On November 10, 2023, TDAP, in partnership with TIO-Beijing, hosted a virtual B2B session on sesame seed exports to China. The session was attended by 43 Pakistani sesame seed exporters and 8 Chinese importers.
The webinar began with opening remarks by the DG (AFD), TDAP, and was followed by a detailed briefing from TIC-Beijing on the potential of sesame seed exports from Pakistan, as well as the procedure and requirements for Chinese sesame seed imports. Following the briefing, a B2B session was conducted in which Chinese and Pakistani enterprises introduced themselves to one another, followed by a question and answer session. Many new companies expressed interest in exporting sesame seeds from Pakistan during the webinar.
It is worth noting that Pakistan is the world’s fifth largest exporter of sesame seed. According to ITC data, total global sesame seed exports in 2022 were $148 million, with China accounting for $96.46 million of the total. During the discussion, exporters also stated that the majority of our sesame seed exported to China is transformed into powder and oil and then duty-free exported to South Korea.
Exporters are also showing a strong interest in the Korean market, where prices are higher. Given the potential of this product’s exports, Athar Hussain Khokhar, DG-TDAP, stated, “We are immediately sending a trade delegation to China to further tap the Chinese market.” He also stated that TDAP will look at additional prospective markets in order to increase its proportion of sesame exports.
