KATHMANDU - Vice-President SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Pakistan chapter) Iftikhar Ali Malik here on Saturday urged all eight members of the SAARC to work jointly to establish a single market and production base by integrating agricultural sector to promote equitable development, transforming South Asia into a global power besides attaining food autarky in the region.
Presiding over a parallel session on “Agribusiness-Target-Doubling Agribusiness by 2030” on the second day of 3-day 6th SAARC Business Leaders Conclave being held at Kathmandu, Iftikhar Ali Malik said in principal it is decided that all the SAARC member states will exchange with each other new technologies and germ plasma to ensure food security in the region which will help them improve their system of agriculture and exports.
He also urged the SAARC member states to make joint efforts to deal with challenges such as water scarcity, food insecurity and malnutrition in the region.
“The threat of water scarcity looms large in the entire region. The population is increasing, but agricultural production is diminishing,” he said, adding post-harvest losses must be minimized to increase agricultural productivity.” He said that per capita water availability had decreased in the region over the years. “The per capita water availability is only 1,000 cubic metres per person. The figure was 5,200 cubic metres in 1947,” he added.
He said malnutrition affects 40 per cent of the children in the region. “We have to take steps to end this. We have to shift our focus from green revolution to ever-green revolution,” he added.
He praised Pakistan for developing the state-of-the-art National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), which he said was not only contributing for the agricultural development of Pakistan but could play an important role in regional agriculture development.
Session panelists included Vivek Bharati, former Executive Director,Pepsi, India, Shaharyar Ali Malik, CEO Guard Autozone Pakistan, Zahra Mirzaie, President Qalam Foundation Afghanistan, and Ahsan Khan Chaudhary, CEO, Pran-Rel Group Bangladesh, while Ms Stuti Basnyat was moderator.
