Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal stressed the need for focusing on value addition, as the country has still commodity-based economy and no attention has been given towards value addition. He said this while addressing as chief guest at International Seminar on “Saemaul Undong & ECONOMIC Development” to celebrate Pak-Korea 30 years of Diplomatic ties at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) onNovember 21, 2013.

He urged the scientists of the University to play their role to create awareness in farming community about the latest techniques in the agriculture and insisted that the farmers should adopt the latest techniques of production and value addition in their produce, so that they can earn more through export as well. The progress of the country can be made only by the development in agriculture sector, he added.

He further said that Pakistan largely dependent on agriculture economy and it is the need of the time to shift agriculture on modern trends to make Pakistan a food sufficient country and improve the financial condition of farming community.

Federal Minister appreciated the efforts and developments being made by the University for socio-economic Uplift of the forming community with special emphasis on rain-fed agriculture in the country. 

He emphasized the significance of orchards for the agricultural economy of Pakistan and said that high value agricultural products will help to generate better income for farmers in the country, if exported to other markets.He was of the view that there is a lot of potential in the region of Pothwar and if we work on it Fruit industry can become a big industry of the area. 

He emphasized the significance of olive cultivation and said that that Pothwar area has great potential for it. He informed the gathering that Government is already working on it. He further said that  new initiative to promote olive cultivation in Pakistan will help generate better income for farmers in the country. Olive is a high-value agricultural product, which can also bring in the much-needed foreign exchange, if exported to other markets, he added.

 Earlier, PMAS-AAUR, Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Amad inhis welcome address said that the establishment of   Pak-Korea Capacity Building Centre for Agriculture and Livestock Technology  at the University is replication of “Saemaul Undong program” which will be helpful for the improving livelihood of the area farmers.

He was of the view that there is great potential in Pothwar area for fruit crops and government should pay special attention for its development. Vice Chancellor informed the gathering that University has harvested nearly 45 Acre Feet of rainwater in small ponds at its Research Farm of 250 acres which is enough to carry on agricultural activities on the entire farm. He further said that it’s an excellent model for the Pothwar farmers to adopt and benefit from it.

He suggested that to exploit the true potential of Pothwar region we have to shift from conventional crops to olive and orchard farming that can revolutionize the livelihood of poverty stricken masses of the area. He further said that the development of farm ponds would be far benefiting alternative to mini dams so that general masses can benefit from it. Government should support the small farmers for obtaining true benefits from latest agricultural technologies to uplift the agriculture in the country.

Korean Ambassador in his address said that this seminar and Pak-KOREA Capacity Building Center for Agriculture & Livestock will be helpful for achieving Pakistan’s economic and rural development goals, as manifested in the Vision 2025 and to further strengthens the cooperation between Korea and Pakistan.

While talking about the Saemaul Undong Program, he said that this project has contributed significantly to transforming the rural communities in particular, and the Korean society as a whole.  It was a community-based, rural development program which was initiated by the late president Park Chung Hee in the early 1970s, who encouraged people to take ownership of their communities, for their mutual benefit, he added.

He proposed to start pilot projects in the light of Saemaul Undong, with the co-operation of WFP, in two districts of Punjab, where our donor agency KOICA aims to improve the rural water and sanitation infrastructure.

Dr. Farrukh Javed, Minister for Agriculture Punjab, in his address appreciated the efforts of PMAS-AAUR for producing higly educated, trained and inspired manpower and said that University is playing pivotal role in modernizing agriculture and enlightenment of rural communities in Pakistan and abroad.

He informed the gathering that agriculture is contributing 21% of country GDP, providing 47% of employment, originates near 80% of country foreign exchange and Punjab contributes over 60%  to this amount and said that government & other stakeholders have to work together to make Pakistan economically stable and prosperous especially in Agriculture sector.

He hoped that Pak-Korea Capacity Building Center for Agriculture & Livestock Technology will be helpful for the training, demonstration and capacity building of farmers including pest management, food technology, tunnel farming, kitchen gardening, value addition of fruits and vegetable and soil & water conservation practices.

Ambassador Oh Jay-hee, 1^st Ambassador to Pakistan & President Korean-Pak Friendship Association, Mr. Sajjad Afzal Cheema, President Pak-Korea Friendship Society, Prof. Dr. Muktar Ahmad, Executive Director, Higher Education Commission Islamabad, and Prof. Dr. Park Seung-Woo, Dean, Park Chung Hee School of Policy & Saemaul Yeungnam University also addressed on the occasion.

On the occasion, Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, PMAS-AAUR and Prof. Dr. Park Seung-Woo, Dean, Park Chung Hee School of Policy & Saemaul Yeungnam University signed MoU on behalf of their respective organizations, to promote quality education, training of faculty & students, exchange of modern trends in research and education.

 Dr. Farrukh Javed, Minister for Agriculture Punjab and Dr. Song Jong-hwan, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea did the ground breaking ceremony of Pak-Korea Capacity Building Center for Agriculture & Livestock Technology at University Campus. This capacity building center project having total cost US3.5$ million dollar by Korean aid agency Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) will significantly contribute to improve agricultural technology as well as educational infrastructure at PMAS-AAUR. It will improve human and institutional capacities of Pakistan in improving infrastructure and agricultural technology by transferring Koreas experience and know-how to the Pakistani counterpart. It will also increase farm income through quality improvement and enrichment of projects.