hi

wanna share an article on a modern way to sell pakistan.

22 April 2009
Pakistan land for rent
Islam Online (IOL) | 22 April 2009

By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent

"The government has decided to raise a special security force, which will help create an investment-friendly atmosphere in the country," Minister Khan told IOL.
ISLAMABAD -- A cash-strapped Pakistani government plans to sell or rent one million acre land to foreign countries for agricultural purposes in a bid to underpin the country’s troubled economy.

"This land will be provided to those countries which import agricultural commodities from other countries and are keen to procure land in developing states," Federal Minster for Investment Waqar Ahmad Khan told IslamOnline.net on Tuesday, April 21.

The proposed lands, watered by River Indus and three other rivers, are spread across the Asian Muslim country.

The minister said his government is offering various incentives to woo foreign countries.

"A complete legal cover will be provided to the investors so that even in case of the change of government, they should not be affected," he explained.

"The ministry will also ensure that all the machinery imported by investors for cultivation purposes, should be exempted from all kind of custom duties and taxes."

The minister stressed that his government is also ready to take special measures to improve the deteriorating security situation.

"We are fully aware of the fact that law and order plays a pivotal role to attract the foreign investment. Therefore the government has decided to raise a special security force, which will help create an investment-friendly atmosphere in the country."

The force will comprise 100,000 troops to provide security to foreign owners of local lands.

"We are hopeful to get foreign funding to raise this force," he said, estimating the cost at nearly 2 billion dollars.

Gulf Interest

Investment Minister Khan said several Arab Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, have shown interest in buying lands in Pakistan.

"We have received a very positive response in this regard," he told IOL.

"Negotiations are underway with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE and agreements with these states will be signed soon."

A spokesman of the UAE embassy in Islamabad confirmed his country's interest in procuring land in Pakistan.

"We are interested in buying land in Pakistan and our talks with (Pakistani) officials are underway," he told IOL.

He said his country spends a huge amount of foreign reserves on procurement of wheat, rice, and other agriculture-related commodities annually.

"Pakistan has rich lands as far as agriculture potential is concerned. This will be a good opportunity for us to not merely save a huge amount annually but to cope with the food and agriculture requirements of the country," explained the spokesman.

Pakistan has been facing problems in cultivation of a huge area due to growing shortage of water, increasing power tariff and lack of advanced technology leaving a gap between demand and supply chain especially regarding wheat.

"We plan to set up several huge and small farmhouses in different parts of the country where we will grow wheat, rice, and corn."

Although the Gulf region is rich in oil and gas resources, the lack of rain makes large-scale food imports a necessity.

Gulf states reportedly import 80 percent of staple foods.

And the price of those imports has ballooned from $16 billion in 2006 to $20 billion in 2007, according to the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development.

The global food shortage has prompted many countries to grow their own food on land abroad, including Sudan, Brazil, Cambodia and Thailand.

Japan has bought up plots in Brazil and South Korea has bought large tracts in Madagascar.

Abu Dhabi is already toeing a project to develop nearly 30,000 hectares of farmland in Sudan in the first step towards ensuring food security.

"We are already running such projects in Egypt and Senegal, while a similar project is also being considered in Uzbekistan," said the embassy spokesman.

Under such deals, countries would grow corps and then ship them home, saving millions by bypassing world markets.

But the new trend, which has accelerated since 2007 and is poised to change global land ownership and agricultural production, has not gone criticism-free.

UN's Food and Agricultural Organization director-general Jacques Diouf has warned against creating a kind of food "neocolonialism," with rich countries securing food supplies at the expense of poor farmers.

While nothing is unexpected from our government, I am inclined to take this particular news item a little cautiously. To me, it appears that this report came up in only one website (IslamOnline.net) on April 22 and was later taken up, as it is, by another couple of websites I've never heard of before but nothing in the mainstream media.

However, I might be wrong.

__________________
Are we human because we look at the stars, or do we look at the stars because we are human? Pointless really. Do the stars look back at us? Now that is a question!

@second coming

well the same news came in samaa tv yestarday. and btw both pakistan and our buyers wanna make it confidential. do u know that much land in Rahimyar khan has been exclusively used for producing rice which is only exported to U.A.E. while it is never consumed in pakistan.

well i will post another article that is not published on that site.

12 March 2009
Horticulture sector: $5bn investment from China, ME likely: ASF
Daily Times (Pakistan) | Thursday, March 12, 2009

By Razi Syed

KARACHI: China and the Middle East countries will invest in horticulture sector of Pakistan to the tune of $5 billion during the current year 2009, an official of Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) said Wednesday.

“Saudi Arabia and China are interested to acquire land on lease besides to join hands with the private sector stakeholders in order to grow soft crops and vegetables,” Chairman Sindh ASF, Mateen Siddiqui said. China and Middle East will be the key players of investment in horticulture sector as they are interested in rice, wheat and vegetable crops of the country, he added.

