ISLAMABAD – Terming agriculture one of the priority sectors under vision 2025, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal stresses a need for clustered based uplift approach in order to boosting Pakistan’s agriculture sector, and that the government has 10 year strategic plan to transform the value added sector.
At a meeting with a delegation led by Australian High Commissioner Peter Heyward here, he said, “Government is focusing on the clustered mapping of agriculture sector for enhancing its growth.” He stated that the infrastructure that is needed for the transformation of the agriculture sector is either missing or dysfunctional.
He added, “Pakistan’s agriculture has tremendous potential but lacks processing and packaging industry for the forward linkages with national and global markets. Agriculture value chain for multiplying the growth of agriculture sector was overlooked in the past.”
The Australia High Commissioner appreciated the vision 2025 saying there is remarkable resemblance of frameworks between vision 2025 and Australia’s development programme. He said that the establishment of Center for Rural Economy has been approved by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) to undertake research for the development of rural economy in Pakistan.
