ISLAMABAD, Jun 17 (APP): Pakistan’s High Commission to Singapore Rukhsana Afzaal Thursday said that Pakistan, being the sixth largest producer of fresh fruits in the world, had the potential to become a sourcing destination for import of fruits and vegetables for Singapore.
The high commission, in coordination with Singapore Business Federation (SBF), Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Pakistan Fruits and Vegetable Association (PFVA), organized a webinar on “FYI: Pakistan Your Sourcing Destination for Fresh Produce.”
The webinar was organized in pursuance of the Prime Minister’s vision for boosting economic diplomacy. This was third of a series of webinars aimed at projecting Pakistan’s potential in various areas and second under the ‘South Asia Edition of FYIstival’ hosted by SBF.
The previous webinars were conducted in November 2020 and May 2021 focusing on Pakistan’s Agro-food & Tech and Packaged Food, respectively.
The high commissioner underscored the promising future of Pakistan as an emerging economy and said that agro-food sector had a huge potential for bilateral cooperation and value addition from food processing and packaging to logistics, quality assurance and standardization.
She also welcomed the availability of Pakistani mangoes for the first time in Singaporean markets as a result of a sustained Mango Diplomacy campaign by the Mission.
Vice Chairman (South Asia Business Group) Shamsher Zaman, in his welcome remarks emphasized the promising potential of Pakistan to rise as one of the top global economies in the coming decade.
He urged the Singaporean importers to enhance the import of fruits and vegetables from Pakistan to address the growing needs in Singapore.
Assistant Director (TDAP) Maryam Mumtaz and Marketing Representative, Pakistan Fruits & Vegetable Association Fawad Zafar gave comprehensive presentations on the fruits and vegetables exports potential of Pakistan and the achievements made over the past few years.
They also highlighted the measures taken to improve the quality, packaging, marketing, distribution and supply of fruits and vegetables.
In his concluding remarks, Director (TDAP) Asim Tauqeer appreciated the efforts of SBF and the High Commission in seeking export enhancement opportunities for Pakistan.
He assured the participants of TDAP’s continued support for such endeavours in the future.
The webinar was followed by B2B meetings among potential importers and exporters of fruits and vegetables from both sides.