Islamabad invites Chinese enterprises to invest in Pakistan's agriculture sector
Pakistan has recently undertaken efforts to promote its agriculture sector, which include establishing a new regulatory body this week to reform the sector and bring domestic food safety standards in line with international requirements.
Agriculture remains a cornerstone of Pakistan's economy, employing nearly 38 percent of the workforce and contributing around 19 percent to the country's GDP. However, the sector has long faced challenges, including outdated practices, poor regulatory oversight, low export competitiveness and barriers in meeting international sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards.
Hussain met a high-level Chinese delegation including Jiang Zaidong, the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, on the sidelines of the China-Pakistan Economic and Trade Exchange Conference in Islamabad.
'The Minister also underlined the importance of public-private partnerships and urged Chinese enterprises, including those from XPCC [Xinjian Production and Construction Corps] and China Xinjian Group, to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan's agriculture and agri-business sectors,' the food security and research ministry said in a statement.
Hussain welcomed proposals for joint ventures, research exchanges and the establishment of demonstration farms and technology centers in Pakistan, the statement added.
The two sides discussed enhancing agricultural cooperation, particularly focusing on research, cotton production, seed development, irrigation efficiency and technological exchange.
The Pakistani minister highlighted the challenges Islamabad has faced in recent years, especially in cotton production, where declining yields and outdated seed varieties have created major setbacks, the ministry said.
'The Minister expressed keen interest in learning from Xinjiang's remarkable progress in improving agricultural productivity, especially in regions with arid and semi-arid climates, which closely resemble many parts of Pakistan,' the statement said.
Zaidong reaffirmed China's commitment to deepening agricultural cooperation with Pakistan, the food security ministry said.
'He appreciated Pakistan's proactive approach and openness to collaboration and highlighted the potential for long-term partnership in food security, technology transfer, and rural development,' the statement added.
Pakistan has undertaken a reform drive to enhance its economic sectors via the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). The SIFC is a civil-military hybrid body formed in 2023 to fast-track foreign investment and economic reform in strategic sectors, including agriculture, mining, IT and defense production.
Pakistan aims to attract international investment in its key economic sectors to ward off a prolonged macroeconomic crisis that has drained its resources and embroiled the country in a balance of payments crisis.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan projects July inflation at 3.5-4.5% as price pressures ease
KARACHI: Pakistan's finance ministry on Monday projected consumer inflation for July to remain in a 3.5-4.5% range, citing stable prices and improved supply conditions, as price pressures ease further after the previous fiscal year's sharp decline. Inflation stood at 3.2% in June, the ministry said in its monthly economic report, while average inflation for the fiscal year ending June 30 dropped to 4.49%, a nine-year low, from 23.4% the year before. Pakistan's fiscal year begins on July 1. The ministry said the economy is expected to sustain its recovery in the early months of fiscal year 2026, underpinned by an improved macroeconomic backdrop and growing investor confidence. Large-scale manufacturing likely maintained momentum in June, supported by rising private sector credit offtake and expanding production activity, the report said. The rebound is expected to lift imports of raw materials and intermediate goods, while aiding value-added exports, it added. Strengthening domestic demand, a stable exchange rate, and steady global commodity prices were also likely to boost exports, remittances and imports in July, reinforcing external sector stability, the ministry said. However, it warned that recent heavy rains could pose risks to agricultural output and supply chains, potentially impacting the inflation outlook in the coming months. Since June 26, rain- and flood-related incidents have killed at least 266 people and injured more than 630 nationwide, according to the National Disaster Management Authority, adding that 1,557 houses had been destroyed.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
India says its troops killed 3 suspected militants in Kashmir fighting
Indian troops killed three suspected terrorists in a gunfight in a forested area in disputed Kashmir, officials said Monday. The Indian military said in a statement on social media that three terrorists were killed in an intense firefight in the forested area in Dachigam area some 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of the regions main city of Srinagar. Police Inspector-General Vidhi Kumar Birdi told reporters that the joint operation by the military, paramilitary, and police was still ongoing. Officials did not give any other details. The Associated Press could not independently verify the details. Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Himalayan Kashmir but both claim the territory in its entirety. Terrorists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi's rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the terrorists' goal of uniting the territory either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. Tens of thousands of civilians, terrorists, and government forces have been killed in the conflict. Monday's incident is the second major gunfight since a gun massacre in the region in April that killed 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, in Indian-controlled Kashmir. That led to tit-for-tat military strikes by India and Pakistan that brought the nuclear-armed rivals to the brink of their third war over the region. The Indian army also said in May that its soldiers killed three suspected terrorists in a gunfight. Before the April gun massacre in the Kashmiri resort town of Pahalgam, the fighting had largely ebbed in the regions Kashmir Valley, the heartland of anti-India rebellion, and mainly shifted to mountainous areas of Jammu in the last few years. The massacre increased tensions between India and Pakistan leading to the worst military confrontation in decades and the death of dozens of people until a ceasefire was reached on May 10 after US mediation. The region has simmered in anger since New Delhi ended the regions semi-autonomy in 2019 and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties, and media freedoms while intensifying counterinsurgency operations.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistani gunship helicopters pound militant hideouts near Afghan border, 15 killed so far
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani gunship helicopters have hit militant hideouts near the country's border with Afghanistan in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a senior police official said on Monday, adding that the days-long operation has left 15 militants dead so far. Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP in recent years. Militant groups, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have frequently targeted security forces convoys and check-posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in the region. Regional Police Officer Abbas Majeed Marwat said the gunship helicopters destroyed several militant hideouts in Kohat, Hangu, Orakzai and Lower Kurram border areas and several militants were seen fleeing to mountain forests in the vicinity. 'Operation against terrorists is underway in Chapri, Kandao, Shanawari, Zargari, Naryab and other mountainous areas. More than 200 army and police personnel are participating in the ongoing grand operation against khawarij [TTP militants],' Marwat said in a statement. 'Fifteen terrorists have been killed and many others have been injured in the operation in Hangu, Karak, Orakzai and Kurram that has been going on for the past ten days.' Marwat's comments came a week after eight Pakistani paramilitary troops and four militants were killed in a clash in KP's Orakzai district that borders Afghanistan. 'Armed terrorists attacked a Frontier Corps (FC) convoy with heavy weapons... The fighting continued for several hours,' AFP news agency quoted a senior local security official as saying. 'Eight FC personnel were killed, and 11 were injured.' In recent months, Islamabad has frequently accused India of backing militant groups and Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegation.
