Regoverning Markets South Asia (Vol. 17, No. 32 July 21-27, 2007)

Fall in onion export costs Rs8m weekly Monday, July 23,2007 DAWN [1]

ISLAMABAD, July 22: Pakistan is facing Rs8.29 million weekly losses as onion export has almost come to a halt after the recent rains damaged the supply chain between Balochistan and Sindh.

On weekly basis, some 800 tons of onion do not reach the Karachi port for supply to international markets. The shortfall might rise further with monsoon rains persisting longer than expected, according to statistics of the Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board (PHDEB).

The board said Pakistan was unable to exploit the international onion market in the absence of its competitor, India, this year. Pakistan was expected to reap high payback for its bumper onion produce because India had not that much surplus production to export this season. But, the damaged supply chain has crippled the export capability of the country.

The country will even be unable to restart normal onion export during the next month and will miss the lucrative international market and better prices. Pakistan is getting good prices for its onion and if the supply chain is restored earlier the overall agriculture export will go up.

Bosan urges pro-farmer policies Monday, July 23,2007 DAWN [2]

MULTAN, July 22: There is a need to make small farmer-friendly policies, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Sikandar Hayyat Bosan said on Sunday.

Addressing a ceremony at the Agriculture College of the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Bosan said small farmers were 92 per cent of Pakistan's farming community, but they were deprived of due profits against their crops.

BARI cultivates rambutan Monday, July 23,2007 NEW AGE [3]

DHAKA: Scientists of the Horticulture Research Division of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute have successfully cultivated rambutan, a variety of the same botanical family as lychee.The internal structure of rambutan is similar to lychee, with a central seed surrounded by edible translucent, whitish or pale pink flesh. Its soft spiky skin, however, is much thicker than lychee. The flesh is sweet, has a mild acidic flavour and contains good amounts of protein, carbohydrate, vitamins, and minerals.

Believed to be a native of Malay Archipelago, the tree can adapt to warm topical climate. The soil and climate of Bangladesh are suitable for rambutan cultivation. Md Abdul Haque, principal scientific officer of the Fruit Division of Horticulture Research Centre, brought a bud of rambutan from Malaysia in 2001 and planted it in the nursery of the centre. The tree started bearing fruits last year. This year the tree bore about 100 fruits. The scientists of BARI hope to release a new variety of rambutan suitable for the climate of our country within the next two to three years, which will make it possible to cultivate the fruit on a large scale.

The scientific name of rambutan is nephelium lappaceum. It belongs to the sapindaceae family.

The evergreen tree grows to a height of 10-20 metres. It bears fruits in loose clusters fruits twice a year - once in late fall to early winter and again in late spring to early summer. A tree produces 5,000-6,000 fruits on an average weighing 60-70kg.

Light farming tech sector lies ignored Sunday, July 22,2007 NEW AGE [4]

DHAKA: The production and sale of locally manufactured low-tech agro-machinery is yet to gain any momentum due to lack of financial and policy support by the government. As a result the farmers, deprived of locally produced, inexpensive machines, stick to the age-old implements and methods, and lag far behind farmers of neighbouring countries in efficiency and productivity.

The agro-machinery sector has been totally deprived of loans and subsidies, so most of the manufacturers are suffering from capital starvation and cannot continue production of cheap machinery which is desperately needed by farmers to boost their productivity. According to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, the local manufacturers have to pay VAT on their products though no VAT is required for imported agro-machinery, which has made local machineries costly and unpopular to the farmers who can afford to buy machines.

The high price of raw materials, lack of skilled manpower, and lack of marketing campaign for the local machineries is bringing down the agro-machinery manufacturers to their knees, and many are thinking of closing down their factories. ‘The government has to ensure adequate loan facilities for the manufacturers, and farm technology should be incorporated in the academic syllabus of vocational educational curricula. This can expedite the spread of farm technology in the country,' said Omar Faruque, president of the Agricultural Machinery ManufacturersAssociation.

