KARACHI, June 30: The acting president and chairman senate Mohammadmian Soomro on Monday advised the stakeholders in rice to work together to face global challenges of competitive price and quality demand.
Addressing as a chief guest at the allotment letters distribution ceremony organized by REAP chairman Abdul Rahim Janoo at his residence Soomro said in present day competition only those would survive who ensured competitive price and quality.
A 160 acres piece of land in SITE Nooriabad was given to REAP for developing warehouses and milling units.
Like sugar mills, he said, the rice exporters should also give funds in advance to rice growers to ensure quality rice, which would ensure better price in the world market.
Mohammadmian Soomro said there was a need of close cooperation between the stakeholders of rice because without doing so the quality of rice could not improve. He said that if there was a need to improve milling quality by adopting latest technology, similarly it was also necessary that rice seed and its inputs should be ensured.
For achieving this goal, he said the only way out was to have a close cooperation between exporters, millers and growers as any one of them falling weak would damage the entire cycle of ensuring quality.
The acting president said even the Prime Minister had said that business community hold special place and his government would ensure consistency and continuity of last three year’s policies to ensure prosperity and industrial development.
He said that the current visit of president Pervez Musharraf to western countries was highly successful and hoped that flow of foreign investment would gain momentum.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included minister of state and chairman EPB Tariq Ikram, secretary industries Sindh, Raja Mohammad Abbas, Managing director SITE, Hashim Raja and foreign diplomats.
In his address of welcome chairman REAP Abdul Rahim Janoo said that Sindh for the first time has produced a record output of 300,000 tons of basmati rice which was as good as PK385 in aroma and appearance.
He said its impact was seen in national exports which resulted in the increase in unit price by 16 per cent and by 9 per cent in quantity and 26 per cent in value.
Janoo said in first 11 months of current fiscal 1.646 million tons of rice valuing $501 million had been exported, and hoped that in remaining one month which ends today an export of 1.8 million tons with a value of $535 million is being estimated. Abdul Rahim Janoo gave crest and shields to the acting president and to the chairman EPB. Later Soomro distributed allotment letters among REAP members.