Pakistan has urged Türkiye to increase rice imports from the country as global price pressures intensify, signaling a shift toward a volume-led export strategy aimed at protecting farmer incomes and sustaining the agricultural value chain, according to an official statement issued on Wednesday.
The issue was discussed during a meeting between Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan and Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Dr. Irfan Neziroğlu, as both sides explored ways to strengthen bilateral trade cooperation, with a particular focus on expanding Pakistan’s rice exports.
The talks come as Islamabad seeks to counter the impact of aggressive pricing by rival exporters, with Türkiye identified as a priority market where higher shipment volumes could help offset weaker international prices. Khan told the Turkish envoy that the government has developed a pricing support mechanism to maintain Pakistan’s competitiveness in global markets.
According to the commerce ministry statement, the minister urged Türkiye to consider raising import volumes from Pakistan as a special case, emphasizing that the country’s primary objective is to increase volumes rather than maximize prices in order to safeguard farmer incomes and maintain stability across the agricultural supply chain.
Khan said Pakistan recorded a strong rice harvest this season, ensuring ample exportable surplus. He noted that intense price competition from major exporters, particularly India and Vietnam, has put downward pressure on global prices despite Pakistan sustaining solid export volumes.
The discussions also covered the use of government-to-government trade channels alongside private-sector mechanisms to facilitate bulk procurement, as well as ways to improve the utilization of tariff-rate quotas under the Pakistan–Türkiye Preferential Trade Agreement.
The Turkish ambassador welcomed Pakistan’s proposals and reaffirmed Türkiye’s commitment to strengthening economic ties. He observed that bilateral trade remains below its potential despite strong political relations and recalled the jointly agreed target of reaching $5 billion in bilateral trade, set during a meeting of the Pakistan–Türkiye High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
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