ISLAMABAD, April 4: Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Sikandar Hayat Bosan on Tuesday said livestock sector had great potential for investment and it could play a significant role in alleviating poverty and improving economy.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day “National Conference on Investment Opportunities in Livestock Sector” at the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC). The conference was organized by Agricultural Foundation of Pakistan (AFP), in collaboration with Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Pakistan Science Foundation.

The minister said that the government attached top priority to livestock sector to alleviate poverty in the rural areas. He said that President and the Prime Minister had repeatedly indicated their commitment to the development of livestock sector both for economic growth and poverty reduction.

He said that the prime minister had recently approved livestock development policy with a vision to providing the people of Pakistan livestock products at competitive rates along with exploring export markets, he added. He said there was great potential for the betterment and advancement of livestock sector.

Mr Bosan said that government was reviewing the legal framework to regulate the sector to make it more investment friendly. He said the policy not only addressed the needs of the common livestock farmers who used it as a source of supplementary income but also included measures to develop small and medium livestock enterprises and incentive framework for setting up large livestock farms and processing concerns.