by Khalid Aziz

 

ISLAMABAD, Apr. 29 (Gwadar Pro)- He Cheng, Prof at College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, said that Pakistan could boost meat exports up to $12-15 billion following the successful implementation of FMD Free Zone agreement with China.

 

Prof Cheng was speaking at a webinar on animal husbandry and fisheries cooperation between China and Pakistan. The webinar, the third in series of such online moots, was hosted by the Chinese embassy in Islamabad and organised by China Economic Net and China Machinery Engineering Corp.

 

Pakistan and China signed the FMD Free Zone agreement in May 2019 during a visit of Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan.

 

Prof Cheng said that the FMD Free Zone agreement was a big milestone of  CPEC and it was vital for Pakistan’s economy, especially to balance its trade deficit with China. He said that China will assist in establishing a certification regime for livestock farms and meat, which will enable Pakistan to export meat to China and will also increase its exports to other countries enormously.

 

Earlier, while chairing a round-table discussion on Gwadar Free Trade Zone, Chairman China Overseas Ports Holding Corp. Zhang Baozhong said that FMDs were the only bottleneck in Pakistan’s meat exports to China. He said that  COPHC was keenly supporting efforts to improve livestock, agriculture, and aquaculture along the sea coast as part of their corporate social responsibility.

 

Prof Cheng said that under the FMD Free Zone framework, Pakistanis and Chinese firms will form JVs while the Chinese firms will also set up plants to manufacture vaccines in Pakistan. He said that two types of Chinese vaccines for FMD had already been registered in Pakistan.

 

During the discussion, a representative of China Animal Husbandry Industry Co. Ltd. said that their company planned to establish a vaccine factory and will also manufacture various drugs for animal use in Pakistan.