• Home
• /
• Business

Pakistan to bid for Japan rice tender

Official sources said that Pakistan is also expected to hire the services of a Mitsokushi, a Japanese firm to introduce its textile and other products in Japan.

These sources said that Japan was now looking at Pakistan as an alternate of source of textile products to diversify its import dependence on China with which it has started facing problems.

Although Japan itself is a rice producer, it imports around 600,000 tonnes of rice every year to meet its domestic requirements. It imports around 540,000 tonnes in the government sector, both through nomination of countries from where it deals on government to government basis and through open tender.

Pakistan has been absent in both the channels. The Japanese government has told Pakistan that it would consider its rice for import and has asked to introduce its rice in Chinese, Indian and Pakistani restaurants.

These sources said that Pakistan would also directly participate in the bidding of 60,000 tonnes tender that Japan imports through the private sector.

The sources said Pakistan has also provided data on mango varieties to Japan and would supply comprehensive research data next year and is expected to start mango exports to Japan from the year 2005.

Japan's principal imports are fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles and office machinery. The main sources of its imports are United States with 19 per cent share, followed by China with 14.5 per cent, South Korea 5.4 per cent, Taiwan 4.8 per cent and Indonesia and Australia 4.3 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively.

However, the volume of bilateral trade is showing a declining trend over the past few years both due to decline in exports to Japan and imports from Japan.

About 60 per cent of Pakistani exports to Japan are in the textile sector and around 50 per cent of imports from Japan are machinery and automobiles.

The trade balance is heavily tilted towards Japan as Pakistan's imports from Japan amounted to $519 million against its export of $166 million last year.

Pak-Japan trade was the highest level in 1998-99 when Pakistan exported $271 million worth of exports against $785 million imports from Japan.

Major exports to Japan include fish and fish preparations, leather, cotton yarn, cotton fabrics, apparel and clothing accessories of textile material and carpets.

Japan has provided over $10 billion in project and commodity loans, grants and technical assistance to Pakistan since 1961. In the 1990s Japan emerged as the largest bilateral aid donor to Pakistan.

Since the lifting of sanctions that were imposed on Pakistan and India following nuclear tests in 1998, the Japanese government announced $300 million grant assistance to Pakistan for the period 2001-03.

Japan rescheduled Pakistan's loans of $550 million under the Paris Club agreement. Pakistan's overall debt liability towards Japan is about $5 billion.

Tokyo however continues to remain concerned about the tension between Pakistan and India, nuclear proliferation in the region and the threat posed by terrorism.