Pakistan needs to promote crop of palm oil in its coastal areas to develop its coastal economy, said speakers of a moot here at the Karachi University.
This was stated by Consul General of Malaysia in Karachi Ismail Bin Muhammad while addressing a seminar on ‘Palm Oil: Industrial, Health and Economic Benefits’, organized by KU Department of Food Science and Technology in collaboration with ORIC Karachi University and Malaysian Palm Oil Board at KIBGE Auditorium.
The consul general said that Malaysia and Pakistan enjoyed exemplary relations and collaboration between Karachi University and Malaysian Palm Oil Board was commendable. ‘I hope this collaboration will grow further in future’, he added.
He said the Palm oil was a quite familiar food item in Malaysia but not much familiar in Pakistan despite the fact it was a critical food item in Pakistani food industry. Malaysian government ensured that it exported best quality Palm oil to Pakistan. This particular program would be helpful for Pakistani students and teachers to develop a good amount of expertise and knowhow about Palm oil and its uses in the food industry.
He thanked Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser, Prof Dr Abid Hasnain and KU ORIC Director Prof Dr Aliya Rehman for organizing this seminar.
VC Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser warmly welcomed the Consul General of Malaysia Ismail Bin Muhammad and said that Pakistan and Malaysia enjoyed cordial ties and it would further grow in future due to academic and research linkages between varsities and industries of both the countries. It was in the common interest of the academia to develop linkages among the varsities of both the nations. Pakistan was the largest importer of Malaysian Palm oil and imported more than 2 million tons of Palm oil in a year.
Prof Dr Abid Hasnain said that collaboration between academia and industries of Malaysian Palm oil were pivotal in order to have a better understanding of Malaysian Palm oil in Pakistan. The purpose of this seminar was to create a greater awareness about the significance and use of Malaysian Palm oil in Pakistani food items.
Malaysian Palm Oil Board Regional Manager Fairus Hidzir thanked the University of Karachi for collaborating for this particular programme and briefed the audience about the functions of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board and the uses of Malaysian Palm oil in Pakistan.
Prof Dr Aliya Rehman announced that soon a MoU between KU ORIC and Malaysian Palm Oil Board would be signed and that would be a great step towards the linkages between academia and industry. Karachi University ORIC was committed to promoting linkages between academia and industries, she added.
