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FAISALABAD, Jul 09 (APP):Kenya intends to avail the Pakistani experience, technology and machinery to enhance its mango export to Europe, said Madam Christine Chesaro, Director Horticulture, Agriculture and Food Authority of Kenya.
Addressing the business community during a meeting in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), she said that Pakistan and Kenya are both basically agrarian countries and have similar issues and problems.
She said that 80% population of Kenya is directly or indirectly related to agriculture and her government was trying to adopt international standards to enhance the agriculture produce in addition to its value addition.
She said that her country wants to export mango to Europe but the main issue is fruity fly and in this connection, Kenya will avail the Pakistani experience.
“The main objective of this delegation is to explore opportunities for the dehydration, preparation of mango pulp and value addition of mango”, she said and added that her country is also considering a proposal to import related machinery from Pakistan.
She said that Kenya is producing surplus mangoes but its export is hardly 4-5% while remaining 95% mango is consumed domestically. “We can earn $140-160million by enhancing the shelf life of mango by exploiting its long chain of value-added products”, she added.
She also appreciated the Pakistani embassy in Nairobi for arranging the visit of this delegation to Faisalabad.
Earlier, Qaisar Shams Gucha Acting President FCCI welcomed the delegation and expressed satisfaction over the bilateral relations between the two countries. He said that Pakistan imports huge quantities of tea and coffee in lieu of rice but still the trade balances in favour of Kenya. He particularly mentioned the impact of climatic changes on agriculture and said it has complicated the issues of food security across the globe.
He said that University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) could play a major role in arresting these issues through extensive research in this field.
Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Ashraf Mughal, Aftab Butt and Shahid Rasool also participated in the question answer session.
Sheikh Muhammad Fazil, former Executive Committee Member, pointed out that he was inclined to launch a joint venture with Kenya for the production and processing of Cashew nuts in Pakistan.
The participants of the meeting were told that two years ago an avocado processing plant was installed but now their numbers have jumped to 9.
Later, Madam Christine Chesaro was decorated with a special collar pin to mark the 50 Years Celebrations of FCCI while a special FCCI honorary shield was also presented to her.
Madam Christine Chesaro presented a gift of tea and coffee to Qaisar Shams Gucha.
Madam Mary Mkamburi and Mr. Peter Mutunga were also included in the Kenyan delegation in addition to Rao Fazal-ur-Rehman Deputy Director and Hafiz Kamran Assistant Director TDAP Faisalabad.