KARACHI: Pakistan has invited Saudi Arabia and the UAE to invest as partners in the country’s rapidly growing technology sector, particularly for the utilization of biotechnology in agriculture, or agritech, Fawad Chaudhary, Federal Minister for Science and Technology, told Arab News on Wednesday, on the sidelines of ‘The Future Summit’ being held in the port city of Karachi.
“We want to bring public-private partnership in the manufacturing of batteries, and in precision agriculture... an approach for farm management with the utilization of information technology,” he said, referring to a farming concept based on site-specific crop management.
He added: “In precision agriculture, we have invited Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (as partners).”
Chaudhry said his ministry has developed the concept of a state-of-the-art “biotechnology park.”
“In the biotechnology park, I want Saudi Arabia and UAE to become our partners. We have received interest from UAE while Pakistani investors living in European countries are also coming (forward),” he said.
In Pakistan, farmers continue to use age-old methods of conventional farming, which has hindered growth in its agricultural sector, coupled with water-shortages and the effects of climate change. As the largest sector of the economy, agriculture contributes 24 percent to the country’s GDP according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
In a recent report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, one farmer from the country’s valley regions reported that wheat productivity had declined by almost 50% from 2010-2015 with no signs of improvement.
But as part of efforts to incorporate technology into better farming practices, the science minister said his department was working on the manufacturing and registration of specialized drones to be used in agricultural zones
In July this year, Chaudhry had first announced plans for a modern biotechnology park in partnership with the UAE and Saudi Arabia while speaking to the UAE ambassador, Hamad Obaid Ibrahimi Al-Zaabi, and stressed the need to boost the trust and collaboration between Islamabad and Abu Dhabi. The envoy assured Chaudhry of his country’s full cooperation.
On Monday, Pakistan also announced the launch of 13 mega agricultural projects in collaboration with China.
Pakistan seeks Saudi, UAE partnership in agritech — Fawad Chaudhry
Pakistan seeks Saudi, UAE partnership in agritech — Fawad Chaudhry
- Focusing on precision agriculture, biotech park in partnership with Saudi Arabia and UAE, minister says
- Agriculture being the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy, contributes to 24% of GDP
Tens of thousands flee northwest Pakistan over fears of military operation
- More than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled remote Tirah region bordering Afghanistan
- Government says no military operation underway or planned in Tirah, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
BARA, Pakistan: More than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled a remote region in northwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan over uncertainty of a military operation against the Pakistani Taliban, residents and officials said Tuesday.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif has denied the claim by residents and provincial authorities. He said no military operation was underway or planned in Tirah, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, he said harsh weather, rather than military action, was driving the migration. His comments came weeks after residents started fleeing Tirah over fears of a possible army operation.
The exodus began a month after mosque loudspeakers urged residents to leave Tirah by Jan. 23 to avoid potential fighting. Last August, Pakistan launched a military operation against Pakistani Taliban in the Bajau r district in the northwest, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
Shafi Jan, a spokesman for the provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, posted on X that he held the federal government responsible for the ordeal of the displaced people, saying authorities in Islamabad were retracting their earlier position about the military operation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Suhail Afridi, whose party is led by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has criticized the military and said his government will not allow troops to launch a full-scale operation in Tirah.
The military says it will continue intelligence-based operations against Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Though a separate group, it has been emboldened since the Afghan
Taliban returned to power in 2021. Authorities say many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan and that hundreds of them have crossed into Tirah, often using residents as human shields when militant hideouts are raided.
Caught in the middle are the residents of Tirah, who continued arriving in Bara.
So far, local authorities have registered roughly 10,000 families — about 70,000 people — from Tirah, which has a population of around 150,000, said Talha Rafiq Alam, a local government administrator overseeing the relief effort. He said the registration deadline, originally set for Jan. 23, has been extended to Feb. 5.
He said the displaced would be able to return once the law-and-order situation improves.
Among those arriving in Bara and nearby towns was 35-year-old Zar Badshah, who said he left with his wife and four children after the authorities ordered an evacuation. He said mortar shells had exploded in villages in recent weeks, killing a woman and wounding four children in his village. “Community elders told us to leave. They instructed us to evacuate to safer places,” he said.
At a government school in Bara, hundreds of displaced lined up outside registration centers, waiting to be enrolled to receive government assistance. Many complained the process was slow.
Narendra Singh, 27, said members of the minority Sikh community also fled Tirah after food shortages worsened, exacerbated by heavy snowfall and uncertain security.
“There was a severe shortage of food items in Tirah, and that forced us to leave,” he said.
Tirah gained national attention in September, after an explosion at a compound allegedly used to store bomb-making materials killed at least 24 people. Authorities said most of the dead were militants linked to the TTP, though local leaders disputed that account, saying civilians, including women and children, were among the dead.
