Pakistan seeks to boost rice exports to Gulf states amid efforts to stabilise economy

Pakistani rice exporter Waqar Rice Mills has been milling, processing and supplying Pakistani rice to countries in the Gulf for the past four decades.

The firm wants to ramp up exports to the region, but access has been limited.

Exporters holding face-to-face meetings with importers are limited by visa restrictions imposed on Pakistani visitors by nations including United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, said the mill’s director of international sales Mohsin Aziz.

The company is among Pakistani firms whose Gulf export ambitions face high interest rates and a lack of loans.

“We could achieve it simply if the government, first of all, provides very, very cheap loans. And also, if they could reduce the policy rate back to 3 to 4 per cent where it was back in 2013 to 2018,” said Aziz.

The price of rice is another challenge for Pakistan’s exporters.

Industry players say that while Pakistan produces top quality and aromatic rice, its inability to provide competitive pricing in the Gulf region is costing the country billions of dollars.

They warn that under these circumstances, breaking into Gulf markets will become tougher, especially with strong competition from India.

Apart from rice, Pakistan wants to boost its exports and pursue closer trade relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), across sectors in agriculture, information technology, textiles and energy.

There are concerns around its exporters’ access to GCC countries, with neighbouring India already having an established presence and a growing influence in the region.

“We need to study what are the prices and… the features of the products…coming from India and going into the GCC countries,” said Ali Salman, founder and executive director of Pakistani economic think tank Prime Institute.

He told CNA that customers are looking for better, cheaper and more efficient products.

“If we can ensure that from a private sector point of view, certainly we can increase the trade volume,” said Salman.

The deep sea Gwadar port in Pakistan’s southwest, along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, offers a route for Gulf trade to Central Asia, and gives the country a strategic advantage over India.

The port also allows trade to bypass the narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where there are concerns about possible shipping disruptions amid tensions surrounding the Gaza war in the region.

“Countries will face pressure if things become…more difficult and particularly Gaza has changed the Middle East dynamics altogether,” said former Pakistan Ambassador to China Naghmana Hashmi.

“So, the only option that is left for these Gulf states is to go via the Gwadar port which completely bypasses the Strait of Hormuz,” she said.

Pakistan’s trade with Gulf nations was more than US$19 billion last year and is central to the country’s trade ambitions, as it tries to stabilise its fragile economy which is heavily reliant on International Monetary Fund loans.

Tags: Gulf, export, price, rice, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, India, United Arab Emirates, Qatar