NA speaker asks for pro-farmer budget

Asad Qaiser stresses need to revive agriculture sector, make it globally competitive

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar on Wednesday said the upcoming federal budget can be an opportunity to revive the agriculture sector, adding that a pro-farmer enabling policy environment was critical to make Pakistan’s agriculture sector globally competitive.

He expressed these views while meeting the newly appointed Federal Minster for National Food Security Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiative Asad Umar and several members of the National Assembly at the Parliament House in Islamabad.

The speaker stated that the recommendations of the bipartisan National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural Products (SCAP) were intended to bring about the fundamental policy shifts in the interest of farmers and the agriculture sector.

The speaker said that the agriculture sector requires greater investment packages as it is and will remain critical to Pakistan’s national food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods for a foreseeable future. He said the SCAP would effectively push for protecting the interest of the farmers and agriculture sector, adding that this commitment will be translated into substantive outcomes in the upcoming budget.

The speaker further congratulated Syed Fakhar Imam on taking charge as the Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research and underlined the need for a renewed a cooperation between the National Special Committee on Agricultural Products and the Ministry of National Food Security and Research. Imam remarked that the support of the National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural Products was crucial to uplift Pakistan’s agro-economy.

The speaker advised the participants to reach out to the provincial governments and forge synergies for reviving Pakistan’s agricultural growth.