‘The BARI has a mandate to invent local agricultural machineries and improve their quality, and the Department of Agricultural Extension also has a role to play in encouraging the farmers to use agro-machinery for getting bigger harvests,' said Omar. ‘Information about, and demonstration of, agricultural machineries by the DAE are not up to the mark. Moreover the government has to ensure a level playing field so that local agro-machinery can successfully compete against imported machinery,' said Dr M Asaduzzaman, research director of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.

‘We get positive responses from the farmers when we demonstrate any agricultural equipment to them,' said Dr Khirodh Chandra Roy, former chief scientific officer of the farm machinery and engineering division of the BARI.

For the uplift and dissemination of farm technology, the government has to give subsidy both to the farmers and the manufacturers, following the example set by other countries in the world to make the agricultural sector successful, added the official.‘We have already taken up a five-year project on popularization of agricultural machineries, and I am really hopeful that the technology, if it is disseminated among the farmers, will increase production significantly, said the director-general of the DAE,' M Abdul Bari. ‘Bangladeshi manufacturers can manufacture agricultural machineries of good quality if they are provided technological training and financial support by the government, and their machines will be comparatively better in quality than those of China,' said Azizur Rahaman Mallik, general secretary of the Bangladesh Agricultural Machinery Merchants Association.

About 50 agro-machinery manufacturers are producing useful farm machines like reaper machines (for wheat and paddy), paddle and power thresher, maize sheller, potato grader, potato digger, power winnower, chaff cutter, coir decorticator and yarn twisting machine, coconut oil extractor, bed planter, seeder, weeder, potato planter, drier, seed separator, knapsack-type sprayer, power tiller, hydro tiller, rice transplanter, USG machine, broadcasting seeder, low lift pump and treadle pump.

Lemon grass gets Europe, US market Monday, July 23,2007 THE HIMALAYAN TIMES [5]

PHIDIM: Lemon grass that used to be planted to control the growth of insects affecting tea in a tea estate before, is now exported as a tea flavour to the western countries, including the US and Finland. Phidim-based Kanchanjunga Tea Estate (KTE), said that lemon grass that has been planted in the tea estate earlier is used as a flavour in tea and is being exported to the foreign countries. Out of some 300-kg of lemon grass produced at the KTE annually, 60 per cent is being exported to Finland and 40 per cent to the US. Kanchanjunga Tea Estate has been planting lemon grass in 20 ropanies of land. Lemon grass is planted in such land where tea could not be planted and in the places having the chances of landslide.

"We started planting lemon grass as its smell helps in controlling insects affecting the tea plants," Dilli Banskota, KTE executive director said. "I requested a Finnish lady to taste the lemon grass and she liked the flavour of the grass" Banstoka said recalling how the lemon grass started to be used as a flavour. "The lady took the specimen to Finland and demands started to pour in," he said adding that the Kanchanjunga Tea Estate has been exporting lemon grass for last two years. KTE exported 150-kg of lemon grass to Finland last year only. However, the lemon grass has been used in other forms also like oil and fragrance. Kathmandu-based Jadibuti Processing Company and Samala Herbal Company are producing oil from the lemon grass. Oil with fragrance can be produced after processing the lemon grass.

Yusipang complex to help farmers Monday, July 23,2007 KUENSEL ONLINE [6]

THIMPHU: The Indian Ambassador to Bhutan, Mr. Sudhir Vyas, and Bhutan's agriculture minister, Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, on July 19, inaugurated the National livestock Breeding Complex in Yusipang, which will house the office of the National Livestock Breeding Programme, the National Pig Breeding Centre, and the horse and dairy unit. The livestock project, according to the project director, Dr. Tashi Samdrup, will simplify and improve livestock delivery system services to the farmers, put in place much needed infrastructure, and establish commercial farming.

"With the complex we will have all technology of commercial farming to help farmers go beyond subsistence farming," said Tashi Samdrup. The complex is funded by the government of India. It is a part of the infrastructure development component of the Government of India funded livestock project in Bhutan, estimated at Nu. 624 million, of which Bhutan is contributing Nu. 40.0 million. The project will cover all livestock development initiatives in the country.

