Daily Times

LAHORE: The amalgamation of Chinese and Pakistani food industry can bring revolutionary developments, said Pak-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) President Shah Faisal Afridi while addressing a 20-member Chinese delegation headed by Weihai Municipal Bureau of China vice Director Liu Xiujing.

The other members of the delegation included Shandong Hushan Group Chairman Zhang Ruwen, Weihai Runde Food General Manager Sun Guang, Rongcheng Huiying Food Manager Yu Yingjum, Wehai Yunxiang Embroidery Deputy General Manager Shi Peng and Weihai Tongde General Manager Xu Lansheng.

The delegation visited Pakistan with a primary interest to invest in food processing area and joint ventures in clothing, dyeing and embroidery sectors.

Faisal Afridi said that the potential market of Pakistani food and clothing with Chinese assistance would enhance competitiveness and would also add value to the existing standards of production.

Afridi, in his welcome address, said, “The delegation would prove to be momentous in increasing mutual conviction, cooperation and regional connectivity between China and Pakistan. Punjab is ranked at the top in terms of food production but due to lack of technology and post-harvest losses, it is unable to expand its exports base of food items. The transformation of food processing technology from China to Pakistan would bring a remarkable shift in expanding export base by reducing cost and introducing state of the art features.”

He said there were vast prospects in developing some important areas that are currently functioning at small scale with diminutive expertise and technology. Such areas include fruit processing, spices, marine foods, clothing, wood working, re modified vehicles, automotive spare parts, power tools, medical equipment’s and condiments, Afridi added.

PCJCCI arranged visits of the Chinese delegation in different food processing units including Marhaba Health Food and Bunny Foods. While visiting Marhaba Health Food Company, the Chinese delegates showed keen interest in food and herbal products.

They took samples of the products to market them in China. The delegates said that there is enormous scope for joint ventures in amalgamated Chinese- eastern medicine system with Pakistani expertise.

The Chinese delegation also visited Bunny’s where they observed processing of snacks, buns, bread, rusk and frozen food items. They also discussed new prospects for establishing processing units for fresh foods including vegetable preservation, dehydration and life enduring plants of fruits and vegetables by Bunny’s.

The delegates showed huge amount of interest in processing of such food products, as there is big market of healthy processed food in China.

Liu Xiujing, while talking to Marhaba Health Food CEO Hakeem Usman said, “The food sector in Pakistan has all the components needed for sustainable return. With joint collaboration, we can expect more competition and growth in food industry that will come into production by the end of this year.”

The head of delegation, during her visit, also said that the Chinese business community was ready to join hands with Pakistani counterparts in all sectors of economy particularly in food, herbal medicines and clothing sector. She mentioned that Chinese business community highly values Pakistani expertise and variety of products and are always ready for the mutual collaboration.