SMEDA Delegation Paves Way For Horticulture Technology Transfer

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Sep, 2016 ) : The trade delegation that participated in the 'Macfrut', a renowned international trade fair of Italy, under the aegis of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) paved way for transfer of modern technology in the field of horticulture and food sector.

On his return back, SMEDA External Relations Department's Head Sheharyar Tahir, who led eight-member delegation to the fair, told media here Monday that SMEDA-UNIDO-Italia Investment Promotion Project (IPU) had organized the delegation with joint assistance of Pakistan and Italian Embassies along with Pakistan and Italian Development Committee.

He said that delegation comprised Rashid Khan form KPK, Muhammad Zahid Durrani, Muhammad Asif Warraich and Shamoon Sadiq from Punjab, Zakir Hussain Kasi and Samiullah Baloch from Balochistan and Deepak Sakhija and Aarij Iqbal form Sindh.

Ms. Saira Ali Commercial Counsellor of Pakistan in Italy also visited the fair and met with the delegation. He added that 84 international delegates from 15 countries including Pakistan participated in the event to learn more about how to deliver better quality and safe high-convenience fresh fruit and vegetables.

Sheharyar said that theme of Macfrut-2016 was 'Showcasing Innovation' having the latest products on display in seeds, breeding & nursery, crop technology, production, trading & retail, processing machinery, packaging materials, fresh cut, dried fruit, logistics and services sector.

To a question, he said that additional events were also offered to learn and discuss innovation in the sector, and Pakistan delegation studied latest agro related technology both in machinery as well as packaging during the fair.

They also engaged with a number of exhibitors and visited booths according to their specific line of business. Their main focus was on technology transfer for value addition, enhancing quality of products and packaging to enable exports of Pakistani products.

Grading and sorting technologies were also remained a key focus areas of the Pakistani delegation, he maintained. The delegation head said that 'Macfrut' was a leading Italian trade fair where professional from around the globe operating in the fields of fruit and vegetables participate to exhibit their entire supply chain and take part in B2B meetings and Pakistan was one of the 15 agricultural countries that participated in the event this year.

On this occasion, other delegation members had acknowledged that trip had been extremely beneficial with regard to latest information on modern technology as well as opportunities for Pakistani entrepreneurs to increase export of fruit and vegetables to Italy in the coming years.

They also appreciated SMEDA initiative and hoped that it would continue to build upon this first interaction between Pakistani and Italian businesses by providing handholding support to the SMEs through development of international business linkages and adopting technologies available for value addition.