Federal Minister of National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam received a delegation today led by the Ambassador of Netherlands Mr. Wouter Plomp. The delegation comprised of global leadership of Frieslandcampina N.V. which is the largest dairy company in Netherlands. It also owns 51% of Engro Foods Limited. The delegation included CEO of Frieslandcampina N.V. Mr. Hein Schumacher, President of Frieslandcampina N.V. Mr. Roel van Neerbos and Managing Director of Frieslandcampina Engro Pakistan Ltd. Mr. Ali Ahmed Khan. The meeting was also attended by senior officials of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
Fakhar Imam said that Pakistan's estimated annual gross milk production was 63.7 Million tons during 2020-21. He said that the contribution of milk in the national economy can be gauged by the fact that, the annual value of fresh milk exceeds the combined annual value of four major cash crops like wheat, rice, maize and sugar cane. Around 6-10% of total gross milk production is being processed by 30 milk/dairy processing plants including Engro Foods Limited. Subsistence farming. Which is around 90% of dairying is dominated by subsistence farmers which are the major impediment for its development. Since subsistence farmers are scattered, unorganized and uneducated practicing conventional husbandry farming methods.
CEO of Frieslandcampina N.V. Mr. Hein Schumacher said that dairy sector can play a critical role in eliminating malnutrition. He said that the dairy sector in Pakistan has huge potential for foreign direct investment by companies like Frieslandcampina N.V. He briefed the minister that Pakistan – Netherlands Dairy Development Centre will be developed to help the public sector and the private sector in enhancing the productivity of the dairy sector of Pakistan. Mr. Hein said that Frieslandcampina N.V. was keen to leverage its extensive dairy experience spread over 150 years to coolaborate with the Government of Pakistan for taking the dairy sector forward.
Imam said that the local production of powdered milk in Pakistan is non-significant thus need more focus and investment in this sphere. Increased local production of powdered milk will augment the dairy economy of the country and ultimately reliance on imports will discourage. During last two years (2019-20 & 2020-21), a total of 88 million tons powdered milk was imported by the private sector worth of US$ 160 million.
Minister said that around 6-10% of total gross milk production of the country is being processed in the country which is inadequate. One of the main reasons of low production of processed milk dairy products is the imported costly packaging material. Local production of packaging material will improve and enhance the affordability and consumption of processed dairy milk products in Pakistan. The locally produced packaging material will be less expensive as compared to the imported material. Moreover, locally manufactured packaging material can also be exported in the regional and international markets.
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