On the initiative taken by the Marketing Department for linkages development of local industry with international market, Mr Sajid Rafique (Procurement Manager of Sierex & Topflora UK) was invited to visit Pakistan to assess flora industry here. In this regard a meeting of leading flower growers and exporters was arranged with the guest at PHDEC Head Office on 7th October 2009 and afterwards field trips were arranged to see the actual farm situation.

The following were present at the meeting:

PHDEC Officials:

1. Mr. Muhammad Iqbal, A/CEO (In Chair)
2. Mr. Kashif Niazi, Marketing Manager
3. Mr. Asif Malik, Assistant Manager Business Development
4. Mr. Raheel Abbas, Management Associate Marketing

Top Flora U.K:

 Mr. Sajid Rafiq, Planning and Procurement Manager

Growers/Exporters:

1. Mr. Muhammad Yousaf Sial, President Pakistan Cut Flower Growers Association
2. Mr. Allah Yar Mian, Grower
3. Mr. Khalid Hussain, Grower
4. Mr. Sajjad Hussain, Grower

The meeting started with recitation from Holy Qur’an. The chair welcomed the guest and elaborated the efforts rendered by PHDEC for the uplift of the flora industry in Pakistan. The Chair highlighted the projects like Matli Flora Farm and proposed CFC in Patoki. He explained to the guest that if our growers are given certain incentives they would produce the best quality flowers according to the international market demand.

The guest explained the working of flora industry in U.K. He iterated that UK flower industry is over £2.2bn a year and demand for flowers at competitive prices is quite high where India is recently becoming a strong player. He also explained that his own company Top Flora has turnover of more than 1.2 billion pound sterling per annum whereas they use only 120 flower varieties out of millions available. He pointed out the high demand times of the year like Christmas, Valentine and the hot selling varieties.

Sierex & Topflora are part of Ciccolella Group (www.ciccolella.eu) and is a public limited company on Italian stock exchange. They employ around 3000 people around the world and have a group turnover of €500m a year. Ciccolella owns a variety of company ranging from cut flower supplier, plant suppliers, flower growers etc. Group strategy is to dominate Europe and achieve a turnover of €1bn a year.

Manger Marketing appreciated the patriotic sense of the guest and explained that as the Top Flora is procuring flora varieties from India, it can look into the possibility of sourcing from Pakistan also as both have the same climatic conditions and infrastructure. He pointed out that a Pull factor is required for change/improvement in the local flora industry of Pakistan and sought the help of the guest for promoting flowers grown in Pakistan. With right guidance, right attitude and right people, we can introduce Pakistani flowers into rest of the world. Mr. Kashif also explained that the Marketing Department has arranged a field visit for the guest to help him better understand the local farm practices.

Possible Outcomes:
The visit, related meetings and subsequent field trips of Mr Sajid were very successful as the local industry learnt many new things from the guest, a contact was developed for further commercial/trial consignments and the guest gathered a clear view of the status of local industry. Following were the main outcomes:
 
• Knowledge transmission to the local growers/exporters
• Initiating an upgradation direction for local industry
• Certifications like MPS and GlobalGAP are mandatory for entry into retail sector of European markets
• Window of Opportunity for Pakistan exists in initiating exports of Carnations and Gladiolus to UK as its roses might not fair well under competition there.
• Few of the tropical foliages which are abundant in Pakistan like Draceana Marginata, Draceana Sandriana Victory and Cordyline Shelbert/Snow Top has demand in the UK market and can fetch fair prices if exported.

Further Actions Required:

1. Mr Sial and Mr Sajjad has  been requested to provide Ph test reports of their soil which Mr Sajid Rafique has kindly agreed to be analyzed further by his technical dept to provide suggestions for varieties suitable for growing here and has export potential also.

2. Local industry should participate more in international fairs/benchmark studies for enhancing their sector with new techniques and technologies.

3. New varieties and technical guidance be sought from international research centers/companies whose linkages will be provided by Mr Sajid.

4. Initiating exports of foliage to international markets where quality standards are strict like UK, European, etc

5. Introducing our flowers to less strict markets of Russia, UAE, Lebanon, etc.