Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) has prepared a multi-pronged plan for the promotion and modernisation of different industrial sectors, said Smeda provincial chief Muhammad Alamgir Chaudhry.
In an interview with Business Recorder here on Thursday evening, he disclosed that under the programme, an agro food processing facilities centre, costing Rs 155 million, would be set up in Multan, adding Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi would perform the ground-breaking ceremony of the centre on July 12.
The main objective of the project was to provide processing facilities for "pulp extraction" of various fruits like mango, guava etc, he said. Alamgir Chaudhry said the project would also facilitate local growers to prepare tomato paste, puree, which would be value-added item as well as introduction of latest technology in food processing industry of the country.
Sampling out the salient feature of agro food processing facilities centre, he said the introduction of agro food-based common facility centres would help minimise the post-harvest losses, which were estimated 30 percent in fresh fruits and vegetable.
The proposed facilities would give exposure to the growers about the latest fruit and vegetable processing technique. Currently, the growers were not familiar with the latest processing techniques that could add value to the product and fetch a lot of foreign exchange through exports, he added.
The Smeda provincial chief said that Multan was known for its fruits and vegetables and was contributing a lot towards the agro-economy of the country, adding that 30 percent fruits and vegetables were wasted due to negligence and lack of processing facilities.
The proposed project would help reduce loses of agriculture produce of Multan region and would introduce latest technology and processing facilities to the local growers, besides the project would increase the income of grower and exports of the country to manifold, he said.
Alamgir disclosed that the government had also approved the establishment of "Gujranwala Business Centre" at a cost of Rs 58 million, adding the step was being taken to provide a single promotional and display platform for a range of products manufactured in Gujranwala aimed at attracting national and international buyers.
The main benefits to accrue from the project are provision of a tool to market "Made in Gujranwala" as an international brand, facilitating SME entrepreneurs to effectively display their products for marketing at national and international levels, increased exposure for local business community to international business trends and ability to benchmark with the contemporary product standards besides general compliance with international trade regulatory regime and motivation for improvement at all level of value chain including product designing, quality, standard, packaging and presentation etc resulting in value addition.
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