High prices and poor marketing of Ceylon Tea drove Pakistan to Kenyan imports – High Commissioner

By Steve A. Morrell

Pakistan had to turn to Kenya for its tea imports because Ceylon Tea was too highly priced and marketing was poor, High Commissioner Maj. Gen. (Retd) Muhammad Saad Khattak said.

“You have to blame your marketing people for the poor show”, the envoy said in reply to a question from a journalist at last week’s news conference at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo.

He said that Pakistan imported 10,000 metric tons tea annually and Ceylon Tea comprised a negligible 1.6 percent of total imports.

“We now depend more on Kenyan tea as the Pakistani people were literally weaned away from Ceylon Tea due to exorbitant pricing coupled with a poor marketing strategy”.

The High Commissioner said that marketing Ceylon Tea to Pakistan’s retail trade took a back seat and the end result was that Kenya made headway to capture the market with fair pricing and vigorous marketing.

“Since my young days, most people in Pakistan knew only of Ceylon Tea, which was the preferred beverage. The alternative still could be Ceylon Tea if the beverage can regain its prestige through vibrant marketing”, the High Commissioner stressed.

Elaborating on the friendly relations that exist between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, he said the close ties were further cemented by the recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Sri Lanka.

Referring to the visit of a delegation of Buddhist monks to Pakistan, Khattak said it was a clear indication that his country reached out to all segments in Sri Lanka to develop mutual interests.

The envoy announced that a business delegation from Pakistan is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka shortly for an in-depth discussion on mutual areas of economic collaboration for cooperation between both countries for trade.

On tourism, he said Pakistan had diverse attractions to offer visitors, including snow-capped mountains, mind boggling topography, geographical land variety and an extensive expanse of beaches.

He said Pakistan could offer a wide cross section of trade and visitor attractions exclusive to tourists.

In the field of medicine, he said Pakistan would award 1,000 scholarships to Sri Lankan students. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, he said Pakistan adhered to the UN resolution as the basis for settlement.

He didn’t comment on a possible time frame to end the dispute.

“There’s nothing called a free lunch, but an agreement of mutual advantage was necessary to seek amicable realization for stabilization of the area in dispute”, the envoy pointed out.

He declined to comment on the aspect of Chinese influences that was raised by some journalists.