Pak-China Joint Working Group holds second meeting on agriculture

Beijing: The agriculture ministries of Pakistan and China have jointly convened the second meeting of Joint Working Group to further deepening the cooperation in the field of agriculture.

During the meeting held in the video format, the two sides exchanged views on further deepening the cooperation in agriculture, identifying the next priorities for cooperation and signing the minutes of the meeting, according to the Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China website here on Monday.

The meeting fully affirmed China’s emergency assistance work for the Desert Locust disaster in Pakistan, discussed the draft China-Pakistan plant diseases and insect pests cooperation mechanism and the draft China-Pakistan agricultural cooperation action plan.

The meeting also agreed to strengthen cooperation in construction, investment and trade, and jointly implement the Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Cooperation in Plant Diseases and Insect Pests Prevention and Control, and actively promote the construction of a sustainable plant pest control centre in Pakistan.

The Chinese Secretariat of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Pakistani Affairs Bureau of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor sent representatives to attend the meeting.

It may be mentioned here that Pakistan and China, under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between two countries during President Dr Arif Alvi’s recent visit to China, agreed to jointly establish a centre to fight against the locust threat in Pakistan.

The two countries will carry out a comprehensive cooperation on plant protection, including monitoring and early warning, demonstration, mutual recognition of standards, personnel training, and emergency response.