ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: A Russian delegation met the Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Tariq Bashir Cheema in Islamabad on Wednesday and discussed prospects of cooperation and partnership in the agriculture sector.
The delegation included the Prodintorg Representatives Yousuf Asif and Hamid Ali, the Agriculture Attaché Aleksei Kudriavtsev and the Attaché Russian Embassy Alexander.
Tariq Bashir Cheema welcomed the delegation and said that the agriculture sector has suffered colossal losses because of the recent rains and floods, the real assessment is still awaited.
The minister stressed that the international community should help Pakistan in the rehabilitation and recovery phase. He said that his government is making every effort to support the affected farmer community.
Prodintorg Representative Yousuf Asif said that Pakistan and Russia can mutually benefit from enhancing trade cooperation in agriculture. He noted Russia is one the largest global exporters of wheat and can help Pakistan to meet the local demand of wheat under the government-to-government (G2G) framework.
“Pakistani rice is of good quality. Russia looks forward to increase import of rice from Pakistan,” Yousuf Asif said adding that Russia is increasing the number of authorized exporters of rice to Russia in Pakistan.
Yousuf Asif also showed willingness to import potatoes from Pakistan. He said that there is also a huge trade potential of potatoes export to Russia from Pakistan; Russia is a major importer of potatoes.
The delegation offered an opportunity of wheat import for Pakistan in order to address the issue of food security, even in the form of barter trade while exchanging food basket commodities.
The Agriculture Attaché of Russia Aleksei Kudriavtsev hoped that mutually beneficial cooperation in agriculture will help to ensure food security in the both Countries.