The GoI livestock project began in July 2005 and would continue for a period of five years. The director of the agriculture ministry's livestock department, Tenzin Dhendup, said the Yusipang livestock complex will comprise an entire range of production, processing, product diversification, marketing and displays of technologies and products. "It will offer a complete package of practices to farmers whereby farmers can come and learn the whole process of an activity, say for instance dairy farming," said Tenzin Dhendup.

The complex will house labs that will carry out artificial insemination on the pigs and the piglets would be distributed to farmers in the country. Under the livestock project, there were several programmes completed as of today, according to livestock officials. Six veterinary hospitals were constructed in Paro, Tsirang, Samtse, Punakha, Zhemgang and Dagana. Two milk-processing units were also completed at Sephu and Rukbji in Wangdue Phodrang. Other new infrastructure was also built in ten government livestock farms nationwide.

About 80 percent of Bhutanese farmers depend on livestock for livelihood, say officials. "The livestock complex will benefit farmers with technology and consumers with the produce," said Tenzin Dhendup.

‘DAP price hike costs farmers Rs16bn' Tuesday, July 24,2007 DAWN [7]

LAHORE, July 23: Some 37 per cent increase in the price of DAP fertiliser in the last six months has cost farmers Rs16 billion, which can damage the kharif crop beyond redemption, say farmers' bodies.Talking to Dawn on Monday, farmers said a bag of DAP was available to them at Rs900 till January 2007. Its market price was Rs1,060, when the government announced a Rs250 per bag subsidy, bringing the price down to Rs810. But the marketers did not decrease the price and continued selling it at Rs900.

Now, the commodity is being sold at Rs1,240 per bag, which shows a 37 per cent increase in the price. The price is higher in spite of the fact that the government claims to be subsiding a bag by Rs470, they said. Farmers use 35 million bags of DAP fertiliser during the kharif season. That means an additional burden of Rs12 billion on farmers. In the absence of the DAP, the cotton crop becomes vulnerable to pest attack of mealy bug. Farmers have to invest around Rs1,000 per acre to deal with the bug. That means an additional investment of Rs8 billion if all the eight million acres of the crop have to be cleared of the bug, they said.

Ibrahim Mughal of the AgriForum says: "The increase has mocked the government's claim of promoting balanced use of fertiliser. In India, a DAP bag costs Rs700 and the price has been stable around this figure for the last decade. In Pakistan, the price fluctuates by around six per cent a month. No sector in the world could absorb that kindof added fiscal pressure."

Idrees Khokhar of the Farmers Associate Pakistan says that officials' excuse that there is an increase in international price of the DAP, it should not affect the domestic production. The government allows domestic producers to follow international trends at the cost of farmers. Also, there is no check on importers either. Importers had a stock of 1.8 million DAP bags when the international market registered an increase in the price.

The importers increased the price of DAP bags, which they had imported in the pre-hike period. Unfortunately, farmers pay the cumulative cost of all these policy hiccups and failure of governance, he said.

There is no independent body to ascertain that how much international price increases and how much of it is passed on to farmers, says Farooq Bajwa of the Punjab Water Council. In the absence of such a body, the whole pricing mechanism becomes suspect and vulnerable to abuse by the importers.

BJMC given funds to purchase jute Tuesday, July 24,2007 NEW AGE [8]

DHAKA: The government has disbursed Tk 150 crore out of Tk 200 crore earmarked as seed money for ailing state-run jute mills to purchase raw jute this season, jute and textiles ministry officials have told New Age.
Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation, which will now run 18 jute mills after closing down four, has already started
buying raw jute following the government's firm commit- ment expressed in the recently announced jute sector revival strategy to run BJMC mills viably.

The officials said chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed had assured the ministry of necessary supports to stop jute mills from ‘bleeding the exchequer white' and make them profitable concerns. ‘His position on jute sector is balanced: run them efficiently; or else get rid of them,' a high official said. The interim government has taken initiative to constitute a seven-member commission comprising jute experts, economists, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to give inputs for a wholesale restructuring of the jute sector for making it competitive.
Under the revival programme already underway, BJMC has set a jute purchasing target of 55 lakh bales for this fiscal year, up from the previous year's procurement of 36 lakh bales for 22 mills.

