Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Pakistan H.E Mr. Tarek Dahroug called on the Federal Minister of National Food Security Syed Fakhar Imam in his office today on 6th January, 2022. Senior Joint Secretary Ministry of National Food Security and Research Mr. Javed Humayun also attended the meeting. Egypt and Pakistan to sign an MoU to enhance agricultural trade between the two countries. Fakhar said that the two countries can immensely benefit from exchange in agriculture research and value-added technologies. He praised the quality of cotton produced in Egypt and said that Egypt and Pakistan have huge trade potential. The two dignitaries agreed to sign an MoU to take the bilateral relation forward. Fakhar welcomed the Egyptian offer to invest in Free Industrial Zones of Egypt. H. E Tarek Dahroug told the federal minister that Pakistani agricultural products have huge potential if they are converted into value added products through processing. Fakhar welcomed the offer by the Egyptian Ambassador to set up value added industry in free industrial zones of Egypt. Fakhar praised the Egyptian civilization as one of the oldest in the world. Fakhar said that Pakistan has immense export potential with respect to citrus fruits, rice, mangoes, onion, potatoes, fisheries and livestock etc. Fakhar said that Pakistan has 8 Mn tonnes of rice which can be exported. Fakhar acknowledged that value added industry needs to be set up by Pakistan to fully take advantage of its agricultural products. Fakhar said that Pakistan exported appx 144,000 tonnes of mangoes internationally and hence its export to Egypt also has huge potential. H. E Tarek Dahroug showed great interest in importing Rice from Pakistan in addition with livestock. H.E. said that Egypt imports rice from Pakistan and has a substantial market for livestock, meat etc. Ambassador of Egypt to Pakistan said that Egypt was greatly interested in increasing trade between the two countries. The two dignitaries agreed to further enhance cooperation and collaboration between MNFS&R and its Egyptian counterpart. Fakhar said that Pakistan faces a number of challenges but with the right policy interventions under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, agriculture sector can be transformed. He said that Pakistani agriculture has been tottering along the traditional agricultural techniques and it is time that we start to look ahead to the future in terms of modernization. Fakhar Imam praised the current governments efforts and said that in the last 70 years the main set back to research was insufficient funds. This is the first time in the history of Pakistan that under Prime Minister Initiative Program billions of Rupees have been invested in agricultural research which has led to record production of wheat, maize and rice last year.
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