In the short term, the government will push for export of basmati rice, horticulture, meat and meat products as well as jewellery to target markets in Iran, China, Europe and Afghanistan. During a meeting, SMEFA Chairman Haji Muhammad Saeed said, “Basmati rice is our heritage and indeed a gift. It is a well-known fact that our basmati rice fully qualifies and deserves the geographical indication (GI) tag, and the trademark of basmati belongs to Pakistan. Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) President Zulfikar Thaver endorsed views of SME farmers and growers of Basmati rice and assured them on behalf of the institutions that efforts would be made to protect Basmati rice at all cost. Thaver urged the farmers to grow more Basmati rice and exporters to promote it more.

Source: The Express Tribune October 21, 2020 03:11 UTC