Federal Minister for Industries, Production, Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain on Wednesday emphasized to make the Department of Plant Protection more viable so that export target could be increased for stabilization of the economy. He expressed these views during his visit to Department of Plant Protection, where he also held meeting with senior officers of the department and the stakeholders. The Minister also heard grievances of the stakeholders and assured for addressing their genuine issues. The Director General of Department of Plant Protection Tariq Khan and other senior officers also briefed the Federal Minister regarding the internal processes and operations of the department. The Minister said there was a need of quality production so that exports could be increased as compared to our imports. Enhancing our exports could stabilize Pakistan's economy, Rana Tanveer said, adding that inefficient methods of agriculture management caused a lot of damage to the economy and now these methods be replaced with modern one to achieve required goals. He stressed the need of restoring trust of the investors so that they come forward and invest their capital in agriculture and other sectors. Rana Tanveer urged the stakeholders to devise relevant strategies to counter a global concerns of the food security which posed severe challenges. He stated that there was popular demand of the 'Halal' meat even from non Muslim countries, this shows that there exist markets for our products and through structural strategies and long term analysis of markets, we should aim to tap into these areas and broaden the base of exports. The stakeholders, in their grievances, demanded to ensure ease of doing business so that they could perform at the highest possible level. The Director General Plant Protection Department Tariq Khan pressed the need for aversion of ban on export products from Pakistan to European countries as this is was matter of great concern for the industry. He said the digitisation of the Plant Protection Department and integration with Pakistan Single window, inter agency coordination and real time data exchange would be improved and led to maintaining transparency and accountability. Tariq Khan said on the directions of Federal Minister, the Plant Protection Department and stakeholders were tasked to maximize Methyl Bromide registration to ensure conducive environment for fumigators, who are in turn directly responsible for plant yield and export quality products. The Federal Minister concluded by urging Plant Protection Department and the stakeholders to remain steadfast in transparent practices. Rana Tanveer urged them to perform diligently and honestly to achieve the desired results. The meeting was attended by senior officers of Plant Protection Department, representatives from Crop Life Pakistan Association, Fumigation Department of the Plant Protection Department, Rice Export Association of Pakistan, APSEA and Customs Department.
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