UAE interested in joint ventures in agricultural sector

KARACHI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is interested in making joint ventures with Pakistan to develop agricultural land on a large scale in Sindh and Punjab, said Consul General of UAE Suhail Bin Mater Al-Ketbi.

While talking to a group of journalists here at the UAE consulate on Wednesday, he said, “The joint ventures between Pakistan and UAE in the agriculture sector will benefit both countries.” He said that Pakistan has huge cultivatable land while UAE can bring technology that will not only improve the per acre yield but also boost supply chain from farm to markets.

He also said that many supermarkets and hypermarkets are coming to Pakistan where UAE-based companies are interested to invest. These companies will also make their farm-to-market supply chains to provide best quality products to their consumers and this will immensely help the economy of Pakistan.

Al-Ketbi further said that a new UAE airline, RAK Air, has got license from Pakistan and is expected to soon start operations, which will further boost air-to-air contacts between Pakistan and the UAE. Shedding further light on the upcoming airline, he said the new airline is the state airline of Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven emirates of UAE, and would start operating from the three big cities of Pakistan.

He said the UAE companies are especially interested to invest in agriculture, mining, transportation, processing, infrastructure and power sector of Pakistan.

Replying to a question, he said some 70-80 UAE companies are coming to Pakistan to participate in the first ever single-country expo of UAE which is going to be organised at the Karachi Expo Centre from November 30 to December 2, 2011. “I am hopeful that UAE companies that are coming to Pakistan will invest in various sectors,” he said.

Apart from investors, some 90 UAE delegates are also coming to visit to this exhibition which is another sign of growing confidence of the international community in the security situation of Pakistan, he said.

“This exhibition is very significant to us as this is the first time that we are coming here. If we get success, we will come better equipped next time,” he said, “Moreover, we will turn this exhibition into an annual event, which will significantly boost the trade relations of both the countries”.

“We want to show our investors that Pakistan has lot of potential for investment. In addition, when we show case our existing investments in Pakistan, more companies of UAE will come to see how they can invest in Pakistan,” he added.

On tourism development, he said, Pakistan is one of the most significant countries for UAE because many Pakistanis come to UAE every year or they use UAE as transit route to travel to the world.