Ismail Suttar, the chairman of Salt Manufacturers Association of Pakistan (SMAP), urged the government to expedite the process of registering pink salt as a Geographical Indication (GI) tag product through the Intellectual Property Organization.
He suggested that, like Basmati rice, pink salt could be the future of Pakistan’s minerals to chemicals value addition, and thus we must focus on other export sectors to boost exports.
Suttar said that 50 companies had applied for the pink salt GI tag, which is currently under consideration by the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC). He also highlighted that Pakistan has 92 minerals, but apart from gypsum, no work has been done on minerals to chemicals. He emphasized that research work has been started in this regard, aiming to establish a testing laboratory in Balochistan, and he requested that the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) cooperate with them.
Furthermore, Younus Dagha, Chairman of the Pakistan Afghanistan Business Forum (PABF) FPCCI, explained that exports should not be limited to a few sectors, especially minerals and agricultural sectors that require attention. He added that minerals to chemicals have tremendous opportunities for value addition, and the government should focus on this. Currently, Chrome is being exported at $200 per ton, which may go up to $400 after value addition, while the value of Ferrochrome is up to $1,400.
Zubair Motiwala, CEO of TDAP, while guaranteeing support for the establishment of a testing laboratory in Balochistan and the GI tag of pink salt, stated that there were vast opportunities for development in the pink salt sector. Khalid Chachar, Secretary Mines Sindh, mentioned that they have issued 86 permits for salt, while 39,000 hectares of land have been leased.
Finally, Asghar Karim, General Manager of Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation, highlighted that pink salt is in the process of registration, after which traders associated with this sector will be able to use the logo.
