ISLAMABAD: The business community of the federal capital has asked the government to facilitate the farmers to boost the fruit and vegetable productions in the country and to enhance their export to the international market.
Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Muzzamil Hussain Sabri said that with improvement in quality and value addition, fruits and vegetables could become an important source of foreign exchange earnings for the country. He said that the country has immense potential to promote exports of fruits and vegetables and capture better share in the global horticulture market of over $180 billion. However, the share of Pakistan in international horticulture market is just 0.3pc and its main reason is that fruits & vegetables sectors have received minimal research, development and other supportive services from the government.
The result is that the country could not fully harness the export potential of its fruits & vegetable products so far as the fruit exports were just $438 million in financial year 2014.
He said due to the insufficient attention of the government, the total production of fruits has gradually declined from around 7.0 million tons in 2009 to 6.52 million tons in 2013 which should be a cause of concerns for the policy makers.
