After a series of moves aimed to protect Pakistan’s failing economy, including securing a crucial IMF deal, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has now set his sights on supporting what he calls the backbone of Pakistan’s economy: the agricultural sector.
Through his Green Pakistan Initiative, inaugurated on Monday, July 10, PM Shehbaz says 4 million jobs will be created in the agricultural sector. He also said the Green Pakistan Initiative would likely attract $50 billion in investments in the next five years.
According to PM Shehbaz, the newly inaugurated initiative is bound to propel Pakistan into its ‘second green revolution’. In fact, the initiative follows similar schemes as those present in Ayub Khan’s regime, such as incentivising farmers by providing them with more profits for their production and providing standard seeds and fertilizers to farmers, along with equipping them with the latest technology.
It is true that Ayub Khan’s Green Revolution changed the economic fate of the adolescent country. And a revolution of sorts is very much needed: according to PM Shehbaz, state-owned agricultural enterprises are losing PKR 600 billion annually. He noted that Pakistan imports $4.5 billion worth of palm oil, a burden on the national economy.
At the inauguration ceremony, PM Shehbaz said that gulf countries were ready to invest in the agriculture sector and export modern machinery to Pakistan, in order to boost the production of crops in the country.
According to The News, PM Shehbaz stated, “It is [a] demand of our national security that the country’s food security and economic security should be strengthened.”
The inaugural seminar was attended by federal ministers, provincial chief ministers of Punjab and Sindh, chief secretaries of provincial governments, agricultural experts, and farmers from all the provinces.
Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir also attended the seminar as the guest of honour. He pledged the Pakistan Army’s full support for all the initiatives that fall under the Special Investment Facilitation Council, one of which is the Green Pakistan Initiative.
According to The News, agriculture experts and farmers highly appreciated the landmark initiative, praising the focus on promoting modern technology, the collaboration of public and private sectors, as well as trickling down dividends to local farmers in order to alleviate poverty.
