President Zardari had a meeting with Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Oe in Islamabad where he emphasized the need for incorporating Japanese technology into our domestic agriculture sector to boost, in particular the agro-processing industry. The areas, which he stressed, needed immediate attention are land development, high quality seeds and dairy and fisheries sector. Among these, land reclamation has been a festering problem owing to high levels of water logging and salinity; if this is eliminated, a major worry of the farmers would be over.
It was heartening to see the President attach special focus to the fruit and vegetable products calling for Japanese assistance to set up a centre of excellence. This can turn out to be the source of multiplying the profits by a great margin. Small-scale industrial units could even be installed by the agriculturists themselves, thereby adding value to their produce. For instance, when a cereals product is made, it amounts to adding value to wheat, rice or barley from which it is produced. For an agricultural economy like ours, Japanese investment in putting up agro-based industries would be a great boon for Pakistan. This can be done with the use of scientific methods, modern technology and equipment that can only be had with a sizeable amount of foreign exchange. Hopefully, the Japanese entrepreneurs would see the potential in Pakistan and give a befitting response to the President’s proposal. For us, it could prove to be a major leap towards achieving prosperity.
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