ISLAMABAD: President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ahsan Bakhtawari has said that the agricultural sector can play key role in increasing exports and reducing imports.
He expressed these views on Friday while talking to the members of the Agro Committee of the ICCI who met him under the Chairmanship of the Convenor Committee Chaudhry Sohail.
Pakistan’s trade deficit has reduced from $17 billion to $3 billion due to measures taken by the government. In order to completely eliminate the deficit, attention should be paid to increase the export of fruits, vegetables and other agricultural commodities. Promotion of research is necessary to increase the efficiency of the agricultural sector. Government should mobilize embassies to promote Pakistani products to new markets of the world.
President ICCI said that being an agricultural country, agriculture is the lifeline for Pakistani economy. Pakistan achieved a record production of 27.5 million tons of wheat this year despite the devastating floods. Similarly, Pakistan ranks fifth with 88.7 million tonnes of sugarcane, 10th with 9.3 million tonnes of rice, 20th with 10 million tonnes of maize, 5th with 2.3 million tonnes of mango and sixth with 2.1 million tonnes of onion production.
He was of the view that Pakistan should take steps to take its agricultural products to traditional as well as non-traditional markets, focusing on Central Asian countries. For the agriculture sector, the results of the Prime Minister Kisan package given by the government have been seen this year in the form of record production of wheat, the government should not only extend this package but also increase the incentives.
He said that like other industries of the country, the fruit and vegetable industry is facing problems due to high production cost. Fruit orchards in Pakistan have become very old, which has affected the production on the one hand, and on the other hand, due to the decline in quality, there are problems in exports. Mangoes and Kinnow have a major share in Pakistan’s agricultural exports, but this year, mango exports have decreased by 20%, while Kinnow exports have decreased from 220 million dollars to 110 million dollars, which is a big blow to the government’s export promotion policy. The government should promote research and development in the agricultural sector.
In this regard, electricity prices for the cold storage industry should be fixed on a prospective basis. He said that although the federal budget has been presented in the parliament, but before approval, the government should announce all possible incentives to increase the production and export of the agricultural sector.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023