ISLAMABAD, Jun. 27 (ABC): Chinese firms HanGeng Agricultural Group and China Machinery Engineering Corp(CMEC) are exploring the agriculture and livestock sectors of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province for possible investment, according to report.
This was stated by KP Board of Investment and Trade (KP-BOIT) CEO Hassan Daud while talking.
HanGeng Group is developing an agricultural industrial park in Gwadar Free Trade Zone to industrialise livestock and agriculture sectors in Pakistan. The park will have facilities for animal husbandry, a slaughter house and processing and packaging units for exporting livestock and agricultural goods from Pakistan.
Dr. Hassan said that Hangeng Group’s GM Andy Liao met him on June 23 and discussed possibilities of establishing agricultural and livestock linkages between KP and Gwadar. The firm intends to procure animals from KP for export purposes after taking care of them at their husbandry in Gwadar, Dr. Hassan said. The firm is interested in purchasing animals and poultry of around 200 different breeds, the KP-BOIT CEO said.
He also informed that a senior CMEC official Huang Pei met him in Islamabad on Sunday and discussed possibilities of extending the red chilli contract farming concept to KP. The firm is already growing red chillies in Sindh and Punjab provinces.
Other Chinese enterprises are also interested in investing in KP and their officials are visiting the province to identify potential areas for investment, Dr. Hassan said. He added that Chinese investors are aggressively looking around for investment opportunities after travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 have been lifted. They are taking a keen interest in KP because of its unique location including proximity to China, improved infrastructure and development of special economic zones, especially Rashakai SEZ of CPEC, he said. The Chinese enterprises are expected to bring huge employment opportunities in the agriculture and livestock sectors of KP, Dr. Hassan said.