Belarus asked to set up agri-machinery firm

Minister highlights poultry, meat processing as attractive investment avenues

ISLAMABAD: Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan urged Belarusian investors on Wednesday to establish a joint agriculture machinery manufacturing company to take advantage of growing demand in Pakistan.

Speaking at the fourth meeting of Pakistan-Belarus joint working group for cooperation in agriculture, he said joint ventures in the agricultural sector would be beneficial for both Pakistan and Belarus as tools of job creation and sources of investment gains for investors.



During the meeting, an exhibition was also organised in order to highlight the trade and investment opportunities existing in the agricultural sector of both countries and to explore areas of mutual interest for enhancing cooperation.

The event was organised by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research in collaboration with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council. The minister expressed the government’s resolve to provide an enabling environment for foreign investors in order to pave the way for establishing joint ventures in the agricultural sector.

He said Pakistan’s agricultural sector constituted about 20% of gross domestic product (GDP) with 60% of the labour force directly or indirectly connected with it.

Bosan called Pakistan a food-secure country which was producing surplus crops of wheat, maize, mangoes and citrus to fulfill food requirements of a population of around 220 million.

“The agricultural sector is rapidly shifting towards modern and mechanised farming,” he said, adding this period of transformation provided opportunities for Belarusian investors to gain maximum benefit by initiating joint ventures with local investors.



He also invited Belarus to explore investment opportunities in other sectors including poultry, halal meat, milk and dairy production and meat and poultry processing.

He said regular organisation of such exhibitions and business-to-business interactive sessions would open new ways and means of developing bilateral trade and investment links between the two countries.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2017.

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