ISLAMABAD: Pakistan hopes to export meat and meat preparations worth $500 million by the end of the current fiscal year (FY22) after getting access to the Jordanian and Indonesian halal meat markets, officials said.
The veterinary and animal health directorate of Jordan’s Agriculture Ministry allowed three Pakistani meat processing facilities to export bovine, sheep, goat and camel meat to the Arab country last month.
Officials say they are also in talks with the authorities in Jakarta, as Indonesia plans to open its market to Pakistani halal meat, as well.
“We believe, we will be able to export $500 million of meat by June 2022,” Dr Kausar Ali Zaidi, director general agriculture at the Commerce Ministry, said in an interview with Arab News.
“Much of our exports go to GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries; followed by Malaysia, Central Asia and now Jordan.”
“Our exports to Indonesia are expected be around $150 million during the remaining months of the fiscal year,” he said.
Pakistan’s overall exports of meat and meat preparations during the last fiscal year stood at $333.4 million, which was around 10 per cent higher than the previous year.
The country had already exported meat and meat preparations worth $78.3 million during the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Pakistani exporters eye at least 25 per cent share in the Jordanian meat market and will help the country add around $100 million in export revenue.
“We hope the trial shipments to Jordan will start from this month (November 2021),” Bilal Shahid Anwar Tata, a meat exporter said.
“Jordan is a good market since its annual import [of meat] stands at around $400 million to $500 million,” Tata said, adding: “It is a big market and big opportunity.”
However, the Pakistani official said it would take a little time to gauge the true potential of meat export to Jordan.
“For Jordan, it will take at least two months to estimate how much is going to that country,” Zaidi said, adding: “The trade volume will gradually pick up.”
Earlier in September, the Organic Meat Company secured a $1 million contract to supply frozen boneless meat to Saudi Arabia for 10 months.
The company had also won a high-value contract worth $3.9 million to export 100 tonnes of frozen boneless meat to Saudi Arabia last December.