PM eyes GCC’s $40b investment for agri sector

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the government aims to secure the investment of billions of dollars from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for Pakistan’s food and agriculture sector.

This step is to be taken under the supervision of Special Investment Facilitation Council, for which the ground has been prepared, according to the PM said.

In a tweet he said that the GCC countries import food items and agriculture products worth $40 billion annually.

In the next four to five years there will be an investment of approximately $40 billion in addition to the creation of four million new jobs.

At the national seminar on agriculture and food security held on Monday, the prime minister 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.

The premier also pointed out that the seminar was not a routine event meant for the churning of rhetoric, but 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.”

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…

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) July 11, 2023