$1bn agri products being wasted due to lack of modern technology: Dr. Vohra

KARACHI: Pakistan is an agriculture country but due to the lack of advanced technology, the agriculture produce major crops including vegetables and fruit, one billion dollar is wasted in a year, said Deputy Mayor of Karachi, Dr. Arshad Vohra on Tuesday.

He was talking to media persons after inaugurating a three-day '12th Agri and Food Technology Exhibition' at Karachi Expo Centre organized by e-Commerce Gateway.

More than 275 exhibitors have participated, of them 100 are from other countries including China, Japan, Germany, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Britain, Singapore, Malaysia, Belgium and Korea.

China exhibitors have their separate pavilion.

The Deputy City Mayor said that the country could not achieve agriculture output targets without using modern technology.

He lauded the e-Commerce Gateway for organizing the expo and said such exhibitions had accelerated the economic activities in the city.

Dr. Vohra said that all chambers of commerce and industry, ministries and stakeholders should work together for industrial revolution in the country.

He said that about 20 years ago the Garment City project was announced but it could not be executed till date.

'Serious efforts are required to materialize this important project as it can generate around 500,000 jobs,” he added.

The Deputy Mayor said that skilled workers of the country had 45 percent efficiency to meet the requirement of garments sector, whereas in Bangladesh it was 65 percent. This gap caused low productivity and slow growth of this potential sector. Pakistan was un-competitive against Bangladesh, China and India.

He said that 12th Agri and Food Technology Exhibition would provide a platform to growers and industry to understand the use of modern technology.

He underlined the need for collective efforts for making Karachi as an international economic hub.

He said that it was unfortunate that industry was waiting for the past 10 years for having such useful exhibitions.

The Deputy Mayor said that for want of funds, many projects could not be completed in the city. He said that around Rs8 billion were allocated for development of Karachi city. If the funds were disbursed timely, many projects would have been executed.

He called for audit of the allocated funds for the city.

Dr. Vohra said that Pakistan Sarzameen Party (PSP) did not believe in numbers or point scoring, but in serving the people. However, he claimed, his party would have a big success in the upcoming general elections.

The Deputy Mayor also visited the stalls showcasing local and foreign products.

The expo is expecting about 50,000 visitors during three days that was April 10-12, 2018. On the occasion, Vice President E-Commerce Gateway Umair Nizam said that during the current year expo will also be held in Islamabad and Lahore as well.

He said that the international exhibitions had opened the doors for foreign investors and their number would further increase. He said that in order to promote output in agriculture sector the Agri, Rice and Food Technology Exhibition was contributing for the last 10 years.