After a gap of 15 years, a 10-member team of Soyabean Processors' Association of India (Sopa) led by Davish Jain, former chairman of SOPA and managing director of Prestige Foods will be touring Pakistan from April 9 to 13. | |
| It will explore the possibilities expanding the soyameal trade between the two countries. The team will include representatives from major soy processing, exporting units and trading houses from India. |
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| The delegation will seek to promote sale of Indian soybean meal in Pakistan and explore ways to overcome transportation bottlenecks in the existing rail route besides identifying a way to develop a road link. |
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| The delegation meet feed millers and end users to assess requirements of soybean meal for use as poultry feed at Lahore and Karachi markets. The Pakistan Poultry Association has arranged the tour in Pakistan. |
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| The high cost of transportation and freight has made Indian products expensive in the Pakistan market, forcing the feed industry there to use soybean meal from other countries. Soybean meal trade between India and Pakistan peaked at 165000 tonnes in 1998-99 but declined to 9000t in 2001-02. |
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| Goods were shipped in the past using the Attari-Wagah rail route. Suspension of the rail service almost killed off the trade in soybean meal between the two countries. With passenger rail service and air links being revived, Sopa would lobby for a "Samjhota Vyapar Express" to ship cargo on the same route as Samjhota Express carrying passengers. |
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| Railway authorities would have to provide BCN and BCX wagons for movement of cargo. Trade would also boom if the roads link was opened up as transportation by trucks would reduce cost and time and increase convenience. |
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| The delegation includes eminent industry names like Manish Shahra as deputy leader, Suresh Kalra, Kailash Chandra Garg, Radhey Shyam Vijayvargiya, Ashok Agrawal, Mohit Gupta, Hemant Kumar Jain, Rajendra Manglani and Narain Mohan Narang. |
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