The country may not be able to export raw jute this year because of BJMC's higher procurement target and increasing demand of jute goods in the global market, which is seen as huge prospect for Bangladesh's golden fibre in the coming years. ‘We will hopefully buy raw jute worth Tk 1,000 crore to use full potentials of the state-run mills so that the government does not incur any loss any longer very soon,' the jute and textiles secretary, Abdur Rashid Sarkar, said on Monday, expressing satisfaction at the early beginning of the jute procurement and disbursement of seed money.

BJMC will borrow Tk 138 crore from banks and mobilise more funds from different sources available, such as bills for supplying sacks to the food and disaster management ministry, outstanding money to a few agencies and left over money of the mills. Selling of land is also planned for injecting fresh funds into the BJMC-run mils. The government has not yet fixed any rate for purchasing raw jute from the farmers this year. The ministry officials said jute procurement process would be strongly monitored to ensure transparency and fairness in buying jute.
Asked about the retrenchment of workforce of mills, the secretary pointed out that such voluntary retirement scheme had been undertaken to ensure maximum welfare of the workers, employees and officers, and not to mention cost-effective operation of mills.

The government will have to spend Tk 300 crore to pay off all workers, , employees and officers who will lose jobs after the planned closure of four jute mills: People's Jute Mills in Khulna, Karnaphuli Jute Mills and Forat-Karnaphuli Carpet Factory in Chittagong and Qaomi Jute Mills in Sirajganj.

Crops on 62,000ha submerged Tuesday, July 24,2007 NEW AGE [9]

DHAKA: Standing crops on more than 62,000 hectares out of about 4 lakh hectares of land cultivated in 18 districts have been submerged because of heavy rainfall of about a week. The Department of Agricultural Extension in a report on Monday said the crops on 62,284 hectares of land out of 4, 03,836 hectares under 98 upazilas were inundated because of the July 18-21 downpour.

The crops include transplanted aus, transplanted aman, jute, transplanted aman seed beds, sugarcane, chilli, and vegetables. Transplanted aus on 26,323 hectares, transplanted aman on 4,420 hectares, jute on 730 hectares and transplanted aman on 12,619 hectares of land have been submerged. Transplanted aman seed beds on 8,978 hectares, sugarcane on 135 hectares, vegetables on 5,899 hectares and other crops, including chilli, on 3,180 hectares of land are also under water.

The report prepared by the department also said Chuadanga was the worst affected district while the least affected district was Cox's Bazar. Aus, transplanted aman seed beds, transplanted aman and others on 13,475 hectares out of the 39,894 hectares of land in Chuadanga were submerged. The affected upazilas are Chuadanga district headquarters, Alamdanga, Damurhuda and Jibannagar. Crops on 8514 hectares in Chittagong, 525 hectares in Bandarban, 282 hectares in Khagrachari, 7608 hectares in Comilla, 2875 hectares in Kushtia, 2805 hectares in Patuakhali, 1165 hectares in Feni and 4485 hectares in Magura were submerged, the report said.
Crops on 4238 hectares in Chandpur, 8789 hectares in Rajbari, 724 hectares in Shariatpur, 445 hectares in Rangamati, 80 hectares in Lakhipur, 3610 hectares in Noakhali, 205 hectares in Tangail and 225 hectares in Bagherhat were also affected, it said.

Contacted, the DAE director general, M Abdul Bari, told New Age, ‘The government has taken an initiative to develop seed beds of transplanted aman on 500 acres of land across the country for distribution among the farmers after an assessment of the damage of aman seed beds.' The department is yet to establish the extent of damage of crops in the district as the cropland is still under rain water, said a high department official. ‘The final crop damage figure could be established when water recedes.' Although it was not yet possible to establish the extent of damage, crops such as vegetables, chilli and the aman seed bed transplanted on low land would be exhaustively damaged, said the official.

