FAISALABAD City News

4th Lyallpur Art & Literature Festival at UAF

Brunei HC for pacing up efforts for food security

From Our Correspondent

FAISALABAD: The fourth Lyallpur Art and Literature Festival was inaugurated at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, on Monday.

The event was inaugurated by High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam Dato Mahmud Saidin and UAF Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan. The event is organised under the banner of Senior Tutor Office in which 25 universities are taking part. The festival featured different events, including Qirat and Naat competitions, bilingual declamation, essay competition, bait bazi contest, Model United Nations (MUN), folk songs and dance contest, drama and documentary contest and photography contest. Brunei Darussalam HC Dato Mahmud Saidin said that the festival would help the students to give voice to their abilities and to present it before the people. Talking about both countries relations, he said that bilateral ties were being further strengthened to get benefit from each experience. He stressed upon the need to pace up efforts for the cause of food security. He was of the view that main production of Brunei was oil and gas whereas the share of agriculture was very low. Brunei was not having fertile land, he said, adding that they were focusing on development of rice crop in his country. He was of the view that Pakistan was producing the delicious fruits and agriculture which must tap the potential in international markets. Pakistani fruits could compete with the world, he added. He said that Pakistan agri export to Brunei was facing high cost of transportation. He added that Pakistani mango, citrus and apricot were in the high demand due to its taste, aroma and deliciousness. He said that many Pakistani students were studying on scholarship in Brunei. UAF Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan stressed upon the need to boost up academic and agricultural ties among the both nations to get benefits.  He said that the agriculture was the backbone of our economy and the poverty alleviation was directly linked to the sector. He said that the UAF was enjoying the excellent relations with the world and offering the Joint degree programmes with Dalhousie University, Canada. He said that enhanced academic ties with Brunei would open new avenues of the progress. The festival would provide a platform to the students to show their abilities, he added.