KARACHI: A Pakistani fruit and vegetable exporter plans to raise up to Rs1.92 billion ($6.9 million) in an initial public offering next month, with almost all the proceeds aimed at expanding exports to the Middle East as Gulf buyers seek alternative suppliers amid regional disruptions.
SE Fruits and Vegetables Company Limited, based in the central Punjab city of Sargodha, has begun the process of becoming Pakistan’s first publicly listed agricultural exports firm and plans to target the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the wider Gulf, where it says demand for Pakistani mangoes, mandarins and potatoes is rising.
The Gulf already accounts for around 80 percent of the company’s exports.
Asked how much of the IPO proceeds would support expansion into the region, Chief Financial Officer Rai Omer said: “Almost all of it.”
“We are expecting the IPO to take place, I mean, the book building and the general public [subscription phases] to be taking place in the first week or two of September,” he continued, adding that the company had received indications of new demand from the region totaling about 71,000 tons since filing its IPO prospectus.
“They need mangoes, they need kinnows [mandarin oranges] and they need potatoes,” he said, referring to buyers in the Middle East. “We would be fulfilling that demand.”
SE is prioritizing the UAE and Oman, with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait also forming part of its broader target market.
Omer said the IPO will “bring us closer to our customers there in the Middle East,” while the company also plans to open a liaison office in Uzbekistan to target Central Asian demand.
He said Gulf buyers accounted for around 80 percent of SE’s mandarin and mango shipments last year after the Afghan border closure disrupted access to Central Asia.
The company expects that share could shift toward a 60-40 split between the Middle East and Central Asia if routes through Iran and Afghanistan become more accessible.
Omer said the war in Iran and its fallout across the region had already prompted Middle Eastern buyers to diversify their supply chains, creating an opportunity for Pakistani exporters.
“Because of the geopolitical issue, what we are seeing is our Middle Eastern importers, wholesalers, they are trying to diversify their supply,” he said.
SE expects its sales to rise sharply after the IPO.
“At the moment, they are Rs2.1 billion ($7.6 million),” he said. “As per the prospectus, we are looking at 135 percent growth to touch Rs5 billion ($18 million).”
Omer said the opportunity extended beyond his own company, estimating that Pakistan’s annual fruit and vegetable exports, which stood at $471 million in FY26, could reach $1 billion within two years if the country captured more demand in the Gulf and other markets.
He pointed out that Pakistan exported only a small proportion of its fruit and vegetable production, while inadequate cold-chain infrastructure resulted in significant wastage and limited its ability to serve overseas markets.
He also said he expected trade with Iran, which he described as “a very big importer of Pakistani mangoes,” to increase once the regional conflict eased.
Omer said he estimated that the Gulf could account for 40 to 50 percent of any increase in Pakistan’s fruit and vegetable exports.
He said the current shift in Gulf sourcing, while triggered by regional instability, could outlast the conflict as consumers developed preferences for Pakistani produce.
“The first day was a shock,” he said. “But then it will be structural because people will have their preference for those foods’ taste.”
