Pakistanis spending 42% income on food, beverages
* Seminar highlights food industry has become second largest economic sector sharing 17% of GDP in Pakistan
Staff Report
LAHORE: Despite the food shortage in the country, food industry in Pakistan has become the second largest industry sharing 17 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) as Pakistanis are spending 42 percent of their total income on the food and beverages.
Food industry is facing the problem of food shortage caused by improper handling of produced items and the magnitude of post-harvest losses in vegetables and fruits is 40 percent while in case of grains 20 percent.
This was disclosed by the speakers in a seminar on ‘Current Status of Food Industry in Pakistan: Threats and Challenges’ organised by the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) at its auditorium here on Thursday in which stakeholders of the food industry also participated. Different food processors and exporters have set up stalls to exhibit their products there too.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Mir Changez Khan Jamali chaired the seminar while PCSIR Chairman Dr Shoukat Pervaz, PCSIR Director General Dr Shahzad Alam, World Food Programme Pakistan Chapter Country Director Jean-Lue Siblot, PCSIR’s Planning and Development Director Dr Nusrat Ejaz and other scientists also highlighted the problems of the food industry and its solutions.
Addressing the seminar, the chief guest Jamali said that in a developing country like Pakistan, technical advancement couldn’t be achieved through imported technologies only and there was a need to get skills in these sectors. Our local food industry can play a major role in the economic growth of Pakistan as huge gap exists between production and preservation. He informed that his ministry had decided to embark upon a comprehensive program for close collaboration with all stakeholders, keeping in view, their needs for national interest in food industry. He further informed that they had established a commercialisation cell in Islamabad to build a close contact among industries and its research organisations.
The PCSIR chairman addressing the participants said that all the problems facing by the food industry could only be ended through advancement of scientific and technological skills by all the stakeholders. He informed that PCSIR had been able to establish a network of 14 research institutions and laboratories, where 850 scientists, technologists and engineers were engaged in scientific food research. He said that there might be more than 1,000 larger-scale food-processing enterprises in Pakistan and overall food retail and wholesale business accounts for 17 percent of the GDP.
Staff Report
LAHORE: Despite the food shortage in the country, food industry in Pakistan has become the second largest industry sharing 17 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) as Pakistanis are spending 42 percent of their total income on the food and beverages.
Food industry is facing the problem of food shortage caused by improper handling of produced items and the magnitude of post-harvest losses in vegetables and fruits is 40 percent while in case of grains 20 percent.
This was disclosed by the speakers in a seminar on ‘Current Status of Food Industry in Pakistan: Threats and Challenges’ organised by the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) at its auditorium here on Thursday in which stakeholders of the food industry also participated. Different food processors and exporters have set up stalls to exhibit their products there too.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Mir Changez Khan Jamali chaired the seminar while PCSIR Chairman Dr Shoukat Pervaz, PCSIR Director General Dr Shahzad Alam, World Food Programme Pakistan Chapter Country Director Jean-Lue Siblot, PCSIR’s Planning and Development Director Dr Nusrat Ejaz and other scientists also highlighted the problems of the food industry and its solutions.
Addressing the seminar, the chief guest Jamali said that in a developing country like Pakistan, technical advancement couldn’t be achieved through imported technologies only and there was a need to get skills in these sectors. Our local food industry can play a major role in the economic growth of Pakistan as huge gap exists between production and preservation. He informed that his ministry had decided to embark upon a comprehensive program for close collaboration with all stakeholders, keeping in view, their needs for national interest in food industry. He further informed that they had established a commercialisation cell in Islamabad to build a close contact among industries and its research organisations.
The PCSIR chairman addressing the participants said that all the problems facing by the food industry could only be ended through advancement of scientific and technological skills by all the stakeholders. He informed that PCSIR had been able to establish a network of 14 research institutions and laboratories, where 850 scientists, technologists and engineers were engaged in scientific food research. He said that there might be more than 1,000 larger-scale food-processing enterprises in Pakistan and overall food retail and wholesale business accounts for 17 percent of the GDP.
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