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Goverment plans cold chains for fruit, vegetables
India
Friday 14 November 2008
Punjab Minister for Excise and Taxation Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman has said that developing cold chain infrastructure is the priority of the government as it desires to create exportable surplus besides ensuring food sufficiency through cut in post-harvest losses.
He was speaking at a seminar on “Cold Chain Infrastructure Development and Trade Potential in Pakistan”, jointly organised by Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Commerce and Investment Department, Government of Punjab.
The minister said the establishment of new cold chain facilities would ensure availability of farm produce over an extended period as due to absence of sufficient facilities, Pakistan had been suffering substantial post-harvest losses. He said the country’s economic development is largely depended on a supply chain of international quality, which would not be possible in the absence of a suitable cold chain and the government is quite aware of the fact and putting in all its energies.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI Acting President Mian Muzaffar Ali said “today the world is marked by intensifying globalisation of economies, production, trade and information on one side, and poverty and disease, on the other. What government needs to do is to develop and strengthen every sector of economy.”
He said although Pakistan is producing large quantities of fruit and vegetables, its exports were negligible, with a large price gap compared to international average prices. Among the main reasons of lower prices were poor quality of produce, export to low-end markets and limited market access.
LCCI Vice President Shafqat Saeed Piracha said lack of holding facilities for fruit and vegetables is hurting overall exports as the traders were bound to sell their products in a hurry so there was a dire need to enhance cold storage capacities.
He was speaking at a seminar on “Cold Chain Infrastructure Development and Trade Potential in Pakistan”, jointly organised by Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Commerce and Investment Department, Government of Punjab.
The minister said the establishment of new cold chain facilities would ensure availability of farm produce over an extended period as due to absence of sufficient facilities, Pakistan had been suffering substantial post-harvest losses. He said the country’s economic development is largely depended on a supply chain of international quality, which would not be possible in the absence of a suitable cold chain and the government is quite aware of the fact and putting in all its energies.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI Acting President Mian Muzaffar Ali said “today the world is marked by intensifying globalisation of economies, production, trade and information on one side, and poverty and disease, on the other. What government needs to do is to develop and strengthen every sector of economy.”
He said although Pakistan is producing large quantities of fruit and vegetables, its exports were negligible, with a large price gap compared to international average prices. Among the main reasons of lower prices were poor quality of produce, export to low-end markets and limited market access.
LCCI Vice President Shafqat Saeed Piracha said lack of holding facilities for fruit and vegetables is hurting overall exports as the traders were bound to sell their products in a hurry so there was a dire need to enhance cold storage capacities.
