0.51 million metric tonnes dry fruit exported in 5 years: Senate informed

The country exported a total of 505,124 metric tonnes (MT) of dry fruit during the last five years. In a written reply, in the Upper House of the Parliament, Senior Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, said that the government was encouraging private sector for the development of infrastructure in northern areas of Pakistan for processing dry fruit. For this purpose, he informed that solar processing units were also being developed.
Fahim said that projects for processing and drying of dates were underway in Turbat, Khairpur and Dera Ismail Khan. He further informed that different trade delegations were being sent abroad to participate in agriculture and food exhibitions and exploring potential markets for food items' exports. Meanwhile, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah informed the Senate that an amount of $75.5 million was spent on the import of 26,046 MT powder milk in two years (2008-2010). He stressed the need for concentrating on increasing milk production in the country as it has sufficient livestock.