ISLAMABAD: The Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL) on Thursday launched its Mobile Van Service aimed at reaching out to farmers of far-flung areas for extending financial and agriculture services, said a press release.

The mobile van service will visit villages to provide loans and other financial and technical knowledge to farmers, particularly women and elders who cannot visit cities due to different reasons.

The service was inaugurated here at ZTBL Farm by Federal Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha in a ceremony that was attended by bankers, professionals and agriculturists.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister lauded the effort of ZTBL and said the mobile van service was a step towards financial inclusion policy of the government.

She said agriculture was still the backbone of economy and also regretted that despite an agro-economy, “we have to import wheat and other food items.”

However, she hoped that with the way ZTBL was launching farmer friendly initiative, the time is not far when the country will be self-sufficient in food production.

Acting President ZTBL Asadullah Habib on the occasion said that ZTBL was the only bank that was catering to the financial needs of 78 percent farmers of the country, adding the bank was introducing modern scientific agriculture technology for boosting food production.

Senior board member Zaigham Mehmood Rizvi on the occasion said that traditional agriculture methods were not yielding enough, insisting that modern agri techniques will be applied for real change in the agriculture sector.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022