Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair Umar has urged all major investors to invest in the agriculture sector especially horticultural sector where huge potential of growth exists with minimum investment.
Talking to a delegation of Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters- Importers and Merchant Association (PFVA) headed by its patron-in-chief Waheed Ahmed, the Governor said that the planned national conference for promotion of horticultural exports is a good move on the part of the PFVA. He assured his support to the national event being held in collaboration with the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
Zubair also suggested to the fruit exporters to prepare a detailed presentation for Minister of Commerce and Textile who is scheduled to visit Karachi by next week. He said that the minister would be briefed jointly by him and members of PFVA. He said that future plan for promotion of exports in this sector would be sought in the same meeting. The idea of holding the mega event (conference) will also be discussed with the commerce minister during his Karachi visit, he assured.
Waheed said that PFVA in collaboration with the FPCCI planned to organize the National Conference on Horticulture, first of its kind in the history of Pakistan. Consultation process with the concerned departments at provincial level, and with the agri-experts, agricultural academia, research & development institutions and stakeholders has already been initiated.
The objective of the conference was to develop long-term strategy for the Horticulture sector on firm foundations based on comprehensive suggestions/recommendations received from all the stakeholders and subsequently a roadmap based on short, medium and long-term strategy would be developed.
He said exports in the horticultural sector could easily be enhanced to $ 6 billion within next 10 years through introduction of modern ways of harvesting, packaging and presentation with improvements in quality of products.
The delegation of the PFVA which also included its chairman Abdul Malik and other office bearers informed the Governor that the unjustifiable fare was being charged by airlines on exports of fruits and vegetables. They also complained that unchecked import of fruits from Iran was harming local products while Tehran, on the contrary, was strictly observing quarantine rules for imports from Pakistan. They also informed Governor about lack of clod-storages and other infrastructure in Balochistan due to which large quantity of perishable items were being destroyed. The Governor assured the delegation of his all out support to resolve the issues related to horticultural sector.