'Rs 50 billion investment expected in livestock'

The local investors will spend over Rs 50 billion in livestock and meat production business. "The production and processing of milk and meat in the country will show a quantum jump after this investment," Secretary Minfal, Ismail Qureshi told Business Recorder on Wednesday.
Some 30 investors had shown their firm commitment in establishing large farm with capacity of over 5,000 cattle heads, he added. The project would not only bridge demand-supply gap but also make Pakistan exporter of dairy products from 2011, Minfal secretary hoped.
Quoting a World Bank study, Ismail said that the establishment of dairy and meat sector, Pakistan had reached competitive edge in the region. Besides this, Qatar is willing to invest about one billion dollars in cattle fattening and establishing slaughterhouses in Pakistan. Similarly, a milk processing and marketing company, Nestle Pakistan, will invest Rs 24 billion in dairy and corporate farming by importing cattle from Australia.
Export potential of livestock is estimated at $1 to 1.2 billion in 2010 and $1.5 to 2 billion in 2013 against the current exports of $0.868 billion, while fisheries export estimated at $0.5 to 0.7 billion in 2010 and $1 to 1.2 billion in 2013 against the current figure of $0.2 billion.