The average rainfall in the country especially during July 18-22 was 50mm to 257mm, said Shamim Hasan Bhuiyan, deputy director of the Bangladesh Metrological Department. The official, however, predict heavy rainfall in the next five days from July 23 in the northern regions including Rangpur and Dinajpur. Heavier rainfall is likely in Chittagong and Cox's Bazar and light to moderate in Dhaka and its adjacent areas.

Global demand for Lankan tea rises Tuesday, July 24,2007 Daily Mirror [10]

COLOMBO: "In order to comply with the rising demand for Sri Lankan tea both in local and international market land area used in tea cultivation process should be extended to at least 20,000 acres annually," said Minister of Plantation Industries D.M. Jayarathne. He said this at a meeting held in the Small Tea Estate Development Authority.

The Ministry has implemented new strategic measures to uplift the industry including the introduction of tea varieties with higher productivity and application of advanced technology for all sections of the production process. The Ministry will also facilitate the farmers in solving their problems which relate to the ownership of the lands used for cultivation at present. Minister has instructed the authorities to lend maximum assistance to the farmers engaged in tea, coconut and rubber cultivation.

The government has deployed a workforce of 35,000 to administer the Government maintained development projects in the agricultural sector. It was revealed that 74% of the local tea production is done through small tea estate owners extended in a land area of 59% out of the total land used for tea cultivation in the country.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Plantation Industries has inaugurated a ‘Guidline project' in the district of Kaluthara to ensure the quality of finished tea product. Under the ‘Tea Shakthi' programme new methodologies will be implemented to get the maximum productivity of tea plantations.

The dramatic increase in demand for Sri Lankan tea at the international market has resulted in a hike of Rs.56.50 for 1 kilogram when compared to last year. Last year 1 Kg of Tea was sold at Rs.192/= in the international market, which is now offered Rs.247.50. Due to unexpected weather changes and workers strikers the local tea industry decreased in 20% during the first quarter of this year which stands to 12% by the month of June.

Despite those negative factors the Government is hoping the same output capacity of the production as in the year 2006 by the end of this year.

Lemon brings grin to buyers Thursday, July 26,2007THE HIMALAYAN TIMES [11]

MOULVIBAZAR: Low price of lemon has brought grin to city commuters, but has disappointed the growers of Sylhet region. Things could be better for the growers if they were able to preserve their produces at least for two months until Ramadan, when its consumption peaks and price goes up.

Growers said they have a bumper yield of lemon this year, but lack of preservation facilities has compelled them to sell lemon at lower prices. An abundant supply of lemon has turned many street-beggars into small vendors, who sell a package of 20 or more lemons for Tk 10 to city commuters. This tells what could be the price at growers' level. Most of the supply comes from greater Sylhet region, more specifically the hills of Moulvibazar district. Lemons grow in the hillside gardens round the year, but monsoon is the peak season.

This year's bumper harvest initially made the growers upbeat about the prospects of sales amounting to crores of taka. But the reality was different as prices tumbled with supplies flooding the market. Growers say the sliding price could be held back if lemon processing plant and preservation facility were established at Srimangal, the centre zone of lemon gardens. This could help meet lemon demand round the year as well as earn foreign exchange, while ensuring fair price to growers, they argued. Lemon gardens cover hilly lands of 10 upazilas of greater Sylhet. There are lemon trees on hilltop lands, slopes, courtyards and even on normal croplands. Most popular varieties are kagoji, jara, jhuta, china, elachi, beej-shunya and sharboti.

Gardens in the region supply about 80 per cent of the country's total demand for lemon. Department of Agricultural Extension statistics said lemons are being cultivated on 25 hectares of hilly lands of these 10 upazilas. Annual production of lemon is estimated at 75 lakh tonnes, market price of which is around Tk 45 crore.
History of commercial lemon cultivation dates back to 35 years in Srimangal upazila. Lemon growing areas have gradually expanded to Moulvibazar sadar, Rajnagar, Baralekha, Kamalganj, Kulaura, and Juri upazilas under Moulvibazar district, Bahubol and Chunarughat upazilas of Habiganj district and Beanibazar upazila of Sylhet district.

