Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain, chaired a high-level meeting with Ambassador of Portugal Paulo Miguel Guedes Domingues to discuss bilateral cooperation, with a particular focus on development of Pakistan’s olive sector.
The Federal Minister said Pakistan attaches great importance to strengthening agricultural cooperation with Portugal, particularly in olive cultivation, olive oil production, research and technology transfer. He termed his recent visit to Portugal highly successful and appreciated the modern machinery, technology and expertise available in Portugal’s olive oil sector.
Rana Tanveer Hussain said Pakistan sees significant potential for collaboration with Portugal in olive germplasm, modern orchard management, efficient irrigation, mechanized harvesting, olive oil extraction and post-harvest processing. He said Pakistan would like to send its technical experts to Portugal for specialized training, while Portuguese experts should also visit Pakistan to assess local conditions and recommend suitable technologies and practices.
The Minister said Pakistan looks forward to the expected visit of Portugal’s Agriculture Minister to Pakistan, during which further progress on agricultural cooperation and a possible Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is expected.
He proposed establishing a Pakistan–Portugal Joint Working Group on Olive Cooperation to identify priority areas, facilitate expert exchanges, develop joint research and training programmes, and promote investment and joint ventures in the olive value chain.
The Minister highlighted Pakistan’s potential in wild olive germplasm and said cooperation with Portugal could help develop climate-resilient and high-yield olive varieties suitable for drought-prone and high-temperature areas of Pakistan.
He also invited Portuguese companies and investors to explore opportunities in olive oil extraction and processing, bottling, packaging, branding and value-added products. He stressed the importance of strengthening quality control, certification, traceability and international standards to make Pakistani olive oil competitive in international markets.
Ambassador Paulo Miguel Guedes Domingues expressed Portugal’s interest in expanding cooperation with Pakistan in agriculture and the olive sector. He appreciated Pakistan’s growing potential in olive cultivation and emphasized the importance of stronger institutional, technical and private-sector linkages between the two countries.
Both sides agreed that enhanced cooperation in technology, training, research, investment and market development could significantly contribute to the growth of Pakistan’s emerging olive oil industry.
