Envoy calls for agricultural investment in Pakistan

Updated: May 8, 2010 22:26

Ambassador Umar Khan Alisherzai addresses the EWF forum in Jeddah on Wednesday. Seated, from left, are Muneebullah Hussaini, Umer Chapra (IDB adviser and winner of King Faisal Award) and Aftab Islam Agha. (AN photo)

JEDDAH: Pakistan’s ambassador to the Kingdom has called on Saudis to invest in his country’s agricultural sector.

Umar Khan Alisherzai made the call at a business seminar in Jeddah on Wednesday organized by the local branch of the Engineers Welfare Forum (EWF).

There was great potential in agro-based industries in Pakistan, he said, adding that Saudi investors could bring about a revolution in the sector if supported by innovative ideas from Pakistan’s engineers.

Focusing on Pakistani agricultural and engineering expertise, the seminar drew speakers not just from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia but also from the US.

There were also presentations on water security and new construction technology, in particular the use of wire technology of ruse in lightweight buildings and bridges.

The ambassador and other speakers underlined the towering importance of food security in the future and claimed that Pakistan, as a major agricultural producer, could be a major source of food for other consumer countries.

It is the world’s second largest producer of chickpeas and the fifth largest dairy producer, one speaker revealed, adding that food exports were worth $21 billion a year.

The forum’s chairman Jaleel Hassan suggested Pakistan could become “the leader of the whole Muslim Ummah” in food production if it developed its agricultural advantage wisely, adding that agriculture had to become more efficient and better managed.

He and others pointed out to the 400-strong audience of Saudis, Pakistanis and Indians that food security was also dependent on water security.

Future wars around the world would not be about land or people, he claimed, but about water, therefore Pakistan had to protect its water if it was to survive as a food producer.

EWF brings together Muslim engineers from Pakistan, India and elsewhere with the aim of combining Islamic values and technical knowledge and ensuring the welfare of its members in and around Jeddah. The organization’s website (www.ewjf.org) was launched at the forum, as was its magazine.

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article51184.ece