Srimangal pourasava chairman Ahad Miah said few people of Srimangal had started lemon cultivation in early seventies and it earned popularity rapidly with many people growing lemon in nearby upazilas. Anukul Chandra Das, a lemon cultivator of Srimangal said, the peak season of lemon harvesting started from last week of May. His lemon orchard covers 50 acres in Makri-chhera area. He has been cultivating lemon for six years and is selling 10 thousand pieces on an average daily. He had sold lemon of Tk 16 lakh last year. He has a plan to expand his garden, said Anukul.

Another lemon cultivator of Muhajirabad village, Shachin Deb said, he had started lemon cultivation in 1973 with only 10 bighas of land, which now grew into an orchard on 40 acres. He is optimistic about a bumper production this year. Mukter Ali of Goalbari village under Juri upazila said this is the peak season of harvesting of lemon, although it grows round the year. He said rate of attack of diseases in lemon plants is high. Adoption of modern technology and farming method has boosted lemon production, he said. The lemon wholesale market of Srimangal is flooded with supply of lemon, with more than 20 warehouses overstocked.

Warehouse owners sell lemon on a 4 per cent commission. Wholesalers from different parts of the country come to them to buy lemon. Jashim Miah, a warehouse owner, said lemons of Sylhet region are being exported to UK, USA, Canada, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Warehouse owners said though lemons sold round the year, but May-July is the peak time both for harvests and trade of lemons. Prices this year have come down sharply due to huge supply, they pointed out.

Good harvest and stable supply offer great potentials for development of lemon processing plants and storage facilities in the region, but none has come up with such initiative so far, said growers and wholesalers.
Lack of such facilities lead to low prices of lemon at growers' level and wastage of the much-consumed fruit during the peak season, while its supply drops and prices go up during the rest months of the year, they pointed out. The government should take up a project to encourage the private sector to set up preservation and processing plants, which would help lemon grow as a cash crop and major foreign currency earner after tea, they suggested.

Bumper jackfruit production in Kurigram Friday, July 27,2007NEW AGE [12]

KURIAGAUN: fair prices of jackfruits in Kurigram for lack of transportation as they get bumper production this year. Local markets are now flooded with jackfruits. The local Kathal Bazar on two-kilometer road under sadar upazilla is now buzzing with jackfruit traders. But farmers are not getting fair price as they can not transport their produce to Dhaka and other parts of the country as the Teesta Bridge has remained damaged.

A jackfruit is selling for Tk 15 to 70 in different markets of the district depending on the size. Growers attributed the huge yield of jackfruit to favourable weather. Soil of the district is suitable for jackfruit cultivation. According to a statistics, there are about 10 lakh jackfruit trees in the district. A jackfruit tree produces 30 to 120 fruits every season. Villagers from different parts of the country come here to buy jackfruits, the national fruit of Bangladesh. Jackfruits are harvested during three months of Jaistha, Ashar and Sraban in Bangla calendar.

Buds of jackfruits are locally called 'muchi' which appear about two months before the harvest. Sometimes, bad weather or storm destroys 'muchi' at early stage affecting production. Jackfruit is a good source of protein and other vitamins. Both rural and urban people love to eat this delicious fruit. A ripe jackfruit contains 1.8mg protein, 0.30mg to 2.61mg calcium, 1.07mg Iron, 0.11mg vitamin B1, 0.15mg vitamin B2l, according to experts.

Wood of jackfruit tree is also useful. It is used for making furniture. Green jackfruits are used as vegetables. Besides, seeds of ripe jackfruits are eaten after cooking. The growers of jackfruits in the district told New Age that they are being deprived of fair price as they can not preserve their produce.

Some growers said they are facing trouble in transporting jackfruits to other districts as the Teesta bridge have been damaged. The growers are compelled to sell jackfruits to the middle men at throw-away prices, they said.

