RIYADH: Despite the devastating floods in the country, Pakistan can continue to export rice to Saudi Arabia, said Pakistani rice exporters here Monday. They are part of a 30-member trade delegation, comprising mostly rice exporters, who are in the country to assure the Saudi Arabian authorities that there will not be a shortage of rice this year. They were attending the 29th International Saudi Agriculture 2010 exhibition in Riyadh Monday, the biggest business-to-business agriculture and agro-food event in the Mideast. “Last year we had a bumper crop of rice, particularly basmati rice, and we have enough stock to allow us to continue the export of rice to Saudi Arabia without any interruption,” said Amir Qayyum, one of the rice exporters participating in the exhibition. The Pakistani rice exporters say they are in the Kingdom to ensure competitors do not exploit the situation that would lead to overpricing in the local market. Engineer Saad Bin Ibrahim Al-Fayyad, Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Fisheries and Marine Aquaculture, opened the event Monday. The event is open to businesspeople and the public between 4:30 P.M. and 10 P.M. until Oct. 7. Also running concurrently with the Saudi Agriculture 2010 exhibition, are two other events – Saudi Agro-Food 2010, the 17th International Tradeshow for Food Products, and Saudi Food-Pack 2010, the International Exhibition for Food Processing and Packaging. Mohamad Al-Hussaini, Deputy General Manager, Riyadh Exhibitions Company, the organizer of the event, said that Saudi Arabia is the largest economy within the Gulf Cooperation Council, the world's top food-importing region as verified by the World Trade Organization. “With a population of roughly 28 million people, the Kingdom's demand for food and other agriculture products is huge. The Saudi government intends to meet this demand by boosting spending on agriculture and related sectors. Saudi Agriculture 2010 offers insights on how best to maximize domestic prospects while providing a gateway to other lucrative Gulf markets,” said Al-Hussaini. About 300 exhibitors from Saudi Arabia and 27 countries are participating in the exhibition.
