LAHORE: Two-day CAC Pakistan Exhibition started on Tuesday at Expo Center Lahore with an objective to promote agriculture sector of Pakistan. Provincial Minister for Excise and Taxation Hafiz Mumtaz Ahmed, who was representing Chief Minister Punjab and the LCCI President Almas Hyder jointly inaugurated the Exhibition.
The LCCI Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir, Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Saigal, Ms. Maggie Ma from Sub-Council of Chemical Industry, China, Director of China Council for Promotion of International Trade Ms. Isabel Dong, Chairman Engineering Council of Pakistan Engineer Jawed Saleem Qureshi, Muhammad Nadeem Qureshi, Chairman Pakistan Crop Protection Association Sheikh Muhammad Arif and exhibitors were present on the occasion. Thousands of people attended the opening ceremony and shown keen interest in agri products displayed at over 50 stalls, set up by the 34 Chinese and 16 Pakistanis companies.
Provincial Minister for Excise & Taxation Hafiz Mumtaz Ahmed hoped that the exhibition will help tap true potential of agriculture sector. He said that latest technology is need of the hour to enhance per acre yield in Pakistan that is low as compared to the other countries. He said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will open up new avenues of cooperation in agriculture sector as it would help transfer of technology pertaining to agro chemicals, pesticides, seeds and fertilizers.
The LCCI President Almas Hyder said that well performing and high yielding agriculture sector is the need of the hour. Pakistan cannot do well without improving the performance of agriculture sector. For ensuring viability of economy and long term growth, it is necessary that all the sectors of economy pick up and complement each other to excel. He said that agriculture sector cannot be left out due to inherited limitations of resources and various challenges in the way of moving from conventional method of farming to modern technologies. The present scenario demands that both government and private sector need to join hands to make the most of the available resources through introducing innovative ways at affordable prices to our farmers. “We desperately require locally developed as well as imported solutions in the fields of fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, agriculture machineries and equipment etc. We are glad that our Chinese friends who have developed cost effective solutions in these areas, are offering these solutions at reasonable rates to us. It is important to mention that these Chinese companies are gathering a lot of success on account of improving their standard and products range”, Almas Hyder added.
Ms. Maggie Mah said that Pakistan is one of the top ten exporting markets for China and their mutual relations are sweeter than the honey and deeper than the ocean. He said that recent visit of Prime Minister of Pakistan was successful and further strengthened the mutual relations. She said that two-way trade has reached to $ 13.2 billion and hoped that it will grow with the passage of time.
Khawaja Shahzad Nasir and Fahim-ur-Rehman Saigal said it is encouraging to see that some of our local manufacturers of pesticides have started to export their products to Middle East and African countries. It is the result of importing Chinese machinery displayed in last three editions of CAC Pakistan.
Jawed Saleem Qureshi said that Punjab is agriculture based province but it’s per acre yield is lower than Sindh. He said that we have to take revolutionary measures to grow our agriculture sector of Pakistan. He said that 80 to 90 per cent farmers of Punjab is small therefore their welfare should be top priority of the government.
Chairman Crop Protection Assocition of Pakistan Sheikh Muhammad Arif said that growing interest of Chinese companies in CAC Pakistan Exhibition is a welcome sign.
