LAHORE: The Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) is facilitating
investment in the resource-rich livestock and dairy sector.
Consultant
to Punjab Chief Minister on Economic Affairs and Vice Chairman Punjab
Board of Investment and Trade, Pir Saad Ahsanuddin, stated this while
talking to a delegation of local and international livestock scientists
and experts.
He said the PBIT supported the 6th Asian Buffalo
Congress held in Lahore as part of a wider goal to steadily elevate
Punjab’s average growth rate of about 6 per cent per annum and to
reinvest about 25pc of GDP annually.
Saad said buffalo was an
inextricable part of the rural landscape and an important livelihood
asset for a population of 35 million. ‘Any improvement in its
productivity and production has a direct bearing on alleviating rural
poverty and enhancing income of millions.’
He said the PBIT had
a focused approach to promoting the livestock industry which deserved
more attention from the investor community because of its potential. ‘The industry currently has a $30 billion annual turnover. The PBIT has
reached out to local and foreign investors to identify areas of
facilitation in order to enhance dairy production efficiency, halal
meat production and boost the lucrative leather industry.’
He
said the PBIT was a one-window operation to provide matchmaking between
cutting-edge livestock farming practices and the capital needed to
drive it. Asian buffalo is called ‘black gold’ of Pakistan and the
country produces 42 billion litres of milk per year.
Saad added
there was great potential of investment in the dairy sector and many
multinational and national companies such as Nestle, Haleeb, Engro
Foods and Noon Dairies were continuously investing to upgrade their
plants.
Currently, he added, buffalo contributed 70 per cent to
Pakistan’s total milk production and value added products such as
butter, oil and cheese. The PBIT vice chairman said the meat production
sector was also a sizable revenue generating engine and after India,
Pakistan was the second largest buffalo meat exporter. Similarly, there
was tremendous potential for export of low-cholesterol Halal meat and
meat products to Muslim countries.
