The country’s premier private sector conference and expo on agriculture ‘Pakistan Agricultural Coalition’s Agri-Connections 2024‘ will be held in Lahore from April 24-25 at Lahore Expo Center with the focus on increasing investment in agriculture, showcasing innovation, increasing exports, reducing imports, and improving farmer profitability.
“The conference has been designed to accelerate the rising wave of interest in agriculture among Pakistan’s private sector and governments for real agri-development,” said Arif Nadeem, CEO Pakistan Agricultural Coalition, while talking to a group of journalists on Friday.
He added that leading businesses of the country will demonstrate their innovation and leadership in agriculture to all stakeholders while keynote speakers will present on various topics in the 2-day conference.
In addition to the conference, he added, there will be an expo segment with the best-in-class players in each segment of agriculture showcasing the important projects they have done in agriculture.
“On the sidelines of the event, structured connections will be made between investors, farmers, start-ups, government entities, donors, experts, etc.
Finally, for small agri start-ups, Agri-Connections 2024 will have ZarZaraat, a SharkTank-style competition being held in collaboration with Bank of Punjab,” said Kazim Saeed, Strategy Advisor to Pakistan Agricultural Coalition.
Sharktank-Style Segment
He explained the ‘Sharktank-style’ segment of the Agri-Connections 2024 in line with the overall theme of the conference that is to make it clear that the corporate sector of Pakistan is already investing in agriculture.
Pakistan Agriculture Coalition
“Through the ZarZaraat segment of Agri-Connections 2024, our goal is to highlight that Pakistan has many exciting new ideas that can change the face of agriculture in the coming few years given the right enabling environment and investment.
“We received thirty-five applications within the deadline and, with the help and expertise of our Knowledge Partner A.F. Ferguson & Co., we were able to make a long list of seven applications for our jury to review,” said Kazim Saeed.
“We hope that when these finalists pitch to investors at Agri-Connections 2024, the audience realizes that something significant is likely to materialize in Pakistan’s agriculture sector if any of the finalists receive funding,” said Kazim.
Arif Nadeem said that the conference is being organized by Pakistan Agriculture Coalition (PAC), which was established in 2013 to transform Pakistan’s agriculture sector with a vision of making it private-sector led, technology driven, entrepreneurial and globally competitive.
“PAC derives its strength from key industry linkages, public sector access, relationships with leading farmer organizations, and most importantly its patrons which are Pakistan’s leading business groups and have a cumulative turnover of over $10 billion,” he said.
He added that PAC focuses on developing business models and fostering ecosystems which are conducive to the progress and growth of Pakistan’s agri sector.
“It does so by assembling relevant market players, piloting various models and then developing them into commercial ventures.
In addition to this core activity, PAC is also sought out by government, development organizations and the private sector to advise on matters related to Pakistan’s agriculture sector,” said Kazim Saeed.
To read our blog on “IMF wants to tax retail, agriculture and real estate sectors,” click here
