Pakistan's Biggest Food Import: Palm Oil Worth $4.5 Billion Worsens Trade Deficit

[Olympus81]

Slap more duty on imported palm oil and see what happens.

If the awaam wants to consume more imported palm oil, slap another 100% duty.

Somewhere along the line, it will register in someone’s brain that it is better to find ways of producing palm oil locally or find a viable substitute.

 

[SoulSpokesman]

@Olympus81

Not so easy. Palm oil is and will remain the cheapest source of oil globally. Sure, you can boost domestic production by slapping a hefty duty on imported CPO, but it takes many many years for domestic production to come up. India has made an honest attempt for over a decade but the nature of the beast is such that it is very slow to ramp up. And in between the citizens, especially the poor suffer.

Regards

 

[SaadH]

Need to reduce oil consumption and usage in our cuisine. You can kill do birds with one stone, getting rid of trade deficit and saving tons more healthcare cost due to less consumption of unhealthy oil consumption.

 

[Olympus81]

I was exaggerating here but you get the gist.

Climate wise, areas of Northern Pakistan and some parts of Azad Kashmir could be viable to grow palm oil. (Maybe our members from Azad Kashmir can confirm)

There have been decent efforts to grow olive in Sindh and Punjab. Hope that translates into substitution of palm oil.

 

[SoulSpokesman]

@Olympus81

Palm oil needs warm climate and high humidity throughout. It won't do well in most parts of Pak apart from pockets in Sindh. And that will be contingent on high levels of irrigation.

KPK, Azad Kashmir and parts of Punjab are very much suited for olive oil and I believe Pak has already made a good headstart - but do keep in mind that olive oil is relatively high cost. Also it will take anywhere from 5-10 years for olive oil to reach high productivity.