Agricultural development policy: Canadian envoy calls for competitive environment

Canadian High Commissioner in Pakistan, Greg Giokas, on Tuesday called for creating competitive environment and devising public policy by engaging all stakeholders. He was presiding over an international roundtable conference held here on the subject of "Agricultural policy development and trade liberalisation between Pakistan and India," under the auspices of University of Agriculture Faisalabad.
Emphasising the need for carrying out research in the areas of competitive advantage, he said that Pakistan was lagging behind in value added products and seed legislation. He said that since millions of people in Pakistan were directly linked to the agriculture, there was a dire need to promote value added products.
Sharing Canadian experience for evolving consensus on trade relations with United States, he said that trade unions severely resisted moves for establishing trade ties with the US and it became major debate in the country, but later it was realised that the country could gain a lot through trade.
UAF Vice Chancellor Professor (Dr) Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that Pakistan has major market arrivals of onion in winter months whereas in India major market arrivals come in summer season. He said consumers in the country at the time of shortfall in domestic production could benefit from this exchange of agricultural commodities of both countries. The conference was addressed, among others, by International Food Policy Research Institute's chief Stephen Davies, former secretary Agriculture Arif Nedeem, Institute of Agricultural and Resource Economics' director Dr Muhammad Ashfaq, MPA Najma Afzal and UVAS Vice Chancellor Professor (Dr) Talat Naseer Pasha.