KARACHI: Pakistan is expected to start export of meat and meat preparations to China within a year following progress on setting up the Foot and Mouth Disease-free zone, officials told Arab News as Chinese meat buyers showed interest in importing halal meat products from Pakistan.
Pakistan and China had signed two agreements during the visit of Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan in May this year that included the Framework Agreement on Agricultural Cooperation and Memorandum on the Requirements of Foot and Mouth Disease-Free Zone for which Chinese will provide technical assistance and support.
“To review the progress on the FMD-free zone, a Chinese team visited Pakistan a couple of days ago and held meetings with Pakistani officials,” Rao Muhammad Ajmal Khan, Chairman of National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research, told Arab News. “They are coming back next week and we have asked them to focus on value addition to which they have agreed. They have agreed to allocate 15 percent space for the agriculture and dairy sector,” he added.
“I think it will take a year,” Rao said while responding to a question about the start of meat exports to China. “The Chinese are visiting Pakistan for their own assessment. They are more interested in setting up slaughter houses in the free zone and from there they want to export.”
The first meeting of the China-Pakistan Joint Working Group (JWG) between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China, and the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Pakistan, on agricultural cooperation was held in Islamabad on Friday.
“In the meeting it was agreed, on the basis of cooperation in protection and control of animal epidemics, to enhance the regional management of animal epidemics and FMD Free Zone with the technical support of experts,” a statement by National Food Security and Research said.
Meanwhile, a Chinese delegation from Sichuan province in a meeting with the Minister for States and Frontier Regions and Narcotics Control Shahryar Khan Afridi expressed their interest on Sunday to import Halal meat from Pakistan for the Middle East and China to cater to the need of Muslim populations, a statement issued by the ministry said. “Leader of a Chinese delegation Zhu Maa said China has good equipment and services and vowed to showcase Pakistani products and halal food in Chinese markets,” the statement added.
Pakistan exported meat and meat preparations worth $242.8 million during the fiscal year FY19 as compared to $242.7 million of previous year, showing an increase of 8 percent, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and State Bank of Pakistan show.
The South Asian nation mainly exports to Gulf countries along with Vietnam and Malaysia. The country remains out of the Chinese market of $12 to 15 billion due to a ban imposed on Pakistan owing to the FMD background while stringent quarantine standards and registration processes are also major hurdles.
Exporters say the country’s meat reaches the Chinese market but not directly.
“Pakistani meat is supplied to China, though not directly but through the indirect route of Vietnam, which is illegal and via smuggling,” Mian Abdul Hannan, Chairman of the All Pakistan Meat Exporters and Processors Association, told Arab News. “We don’t have any trade agreement with China for the export of meat. The main reason for that is the FMD.”
Pakistan at present stands at Stage II of FMD and expects to move to Stage III after the FMD-free zones are set up to control and eradicate the epidemic.
“The countries that are at the same stage can import and exports. It is not possible to sign agreement and start exports until we attain the same level of FMD with China or meet the requirements of the Chinese authorities,” Hannan noted adding: “Exports will start when our FMD status will be cleared and we will move to stage three.”
The status upgrade will also allow the country to enter another big meat market of Indonesia.
Pakistan to explore China’s halal meat market
Pakistan to explore China’s halal meat market
- The market offers $12-15 billion potential
- Pakistan will start exporting meat to China after experts scan animals for disease
Pakistan and Italy mark 70 years of archaeological cooperation in Swat
- Founded in 1955, Italy’s Swat mission has led excavations and conservation work at major Gandhara sites
- Italian archaeologists have also contributed to training Pakistani researchers and museum development
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Italy marked 70 years of archaeological cooperation, said an official statement on Sunday, with officials highlighting decades of joint work in preserving ancient sites in the country’s northwest, where Italian researchers have played a central role in documenting and conserving remnants of the Gandhara civilization.
The Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat was established in 1955 by Italian scholar Giuseppe Tucci, a leading expert on Asian art and religions, with the aim of studying, excavating and preserving Buddhist and pre-Islamic sites in what is now Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Over the decades, the mission has become one of the longest-running foreign archaeological projects in the country, working closely with Pakistani authorities and academic institutions.
“Pakistan is committed to advancing archaeological research, conservation and education, and looks forward to deepening cooperation with Italy in both scope and dimension,” Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture Aurangzeb Khan Khichi said while addressing a ceremony in Rome marking the mission’s anniversary.
The event was organized by Italy’s International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies (ISMEO), with support from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and the University of Venice, and was attended by Pakistani and Italian academics, diplomats and cultural officials.
The Italian mission was originally conceived to systematically document Buddhist sites in the Swat Valley, once a major center of the ancient Gandhara civilization, which flourished from around the first century BCE and became a crossroads of South Asian, Central Asian and Hellenistic influences.
Since its inception, the mission has led or supported excavations and conservation work at several key sites, including Barikot, believed to be ancient Bazira mentioned by classical sources, as well as Butkara and Saidu Sharif, helping establish chronologies, preserve stupas and monasteries and train generations of Pakistani archaeologists.
Italian researchers have also worked with local authorities on site protection, museum development and post-conflict rehabilitation, particularly after natural disasters and periods of unrest that threatened archaeological heritage in the region.
The anniversary program featured sessions on the history of the mission, its collaboration with the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and future research areas such as archaeobotany, epigraphy and geoarchaeology.
The event was moderated by Professor Luca Maria Olivieri of the University of Venice, who has been associated with archaeological fieldwork in Pakistan for nearly four decades and was awarded Pakistan’s Sitara-e-Imtiaz for his contributions to heritage preservation.
Officials said the mission’s longevity reflected a rare continuity in international cultural cooperation and underscored Pakistan’s efforts to protect its archaeological legacy through partnerships with foreign institutions.
