Pakistan, China's FAMSUN Ink deal to upgrade grain storage system

The prime minister held the meeting with a delegation led by Jack Chen, Chief Executive Officer of Chinese agribusiness company FAMSUN, at the Prime Minister's Office in Islamabad. Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan and China continue to enjoy exemplary relations, with economic cooperation and bilateral ties growing stronger over time, and described stronger business-to-business partnerships as a way to further deepen that relationship.

He welcomed FAMSUN's proposal to transform Pakistan's grain storage facilities into state-of-the-art centres, calling it an important step toward introducing modern agricultural technology and boosting commercial activity. The prime minister also stressed that developing local human resources through skills training should form a core part of the project.

According to the briefing shared at the meeting, FAMSUN will set up a demonstration centre for green silos in Pakistan, while the country's existing storage facilities will be upgraded into modern, environmentally friendly silo systems. Jack Chen thanked the prime minister for Pakistan's hospitality and recalled a earlier meeting with Shehbaz Sharif during the premier's recent visit to China, which led to FAMSUN's delegation travelling to Pakistan to discuss practical steps on food security.

Officials said a memorandum of understanding has already been signed between FAMSUN and the Green Pakistan Initiative to expand cooperation in agriculture and food security. FAMSUN is one of China's leading companies in agricultural technology, animal feed production and food processing.

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The meeting builds on an earlier round of engagement between the two sides in May, when Shehbaz Sharif met FAMSUN CEO Zhengjun Chen in China and invited the company to establish manufacturing and technology-transfer facilities in Pakistan under incentives offered through Special Economic Zones and the Green Pakistan Initiative. That visit formed part of a wider series of meetings with Chinese enterprises aimed at deepening industrial and infrastructure cooperation under CPEC Phase II.

Thursday's meeting was attended by Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Kayani, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Industries Haroon Akhtar, and other senior officials.