Finance minister stresses upon the need to impart training to women to contribute towards strengthening of economy
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Sartaj Aziz has said that a lot is needed to be done in the realm of rural transformation.
He was addressing the opening session of first workshop on “Emerging Issues, Challenges and Opportunities in Rural Economy of Pakistan”, organised by Centre For Rural Economy (CRE), Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform (PD&R) here on Tuesday
The speakers/participants on the occasion discussed issues specific to rural economy and also suggested the way forward. Based on Chinese experiences, well known Chinese expert Prof Dr Jikun Huang recently articulated the following stages in rural transformation:
1- Rising food production through efficient irrigation and innovation technology, 2- agricultural diversification to higher value crops and livestock, through improved marketing and cold chains, 3- expanding non-farm employment through agriculture support services and small and medium enterprises in rural areas, 4- increasing specialisation in certain brand products through technology and improved land rental and marketing policies, 5- further increase in off-farm jobs through land consolidation and mechanization, 6- integrated urban rural development by creating smart cities in rural areas.
Sartaj Aziz stressed on adoption of fast track of rural transformation.
Speakers including, Ms Genevieve, Policy Consultant, UN-FAO, Dr Rashid Bajwa, CEO National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) and Yasir Ashfaq, CEO Pakistan Micro Finance Investment Company (PMIC) shared their views with the audience from different government and private sector organisations.
Thereafter, Minister for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal in his address said it was time that the rural/agriculture economy attained the level of growth it deserved. He said Pakistan has great potential to increase its exports of Halal food and agri-products. He pointed out that the CPEC projects have also opened a new window of opportunity for the growth and development of agricultural sector as the country could export large quantity of food products earning precious foreign exchange.
The minister said that it was high time that the provincial governments ponder over the possibility of having their own agriculture development banks. The federal government, he said, over the last four years has disbursed significant amounts of agricultural credit to farmers as it extended due importance to development of agriculture sector. The government was further trying to enhance financial and technical assistance to the farmers’ community, he added.
Rana Muhammad Afzal said that there was also a need to impart training to women to contribute towards strengthening of economy. The present PML-N government has indeed provided opportunities to womenfolk to come forward and play their due role in the process of development. He talked about importance of forestry in addressing environmental issues and also highlighted the economic opportunities it carries for farmers.