ISLAMABAD, Nov. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 30, 2019, "PAKISTAN-CHINA AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION FORUM" was successfully held in Islamabad, Capital of Pakistan.
The forum is strongly supported by the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Pakistan, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of National Food Security& Research of Pakistan, the Board of Investment of Pakistan, is jointly sponsored by the China Agricultural Association for International Exchange, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council, China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and Fatima Group, and is organized and implemented by CMEC International Exhibition Co., Ltd.
Mr. Yao Jing, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, attended the opening ceremony and gave addresses at the event. Wang Zhihua, Public Counselor Economic and Commercial Counselor's Office of the Embassy of the people's Republic of China in Pakistan; Sahibzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan, Federal Minister of the Ministry of National Food Security & Research; Dr. Muhammad Hashim Popalzai, Secretary of the Ministry of National Food Security & Research; and others attended the Forum. And over 300 representatives of from the expert delegations of scientific research institutions and trade associations, such as Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences (CAAS), Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), China Agricultural Association for International Exchange, China Animal Agriculture Association, as well as those from the agricultural enterprises, agricultural organizations of China and Pakistan, such as China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), YTO Group and Fatima Group, and other expert representatives attended the Forum.
President Alvi congratulated the PAKISTAN-CHINA AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION FORUM on its successful holding. He expressed that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners. Pakistan has benefited greatly from China's "Belt and Road" Initiative, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has made important contributions to Pakistan's social and economic development. At present, all-round cooperation between China and Pakistan is expanding into the field of agriculture. Agriculture is the pillar of Pakistan's economic development, and the output value of agriculture accounts for about 40% of Pakistan's total economy. Pakistan will actively draw lessons from China's advanced agricultural technology, introduce China's advanced germplasm resources, expand the export of Pakistani agricultural products to China, and strive to improve the quality of Pakistan agricultural development and the level of farmers' income, so that the achievements of China-Pakistani agricultural cooperation can benefit the people of the two countries at an early date.
In his speech, Ambassador Yao said that both China and Pakistan attach great importance to agricultural development. China's agriculture has made brilliant achievements in the past 70 years, raising nearly 1/5 of the world's population with less than 9% of the world's arable land. At present, China has become a big agricultural and agricultural trading country in the world. Agriculture is a pillar industry of Pakistan, with unique geographical advantages and great development potential. At present, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has entered a new stage of enrichment and expansion, and will expand into the fields of industry and people's livelihood, and agriculture will be a new focus of cooperation. The governments of the two countries have reached a number of consensus on China-Pakistan agricultural cooperation, which will promote the cooperation towards a broader and deeper level. It is hoped that China-Pakistan agricultural enterprises will strengthen contacts and exchanges and carry out extensive cooperation in the fields of high value-added agricultural products trade, agricultural technology transfer, agricultural joint ventures, third-party market development, and so on.
Pakistani Agriculture Minister Sultan said that China and Pakistan have been friendly to each other for generations, and the traditional friendship is unbreakable. Since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Agricultural Cooperation between the two countries in November 2018, when Prime Minister Imran Khan visited China, China-Pakistan agricultural cooperation has been accelerated. The successful holding of this forum will provide new support for bilateral cooperation. The Ministry of National Food Security & Research of Pakistan welcomes Chinese agricultural enterprises to come to Pakistan to set up joint ventures, and welcomes Chinese agricultural scientific research institutions to carry out technical cooperation in Pakistan, and will provide convenience and guarantee for Chinese-funded institutions to come to Pakistan.
Zhang Chun, Chairman of the forum organizer CMEC, expressed in his speech that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is becoming a model of international win-win cooperation for the two countries as all-weather strategic partners. CMEC's operations in Pakistan are being diversified from energy, electricity and infrastructure to agriculture and people's livelihood. CMEC sees this event as the beginning of a new contribution to agriculture in Pakistan.
At the forum, Ambassador Yao and President Alvi also jointly unveiled the newly established Pak-China Agricultural Cooperation Exchange Center.
In the ensuing thematic speeches and the high-level dialogue on agriculture between China and Pakistan, agricultural experts from the two countries held dialogues and exchanges on agricultural scientific research, crop cultivation, animal husbandry, agricultural mechanization, intelligent agriculture, deep processing of agricultural products, agricultural trade, food security, agricultural poverty alleviation, and so on. At the same time, the guests visited the "China-Pakistan Agricultural Achievement Picture Exhibition".
From October 31 to November 5, at the invitation of the Ministry of National Food Security & Research, the scientific research experts from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences are visiting cattle farms, fish farms, rice fields, citrus farms, mango orchards, cotton factories, textile mills, and tractor factories in Sacgodha, Faisalabad, Multan, Lahore, Karachi and other places, and are discussing with the local experts from the Agriculture Department of Punjab Province, the Agriculture Department of Sindh Province and the Agricultural University, etc. for technical exchanges.
The forum strengthens the exchanges and cooperation between China and Pakistan in the agricultural field, helps Chinese enterprises understand the current agricultural situation, investment opportunities and investment policies in Pakistan, explore China-Pakistan agricultural joint ventures, cooperation opportunities and development potential, and builds a platform to promote the practical cooperation. As a Chinese enterprise rooted in Pakistan for nearly 40 years, CMEC has always taken "helping Pakistan develop social economy and improve the living standards of local ordinary people" as its lofty mission, actively respond to the call of the governments of the two countries, and make positive contributions to the realization of Pakistan's prosperity and strength and the enhancement of China-Pakistan friendship.
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