According to the experts, that Pakistani food sources could gain a more prominent portion of the Chinese imported food market, presently assessed to be at $100 billion.
According to Ali Salman, the Executive Director of Policy Research Institute of Market Economy, besides fruits, rice, and other products that have their export benefits, olive oil is now known as a cash crop that the country has struggled to expand over the last few years.
Being one of Asia’s top olive oil makers, Pakistan also eyes the huge customer marketplace of China. “Pakistan has 4.4 million hectares of land, which has been identified as suitable for farming. The potential is huge compared to Spain, which supplies almost half of the world’s olive oil with its 2.6 million hectares of land. So certainly, these are the opportunities which need to be fully exploited,” Salman added.
Daud Butt Hassan, CEO of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment & Trade declared that under the first stage of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the bleak border regions have now been manufactured a material handling center for economic crops such as tobacco, olives, tea, date palms and honey, which could quickly reach ports and airports for export.
There is plenty of space for collaboration between the two countries, with CPEC guaranteeing a focus on industrial and agricultural relations. Both sides are very complementary in agricultural trade, exhaustive processing, cold chain storage, and improving crop yield. “Increasing agricultural cooperation between China and Pakistan is part of Pakistan’s social-economic development strategy,” emphasized Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Industries & Commerce K-P Abdul Karim Khan.
