Bulgaria says looking to source more cotton, rice from Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Bulgaria is looking forward to extensive cooperation in the field of agriculture with Pakistan including sustainable export of cotton and rice from the South Asian country.

It was stated by Liliya Ivanove, Deputy Minister of Economy Republic of Bulgaria, during a meeting Mehboob Sultan, Minister of National Food Security & Research, at his office in the federal capital.

The federal minister said Pakistan was world’s fifth largest milk producing country in the world and since Bulgaria had developed its strength in various areas of agriculture including livestock and animal breeding, both countries could mutually benefit in this sector.

“Our government is focusing on this sector and in collaboration with our provincial governments, it is planning to focus areas including enhancing production of crops, livestock, and fisheries and also improving water management,” Sultan said.

An official statement said the agricultural cooperation was included in the agenda of the second meeting of Pak-Bulgaria Inter-Ministerial Commission (IGC) being hosted by Pakistan on 20-21 May, 2019 at Islamabad.

Major areas of cooperation include livestock and buffalo breeding, food processing, food safety and Phyto-sanitary measures, it added.

The federal food security minister further said it was a pleasure to learn agriculture was also included in the agenda of the IGC Session and,” We are hopeful that our technical experts would come up with agreed points for our joint endeavors in the field of agriculture”.

Sultan added that two sides would follow up cooperation in the areas being identified during the IGC session.

On the occasion, Bulgarian Ambassador Roumen Pirontchev offered his country’s cooperation in the field of vetrinary medicines for which Bulgaria was quite famous.

Pakistan exports cotton fabrics, synthetic fabric, chemical materials & products, sports goods and toys to Bulgaria.

Bulgaria is a member of the European Union, NATO, and the Council of Europe; it is a founding state of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and has taken a seat on the UN Security Council three times.