They urged the authorities concerned to immediately take measures to repair the bridge for smooth transportation of jackfruits as well as to preserve them. http://dawn.com/2007/07/26/nat14.htm [13]

Trade policies should address poverty, uplift both Dawn Karachi July 26, 2007 By Our Reporter

25: Trade liberalisation has the potential to spur development and reduce poverty but it can only be materialised if trade policies are geared towards achieving the dual objectives.

This was the crux of a seminar, "Linkages between trade, development and poverty reduction" organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute here on Wednesday.

The speakers were unanimous that trade liberalisation in itself did not bring about development and poverty reduction unless it was supplemented and complemented by sound policy making in areas other than trade including human development, social sectors and distribution of income.

They said there were a number of institutional, administrative, legal as well as social obstacles hindering a positive linkage between growth in trade and reduction of poverty.

Economist Dr A. R. Kemal highlighted various aspects of economic policies and suggested coordination among various ministries in framing trade related policies.

He said industrialists would have to improve the quality of their products besides raising the salaries of employees. "If there is more investment in the value addition sector there will be more opportunities for job creations," he added.

Dr Kausar Ali Zaidi, a section officer at the ministry of commerce, elaborated the trade diplomacy programme of the ministry to increase share in international trade. He said preferential trade arrangements would help increase exports to various countries.

In reply to a question, he said the government did consult all the relevant stakeholders before formulating trade policies because they certainly impacted not just businesses but also people's well-being and their livelihood.

National programme manger of the UNDP's Trade-related Initiatives for Human Development, Zubair Faisal Abbasi said trade policies should be somehow linked with overall poverty reduction and growth strategy.

Aftab Alam, a trade policy adviser for Action Aid Pakistan said though the export of certain commodities was increasing but farmers were getting nothing.

He said multilateral trading system, particularly the conclusion of the Doha round, will provide more market access for Pakistani products.

Nadeem Kiani, director Consumers Protection Council, Punjab, said trade should be treated as a means for achieving an end which is human development and poverty reduction. There is no point in promoting trade for its own sake if it does not result in achieving the ultimate objective of raising the level of human resources and thereby reduce poverty.

Dr Sajjad Akhtar, the head of Centre for Poverty Reduction and Income Distribution; Inamul Haq, adviser to the chief minister of Punjab, Dr Aliya Khan, head of economics department at the Quaid-i-Azam University, and Saba Anwar, a staff economist at PIDE, emphasised the fact that the evidence of lowering tariff and opening trade did not automatically result in reducing the number of people living on or below poverty line.

Haroon Sharif, senior adviser on private sector development for UK's Department For International Development, listed a number of activities that his department was undertaking in cooperation with Pakistan for protecting people against market failures and anomalies and distortions arising from trade liberalisation.

Dr Abid Suleri, acting executive director of SDPI, said the government had not been able to produce a well-rounded policy on international trade let alone the one which results in trade leading to development and poverty reduction.

‘Trade can spur development, poverty reduction' Daily Times Islamabad July 26, 2007 By Staff Report

Speakers at a national consultation on Wednesday said that trade and commerce had the potential to spur human development and reduce poverty, but this potential could not be realised unless trade policies were improved.

The national consultation on "Linkages between trade, development and poverty reduction" was organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), which brought together academics, researchers, students, development activists and media persons to discuss linkages between trade liberalisation and poverty reduction. The speakers unanimously observed that trade liberalisation did not bring development and reduce poverty unless it was supplemented by positive policies in areas including human and social sector development, and distribution of wealth. They said that there were a number of institutional, administrative, legal, and social obstacles hindering a positive linkage between trade growth and poverty reduction. Speakers said that low tariffs and flourishing trade did not automatically result in reducing the number of people living near the poverty line.

Trade policies should address poverty, uplift both Dawn Islamabad July 26, 2007 By Our Reporter

Trade liberalisation has the potential to spur development and reduce poverty but it can only be materialised if trade policies are geared towards achieving the dual objectives.

This was the crux of a seminar, "Linkages between trade, development and poverty reduction" organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute here on Wednesday.

They said there were a number of institutional, administrative, legal as well as social obstacles hindering a positive linkage between growth in trade and reduction of poverty.