He said it was expected that after investment the country could save most of exports of agricultural produce as it was hampered by lack of modern storage facilities. High post harvest losses, insufficient packing and grading and cold storage facilities along with absence of refrigerated transport and containers can be eliminated through foreign investment.

He said due to the most liberal investment policy in the region, Pakistan is most suitable for investors. He said the exporters need a full-fledged packaging house, ripening chambers and blast chillers. He said the government was providing a number of incentives and facilitating measures were being taken for promoting business activities in Pakistan. Most of our economic sectors are open to FDI where the foreign investors can hold 100 percent equity. Safety of investment is assured and Pakistan has signed Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) with many countries worldwide.

A high percentage of horticulture produce is wasted due to ineffective post-harvest practices and around 25-30 percent of total production of fruits and vegetables is wasted due to lack of proper post-harvest handling.

These include the network of industrial estates and export processing zones, economic zones with tax holidays, concessional customs duty on import of plant and machinery and the unrestricted outward remittances of capital, profits, royalty, technical and franchise fees etc. Special Economic Zones have been proposed for set up in different parts of the country. Chief Executive Officer PHDEB, Shamoon Sadiq said Pakistan horticulture sector possesses a great potential for development. However, the growth of the sector is inhibited by a multitude of constraints.

Per hectare yields are very low as compared with international benchmarks. The product is perishable by nature and therefore requires proper handling after harvesting to keep it in good condition till it reaches the consumer and export destinations. He said Ministry of Commerce in consultation with PHDEB, prepared proposals under National Trade Corridor Improvement Programme (NTCIP) for enhancing annual export of fruit and vegetables, and floriculture from existing $160 million to $500 million in the next 5 years. He said Pakistan is successfully involved in biotechnology, tissue culture, cutting of floriculture, and as a result we are now in a position to export flowers to the developed world.

28 January 2009
Corporate farming raises concern among local growers
The News (Pakistan) January 28, 2009

By Shahid Shah

KARACHI: Local farmers have protested against the government’s initiative to invite foreign investors in corporate farming, thus allowing them to take 100 per cent of the yield.

Rabia Sultan, Director of Farmers Association of Pakistan (FAP) said Pakistan is already suffering from food shortage and imports wheat every year. “Foreign investors will take a further share from the country’s production and the food security situation will worsen,” she said.

According to Sultan, all other governments are protecting their growers but here farmers are being left to fend for themselves.

Last month, Federal Investment Minister, Waqar Ahmad Khan, said that the government would make sure the investors in corporate farming take the entire crop. “We are negotiating with investors from Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, for investment in corporate farming. Investors will be ensured repatriation of 100 per cent crop yield to their countries, even in the case of food deficit,” he said last month (in a story published in The News).

Qamar-uz-Zaman Shah, Chairman Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, was critical of this statement saying that this would not be allowed at any cost. Shah said the government held meetings with farmer unions, who felt that this initiative would encroach upon the rights of farmers along with causing issues of land ownership. “The farm will serve like a company and the local growers will be like small shareholders. We won’t be able to get a loan or grow our fruits and vegetables,” Shah said.

Shah said that the share of locals in corporate farms is negligible and they will be left at the mercy of investors. And just like in the stock market, these investors are not likely to always declare a profit.

Corporate farming involves cultivating huge farms with the extensive use of heavy machinery. United States and United Kingdom are the two major beneficiaries of this type of working; both countries have managed to increase their yield. Currently, there is no corporate farming in Pakistan.

The previous government had also initiated a plan to start corporate farming. In this regard, Chinese firms were being invited to work on the project. In fact, the NWFP government had also announced corporate farming sites at Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu and Lachhi. However, Pakistan Kissan Ittehad opposed this proposal and the government stopped work on the plan. The current government has started work on the project again.

Jan Nisar Khalil, President Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, told The News that under such a proposal, the government would exempt foreign investors from land and water taxes and there would be no one to keep a check on them. “If you are giving all these facilities to foreigners, why can’t they do the same for the local people?” he asked.

Growers are also concerned that the use of excessive machinery would harm the land. Khalil said that the after effects of corporate farming would spread far, up to five kilometers in the surrounding areas. The heavy machinery and fertiliser would eat up the rich soil, added Khalil.

Others, however, feel that some good may come out of corporate farming. “If the government assures food security, prior to inviting investors, it will work, said Ibad-ul-Rehman Khan, member FAP. In fact, proponents of this type of farming said that if the government allowed it in pockets of up to 1,000 acres in different parts of the country for a lease up to 20 years, it would be helpful. This would help local growers to learn about the techniques that can increase yield.

Rehman also said that Pakistan is among the few countries in the world that produce enough food, but it is sheer mismanagement that causes it to import wheat.

hmmm..... interesting! and as I said earlier, I might well be wrong and nothing is unexpected from our government :-)

__________________
Are we human because we look at the stars, or do we look at the stars because we are human? Pointless really. Do the stars look back at us? Now that is a question!