Government to open meat processing plant

Federal govt takes on several major development projects in Punjab.

MULTAN:

The federal government has announced its decision to set up a meat processing plant on the basis of a public-private partnership.

According to officials, the processing plant will help improve the Halal food export potential of the country.

The government has also approved four other public-private industrial ventures, two of them meant to enhance export earnings from traditional craft of skilled people of impoverished south Punjab, general manager (operations) Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) Anwar Kidwai told reporters on Friday.

The initiatives included Khaddi (hand loom) craft development and establishment of an embroidery company in the area. Spinning yarn technology and yarn waste recycling initiatives have also been approved, Kidwai said.

He said the meat processing plant would be the first modern facility of its kind in any part of south Punjab that would be established at an initial cost of Rs206 million, and would be expanded later.

Kidwai said that the demand for Halal food particularly meat was on the rise all over the world but Pakistan’s share in this trade was minimal.

He said that efforts were being made to purchase a suitable piece of land for the proposed projects and scouting had begun in this regard.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2011.