KARACHI: Pakistan has offered to supply tropical fruits, vegetable and cereal crops to China as it signed more than two dozen agriculture-sector memorandums of understanding worth over $4 billion, its national food security ministry said on Saturday.
The MoUs were finalized at a business-to-business (B2B) investment conference held in Beijing on Sept. 4, coinciding with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.
The country’s food security minister, Rana Tanveer Hussain, held meetings with leading agri-industry companies on the sidelines of the conference, inviting Chinese investment in areas like mechanization, seed development, smart farming and precision agriculture to enhance productivity and strengthen Pakistan’s food security.
“Highlighting China’s $215 billion annual agricultural import market, Mr.Hussain said Pakistan can play a significant role in supplying tropical and temperate fruits, vegetables and cereal crops,” the ministry said in a statement.
“He stressed that Pakistan, as China’s closest neighbor and a ‘brotherly country,’ offers geographical proximity and competitive pricing advantages compared to imports from Brazil and other Western countries,” it added.
Pakistan is already receiving agricultural assistance from China after Sharif’s visit last year, when Beijing launched a program to train 1,000 Pakistani agricultural graduates in three phases.
The first batch of about 300 students completed training in Shaanxi province in July, focusing on advanced farming practices, while a second group of 300 departed for China in August.
The initiative aims to equip Pakistan with innovative techniques such as precision agriculture, biotechnology mechanization and modern irrigation systems.
The latest MoUs also come as part of broader Pakistan-China economic cooperation.
Islamabad is planning to float Panda Bonds in the Chinese capital market to boost finances. The national food security ministry’s initiative reflects the government’s continued effort to tap into one of the region’s largest markets as the country pivots toward export-led growth.
