KARACHI, May 30: A joint workshop was held at a local hotel by members of Date Exporters & Producers Association and Union of Small & Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) on the request of Smeda to boost exports of dates and its products.

The workshop was presided by Javed Tarmohommed, chairman of DEPA, and was assisted by Munaf Bawany, vice-chairman of DEPA, says a press release.

The participants were informed that Pakistan produced 0.65 million tons of dates out of which only 10 per cent was exported and substantial quantity gets spoilt due to improper system and method of care after the rains. The remaining is consumed locally and some quantity of dried dates are smuggled to the neighbouring countries.

The CE of Prime Date displayed the products namely syrup, jam, marmalade, pickle paste and blocks, manufactured by his unit in Sukkur and requested the participants to promote exports through their associations.