ISLAMABAD: Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industry and Production Abdul Razak Dawood on Saturday said the poultry association and producers needed to be more aggressive in market penetration in the region.

He was talking to a delegation from the Poultry Association of Pakistan who called on  him to discuss the performance of  the poultry sector, its potential and its main issue of how it can be made more efficient and competitive.

The Advisor assured the Association that their proposals related to Tariff ,taxation and facilitation would be analysed and considered for implementation for the growth of this sector.

The Advisor highlighted that major food players like Cargill are enhancing their presence in the Pakistani market and our poultry players need to capitalize on it. Cargill, the global agro giant, has pledged to invest more than US$200 million in the next three-to-five years in Pakistan.

The Association emphasized that the national and international standards compliance of the chicken products is making Pakistan competitive in the standard conscious world.

The Association requested that locally produced feed contents should be sales tax free. It will reduce feed cost making the sector  more competitive. They highlighted that chicken vaccines that are important for this sector’s growth need to be allowed at zero import duty.

The Advisor was informed that commercial Poultry in Pakistan is one of the largest agro based segment of Pakistan having an investment of more than 750 Billion rupees. Poultry Industry generates employment and provides source of income to more than 1.5 million people of Pakistan directly & indirectly.

There are over 15000 poultry farms spread deep into the rural areas across the country.Capacity of farms range from 5,000 to 500,000 broilers. Annually Pakistan is producing around 18,000 million table eggs and over 2,250 million kilo grams chicken meat. It shows that there is huge potential for the poultry sector to cater domestic and  export sector.

Abdul Razak Dawood apprised the delegation about the recent initiatives of the current government to improve trade and investment regime and business environment.

He shared the business friendly vision of the government that would stimulate economic growth and expected to put exports on upward trajectory.