CORPORATE WINDOW : Saving Basmati exports

Shamsul Islam Khan Pakistan’s rice exports are no longer slowing down — they have already collapsed. Rice exports from Pakistan to all global destinations have fallen nearly 50 per cent in the first half of FY26. This is not a cyclical dip; it is a systemic failure. If this trajectory continues, Basmati — the country’s flagship geographical indication agricultural export — will soon be reduced to a nostalgic footnote rather than a viable industry. The country’s export managers have relied on ‘steroids’ of rebates and duty drawbacks to drive volume since the 1960s, rather than making our exports efficient, value-added and diversified to promote export culture in the country. Yet, instead of confronting the structural causes of the decline, the government has once again chosen the most convenient and least effective option: export rebates under the Duty Drawback of Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL) scheme. This policy may create the illusion of action, but in reality, it deepens ...