the Faisalabad Dry Port was handling 25,000 export cargo containers worth Rs50 billion, while 5,500 import cargo containers valuing Rs25 billion reached here every year.