Economist Dr A. R. Kemal highlighted various aspects of economic policies and suggested coordination among various ministries in framing trade related policies.

Aftab Alam, a trade policy adviser for Action Aid Pakistan said though the export of certain commodities was increasing but farmers were getting nothing. He said multilateral trading system, particularly the conclusion of the Doha round, would provide more market access for Pakistani products.

'Trade has potential to reduce poverty, impel human development' Business Recorder Islamabad July 26, 2007 By Asma Razaq

Trade is directly related to the economy of a country. Low trade would tend to weak economy while high trade ensure strong economy and eradication of poverty can be possible through distribution impact of high trade-led growth.

Dr A. R. Kemal, former head of PIDE, said this while addressing the national consultation program on "linkages between trade, development and poverty reduction" organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Wednesday.

Dr Kemal emphasised that trade could play the pre-requisite role in bringing about developments in a country's GDP.

Trade had the potential to impel human development and reduce poverty but this potential could not be realised unless trade policies were not geared towards achieving the dual objective.

He added that trade should be treated as a means for achieving an end, which is human development and poverty reduction. There is no point in promoting trade for its own sake if it does not result in achieving the ultimate objective of raising the level of human resources and thereby reduce poverty.

Dr Sajjad Akhtar, Head of Centre for Poverty Reduction and Income Distribution, Inamul Haq, Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab, Dr Aliya Khan, Head of Economics Department at the Quaid-e-Azam University, and Saba Anwar, a staff economist at PIDE, Dr Amjad Iqbal, Pakistan's Commercial Councillor in Kenya and Dr Kausar Ali Zaidi of Commerce Ministry and Haroon Sharif, Senior Economic Advisor of DFID were among the other participants.

The program highlighted that an enforced discipline of multilateral trade rules which the countries are required to observe in their trade relations with one another.

Trade reforms expand economic opportunities by enlarging the market size and increasing the effects of knowledge spillovers. Also the trade reforms which benefit poor farmers by increasing their producer prices may hurt the urban poor by raising their food prices.

Reforms, which lower the domestic prices of imported food, would be beneficial to poor consumers while penalising the local poor food producers with low prices.

It was explained that the growth could be jobless, rather than jobless, ruthless, rootless and futureless if it is not conducive to poverty reduction or human development.

Dr Abid Suleri, acting executive director of SDPI, told the audience that the government had not been able to produce a well-rounded policy on international trade let alone the one, which results in trade leading to development and poverty reduction.

"What instead is announced every year in the name of trade policy every year is only a policy for export promotion," he maintained. Saba Anwar, said that the overall South Asian economies differ rather significantly in size as Pakistan and Bangladesh with medium sized economies account for 9.23% and 7.4% of the regional GDP respectively while India accounts for more than three-fourth of the region's GDP. Similarly Sri Lanka and Nepal have only 2.6 and 0.86 percent of the regional GDP respectively.

She explained that currently maximum tariff rate on imports of Pakistan stands at 25% with four non-zero tariffs labs ie 5,10, 20 and 25 % while currently the Indian government maintains a peak tariff rate of 35% and the four non-zero tariff rates of 5, 15, 25, and 30%.

She stressed that deeper and more extensive reforms in the region in terms of trade and investment liberalisation may spur economic growth with greater pro-poor bias.

The other participants highlighted the fact that there were a number of institutional, administrative, legal as well as social obstacles hindering a positive linkage between growth in trade and reduction of poverty.

They pointed out that low tariff and opening trade did not automatically result in reducing the number of people living on or below poverty line. Evidence from Pakistan as well as from the rest of South Asia and the world at large shows that integration into the world economy through a liberalised trade regime has produced different results in different countries depending on a number of factors including transparent and inclusive policies and an emphasis on human development.

It was observed that government of Pakistan had pledged to increase the volume of international trade and consult all the stakeholders before formulating trade policies because they certainly impacted not just businesses but also people's well being and their livelihood.

Haroon Sharif gave an overview of the various administrative and policy bottlenecks that hinder investment and trade from having a positive impact on poverty reduction.