Shehbaz Sharif says country’s agriculture economy will revive in next two years n Army Chief says no power on earth can stop Pakistan’s progress, development n General Asim Munir assures Pakistan Army's full support for all initiatives n Says Pakistani nation has the potential to rise to the top.

PM says Pakistan cannot afford spending $4.5b on import of edible oil.

ISLAMABAD  -  Prime Minister Sheh­baz Sharif Monday said that the government and relevant institu­tions will have to work together to trigger the second agriculture rev­olution in the country.

Addressing the Na­tional Seminar on Ag­riculture and Food Se­curity held at Jinnah Convention Centre in Islamabad on Monday, he said the Gulf Coun­tries are ready to invest in Green Pakistan Initia­tive which will enhance our agriculture produc­tivity and equip it with the latest technology.

He said the initiative to likely to attract invest­ment to the tune of thir­ty to fifty billion dollars in the next four to five years. He said this will also provide job oppor­tunities to four million people. He credited Army Chief General Asim Munir for envisioning this initia­tive. He was confident that our ag­riculture economy will revive in the next two years.

The prime minister assured to extend full facilitation to the farmers in order to bolster agri productivity. He said it is the responsibility of the government to provide conducive environment to the farmers through provision of qual­ity seeds, pesticides and fertilizers. The farmers should also get due price of their crops. He said the country wit­nessed record wheat production this year as the government enhanced the wheat support price. He expressed the confidence that the cotton crop will also see a major boost because of increase in its minimum support price.

The prime minister said Pakistan is spending four point five billion dollars on the import of edible oil. He said the country cannot afford this situation.

Agriculture experts and farm­ers highly appreciated the govern­ment’s landmark initiative and Pa­kistan Army’s special focus on revolutionising the agriculture sec­tor by promoting modern contem­porary technology, collaboration of public and private sectors and trick­ling down dividends to the local farmers to alleviate poverty. 

Also, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir assured Paki­stan Army’s full support for all the initiatives being initiated under the ambit of Special Investment Facili­tation Council, including Green Paki­stan Initiative launched on Monday.

Addressing the National Seminar on Agriculture and Food Security at Jinnah Convention Centre in Islam­abad on Monday, he said Allah Al­mighty has blessed Pakistan with many resources. He said we are a ca­pable nation, which has the potential to rise to the top. He emphasised the need that everybody should contrib­ute to its development. 

General Syed Asim Munir ex­pressed the confidence that Pakistan will achieve progress and develop­ment and no power on the earth can stop this from happening. He said we have gathered to make Pakistan green once again. “We should not get disappointed from Allah’s almighty blessings, only non believers get dis­appointment”, the army chief said.