Unisame vows to create export culture

KARACHI: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) has said that Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood’s agenda for creating export culture has motivated the sector to export more and more, a statement said.

“Being inspired by the plan of the adviser, we are requesting the SME exporters to export more and more and use all available methods and strategy to enter [the] new markets with traditional and non-traditional goods,” Unisame president Zulfikar Thaver said.

Thaver in a message to Razak Dawood requested him to consider allowing export of the banned items such as Khashkhash, Gur and Bhang, as this will enhance the exports.

The SME exporters have assured the Ministry of Commerce of playing an important role in motivating the sector to export more and more in support of the adviser’s idea of creating export culture.

Many of the SME farmers, producers, processors and exporters are engaged in the production of Khashkhash (white food grade poppy seeds) and jaggery and are getting inquiries for their export but are unable to export the same due to the ban.

They are also losing business because importers place orders for several items collectively and when the exporters refuse orders for Khashkhash and jaggery they cancel the entire order.

The Unisame chief said the Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) has approved, issued and released standards under the Pakistan Standard for white food grade poppy seeds and jaggery and has declared Khashkhash as a food ingredient. Likewise, jaggery has also been declared as a sweetener and the standard has been approved accordingly.

Khashkhash is used in most households as a culinary item in food preparations and is also available in all grocery shops and supermarkets in Pakistan and worldwide.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not allow Pakistani passengers to carry it but it imports from Turkey and is sold in food markets and shops in Saudi Arabia.

Turkey is exporting to global buyers and so are some other countries and it is unfortunate that Pakistan has not allowed the exports.

The export of Khashkhash and gur will become a source of income for many SME farmers, processors and exporters, Food, Herbs and Culinary Committee convener Zeeshan Nazim said, adding: “Our Khashkhash and gur are of international standards and there is a huge demand in many countries and Pakistan can export both these commodities to the global markets.

“Bhang is also being considered by the PSQCA under the heading of medicinal purposes and industrial raw material. To create an export culture, we have to work aggressively on many items, especially our geographical indications items, which are popular worldwide for their speciality and exclusiveness,” a SME facilitator HMI Company director Hussain Ali Ratnani said.

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