Is Pakistan failing to capitalise on pink salt havens?

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that Pakistan has been selling its pink salt to the international market for peanuts due to a lack of proper branding and marketing in Pakistan.

The federal government had submitted its response on failing to develop Pink salt as a brand during Wednesday’s session of the National Assembly chaired by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri.

The NA was informed that Pakistan produced 752,92 metric tons of salt during the ongoing year worth Rs 2.15 billion.

Pakistan produced 105000 metrics tons of salt during 2018 worth Rs1.98 billion, according to data submitted by the government in the lower house.

The government submitted its response after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Asma Qadeer had asked the ministry of commerce to tell if Pakistan was selling its pink salt known as ‘pink diamond’ worldwide to other countries for a fraction of the price.

Read More: About the Himalayan Pink Salt of Pakistan

The ministry in its reply accepted that the speculation was, in fact, true and the trade was suffering due to lack of projection and marketing of the product.

The issue came into limelight in June after several reports circulated on social media that Pakistan has been selling it’s pink salt to India at cheap prices and the neighbouring country has been exporting it worldwide and calling it ‘Himalayan salt’.

The Himalayan salt comes from salt mines in Pakistan. Most of it comes from the Khewra salt mine in Punjab. According to reports, these salt mines produce “over 850,000 tons of rock salt annually.”

The salt is pink because it contains trace minerals including iron. It retains more natural properties than table salt, as it is naturally harvested, manually extracted, minimally processed and free of artificial additives. The product is from ancient oceans and deserves a slick marketing campaign. Not only that, the Khewra Salt Mine is a worthy tourist attraction due to its historical links.