News:Task force on horticulture finance meets
Name of NewsPaper: The News
Date of Publication:08, December, 2007
URL: http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=84930

By our correspondent

ISLAMABAD: Six pilot projects were tabled in a meeting of the task force for horticulture finance held under the chairmanship of caretaker Finance Minister Dr Salman Shah and approval will be granted in consultation with other relevant agencies.

According to the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF), during the meeting held on Friday, six pilot project designs with innovative aspects to improve the value chain in horticulture were presented to the task force.

These include mango pack houses in Multan with a total cost of US$0.26 million, potato processing for French fries and potato flour in Okara with a total cost of $0.40 million, plant extracts for medicinal and perfume purposes at Pattoki with $0.26 million, an agro-based herbal products unit at Gilgit with a total project cost of $0.25 million, value addition projects of production of mint oil/crystal worth $0.16 million in Mirpurkhas and Multan and a $0.2 million project in Swat for certified vegetables seed production.

These projects provide industry and investors, examples of how horticulture potential is present and can be tapped for greater gains, which has primarily been ignored and suffered from underinvestment by the private sector. The CSF will provide an amount of $628,676 to support these projects. The projects will be supported by various agencies involved in the horticulture business in Pakistan by contributing $883,403.

Dr Shah in his opening remarks said that there was a need to link finance and investment with development plans for the sector, and welcomed the presentation of several project concepts at the meeting. He further said the future of the industry would depend on partnerships between public and private enterprises and that this approach will be assisted by the CSF via its programme of matching grants.

He said that he was delighted to see that CSF was working in the most unfavourable conditions in the Northern Areas and FATA. These projects, said Dr Shah, would enhance livelihoods and relieve poverty while at the same time improving the role of women in economic development.

The CSF is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The CSF supports Pakistan’s goal of a more competitive economy by providing input into policy decisions, working to improve regulatory and administrative frameworks, and enhancing public-private partnerships within the country.

The four sub-committees presented their recommendations to the Task Force. The sub-committee on Finance gave a detailed outline on the Horti-business Finance guidelines developed for the sector. The sub-committee on Processing, Production and Marketing made presentations on private sector led extension services. The sub-committee for Infrastructure made presentations on the National Trade Corridor and cold storage projects at major airports.

The presentation by the sub-committee on Quality, Standards and Regulations by National Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (NAPHIS) emphasised the need for an improved and effective legal framework and the potential of NAPHIS as an effective concerned agency. Support for CSF is part of the $1.5 billion in aid that the US is providing to Pakistan, through USAID, over five years to improve economic growth, education, health, and governance, and for earthquake reconstruction.