President ICCI seeks govt support to export pink salt

ISLAMABAD, Mar 28 (APP): President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari on Tuesday demanded the government to cooperate with the private sector in value addition of pink salt which would enable the country to earn billions of dollars through its exports around the world.

Talking to a delegation of Miracle Salt of USA that visited ICCI led by its President Nadeem Ahmed, Ahsan said, “The global market of pink salt is around US$ 12 billion, but Pakistan’s annual export of this salt is just around US$ 70 million.”

He said, “Pakistan is the only producer of pink salt in the world and local exports of salt is far less than the actual potential of the country.”

“Pakistan is exporting 90 percent of pink salt in raw form at rate $60-80 per ton and many other countries are earning much higher margins by value addition of Pakistan’s raw pink salt and exporting it to other markets,” he added.

He urged the government to fix the minimum export price of pink salt and help the business community in its value addition to boost its export.

Speaking at the occasion, President of Miracle Salt of USA said, “They are interested to invest in Pakistan’s pink salt to produce its valued added products as this salt has great potential for exports in the global market.”

He asked the government to announce a policy of pink salt and regulate its trade and exports that would attract more foreign investors to invest in Pakistan.