Federal Investment Minister Waqar Ahmad Khan has assured Pakistan Jute Mills Association (PJMA) that the government will take up the issue of ban on jute export with the Bangladeshi government. The government of Bangladesh had imposed a sudden ban on the exports of raw jute when the consignments of importers were lying on the ports.

Terming the ban on jute export by Bangladesh as unfair, the PJMA delegation said that they had already paid the price of the raw jute to their Bangali clients and such a step at this stage did not seem rational. PJMA Chairman Malik Muhammad Asif requested the Investment Minister to persuade the Bangladeshi government to honour all contracts signed by Pakistani Importers and Bangladeshi exporters by the end of December, 2009.

He said that the government of Bangladesh had violated international norms both on legal and moral grounds as the abovementioned shipments had already been paid for through TT /LCs at sight. The PJMA stated that the jute was being utilised for making sacks for packing wheat, rice, sugar and other commodities and in case the Bangladeshi government was not ready to lift the ban, it would create serious problems for Pakistan jute industry.