LAHORE: Two-day CAC Pakistan Summit and Exhibition has been kicked off here at the Expo Center with the objective to promote agriculture sector of in the country.
The exhibition was jointly inaugurated by Punjab Minister for Industries Ch Muhammad Shafiq and LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad. LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder, Vice President Nasir Saeed, Counsel General of China Yu Boren, convener of standing committee on agriculture Jawaid Saleem Qureshi, LCCI former president Muhammad Ali Mian, EC members Dr Qurat-ul-Ain, Abdul Razzaq, Mian Zahid Javed, vice chairperson CCPIT Ma Chunyan, Saad Akber, DG Agriculture Extension Punjab Dr Anjum Ali, Marketing Manager Ali Akbar Group Abdul Nasir, DG Department of Plant, Karachi, and Azam Khan.
Thousands of people attended the opening ceremony and expressed deep interest the agri products displayed at over 120 stalls which were set up by the Chinese, Pakistani, Egyptian and Indian companies.
Ch Shafiq, in his address, hoped that the exhibition would highlight the potential of agriculture sector of Punjab. He said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will open up new doors for cooperation in agriculture sector it would help transfer of technology pertaining to Agro chemicals, pesticides, seeds and fertilizers. He said that Punjab government is working to educate the farming community as the research in agriculture sector.
The LCCI president Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that CAC Summit and Exhibition is a unique opportunity for Pakistan’s agriculturists as it would enable them to learn about the Chinese expertise in the Agriculture sector. He said that Chinese cooperation in all fields of the economy is matchless. He said that Pakistan was the only country of the South Asia to have CAC exhibition that would certainly strengthen Pakistan’s Agriculture sector. He said that the government would have to strengthen the institutional framework to provide much need support to this sector. He also called for construction of water reservoirs as the shortage of water could pose a serious threat to this sector in coming years. “This is white oil but unfortunately we are more focused to the black oil instead of taking care of our future generations that are likely to suffer because of water shortage.”
LCCI senior vice president Almas Hyder said that we always value to have China as a close and dependable friend of Pakistan. At present, we are working on ‘One Road One Region’ policy. It will not only ensure win-win situation to both countries but for Pakistan it is going to be a lifetime opportunity to get on the path of economic development.
He said that we must plan to get our national electric grid connected with China. Similarly Pakistan needs to fully exploit the advantage of being so close to energy corridor especially keeping in view the availability of additional electricity in Central Asian Republics.
He said that Pakistan look forward to China for setting up technology driven and consumer driven industry in Pakistan. There has to be joint venture projects among Pakistani and Chinese firms for increasing the export potential of Pakistan. We do not want Pakistan to simply become trade route for China rather they should develop our country as a base for manufacturing.
Vice Chairman CCPIT Sub-Council for Chemical Industry Ms Ma Chunyan said that the trade of pesticide has an important role in the total two-way business. She said that China is the largest exporter of pesticides chemicals. She said that the Chinese cooperation with Pakistani agriculturists would write new success stories in coming years. She said that the CAC Exhibition has in its fold chemical, machinery, seeds, pesticides and fertilizers etc.
Chairman Standing Committee on Agriculture Jawaid Saleem Qureshi urged the government to form task force to deal with the regulatory and marketing issues of the agriculture sector. He said that Punjab’s agriculture sector could generate extra revenue of over Rs.100 billion if agri input prices are controlled.
He said that the CAC Pakistan will provide a joint forum to government officials and industry professionals to highlight the benefits of using pesticides, fertilizers, processed seeds, latest yet affordable agri-equipment and machinery.
He said that there lies an immense potential of agro-chemicals in Pakistan which must be utilized on priority basis. Agro-chemicals have contributed significantly in raising agricultural yield and there is still a lot of room to bring improvement in this sector.
Chinese Consul General Yu Boren while lauding the LCCI efforts for organizing CAC Pakistan Summit & Exhibition, hoped that it would play a significant role in promotion of agriculture sector of Pakistan. He said that we expect great results from this exhibition and hope that this event will prove to be a perfect beginning in the right direction to bring greater fortunes to Agriculture sector of Pakistan.
