Pakistan eyes GCC’s $40 bln investment in agri sector in five years

ISLAMABAD: The government aims to attract billions of dollars in investments from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations into the nation’s food and agriculture industry, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday. He claimed that the GCC nations import $40 billion worth of agricultural and food products each year. According to Sharif, the action would be carried out with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in charge, and the necessary groundwork has already been done. He said that roughly $40 billion would be invested over the following four to five years in addition to the production of four million new employment.

The prime minister mentioned that at the national seminar on agriculture and food security held Monday, he stressed the importance of revitalizing agriculture as a harbinger of the second Green Revolution.

“The second Green Revolution is about making agriculture the major driver of our economic growth, leading to food security that reinforces our national security,” he said.

He said the seminar was not a routine event meant for churning of rhetoric, but 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,” he said. “Together, we will make it happen.”