‘Govt aims to fetch billions of dollars into agriculture sector from GCC countries’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the government aimed to fetch investment of billions of dollars into Pakistan’s agriculture sector from the GCC countries under the supervision of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), for which the ground had been prepared.

In a tweet, Shehbaz Sharif said the GCC countries imported food items and agriculture products to the tune of $40 billion annually. In the next four to five years, there would be an investment of about $40 billion in addition to the creation of 4 million new jobs, he said.

“At the National Seminar on Agriculture & Food Security yesterday, I stressed the importance of revitalizing agriculture as a harbinger of the second Green Revolution. We have all along heard about high-sounding & lofty visions but without hard work, perseverance & diligence, they have been good for nothing,” he said.

He said the second Green Revolution was about making agriculture the major driver of our economic growth, leading to food security that reinforces our national security.

The prime minister said the National Seminar on Agriculture & Food Security was not a routine event meant for churning of rhetoric. “It represented the beginning of a long overdue national effort for the economic revival of the country owned by all stakeholders. The future holds the promise of departing from loans to building a resilient economy, which stands on its internal strengths. Together, we will make it happen,” he maintained.