The USAID-funded Punjab Enabling Environment Project (PEEP) and the Punjab Food Department (PFD) are modernizing the provincial agriculture sector with 200 new silos to ensure food security, price stabilisation and storage of grains according to the international food standards. The first investment seminar, held at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), attracted potential investors and private sector stakeholders interested in investment opportunities in the transformation of wheat storage from bag to bulk. The seminar was attended by Secretary Punjab Food Department Shoukat Ali, and public and private sector stakeholders.
Through the Transaction Advisory Services Program, USAID assisted the Punjab Food Department in developing a proposal for construction of grain silo storage facilities under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.
The investment seminar provided the perfect forum for the Punjab Food Department to launch this initiative after the Public-Private Partnership Cell of the Planning and Development Department approved Phase 1 of this project. The launch welcomed the private sector to partner with the Punjab Food Department in an investment opportunity valued at $40 million for the construction of 40-grain silos.
Speaking at the seminar, PFD Secretary Shoukat Ali said, “The Punjab Food Department has been entrusted by the Government of Punjab to establish 200 near-farm wheat silos with a capacity of around 2 million metric tonnes to ensure safety, security, and optimal nutrition of stored wheat throughout the year. Our partnership with USAID will help us achieve this milestone by generating private sector investments and creating job opportunities.”
