KARACHI, May 2: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has advised rice exporters to utilize Gwadar Industrial Zone for the promotion of rice exports to Iran.

Jamali also asked the REAP chairman to take care of rice quality being shipped to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as few unscrupulous elements showed some different quality and dispatched lower quality of rice, which shattered the confidence of Saudi importers.

Abdul Rahim Janoo assured the prime minister that the REAP was monitoring the quality and it would strengthen the inspection to ensure no lapses took place in future.

The REAP chairman informed the prime minister that on the advice of the minister of finance a REAP delegation would call upon Saudi Ambassador in Islamabad and will also invite him to visit latest milling units as well as the parboiling of rice which has been recently commenced by a few millers.

He assured the prime minister that all care would be taken to ensure quality, and a detailed report would be submitted to his office as well as Saudi Rice Trade Projection.

The prime minister was also informed about the production of 300,000 tons of Basmati rice in Sindh for the current crop year 2002-2003 which was a record.

Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali appreciated the development and said that this was the need of the hour as the price of Irri-6 was not sufficient to cover the cost of living of growers and cultivation of Basmati was a good news.

The prime minister expressed the hope that with the larger production of Basmati the growers of Sindh and Balochistan would fetch better price which would help in improving their standard of living.

Janoo informed the prime minister about achievements of rice exports, and said that during 10 months of the current fiscal rice exports were expected to touch $480 to $490 million.