Pakistani firm inks $1b deals with global agriculture giants at Expo

Fatima Group, one of the fastest-growing industrial conglomerates in Pakistan, has signed two MoUs of over $1 billion with two key global agriculture stakeholders - China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC) from China and Sarh Attaqnia Co. (SAC) from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A formal signing of the business partnership was held at the Pakistan Pavilion in line with the ongoing Agriculture Week at Expo 2020 Dubai. Fatima Group is leading the initiative of transforming Pakistan’s agriculture to serve as the world’s food basket. They’ve been known as Pakistan’s fastest-growing industrial conglomerate with more than $1 billion in revenue in industries like fertilizers, energy, textiles, sugar, cement, and venture capital investments.

“As chairman of a leading Pakistani conglomerate, it is my vision to bring modern precision farming to Pakistan. We as a country are blessed with immense potential and I strongly believe that with the right partners we can create a big difference not just for Pakistan’s food security but the entire region’s. We are grateful to our Chinese and Saudi counterparts who have put their trust and faith in us. I am hopeful that this landmark will lead to many more such partnerships and investment opportunities for future,” said Mian Fawad Ahmed Mukhtar, Chairman of Fatima Group and CEO of Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited.

CMEC as a technology partner, will help with the adaption of climate-smart precision agriculture farm machinery, improved high-yielding seeds, and other crop inputs in Pakistan. In addition, Sarh Attaqnia Company is a key partner that will invest in developing a state-of-the-art agriculture value chain encompassing sustainable production, processing, warehousing, and export marketing of grain crops to help ensure regional food security.

Pakistan has over 20% of its GDP linked with agriculture and about 64% of the human resource associated with it. This collaboration will potentially unlock a tremendous amount of untapped land resources of Pakistan by bringing fallow lands under cultivation for sustainable production of crops like rice, barley, oats, silage bales for livestock, and dairy industry under the Corporate Agriculture Farming initiative.

In December last year, the company also promoted the agricultural sector of Pakistan. A special tribute was given to its farmers globally by celebrating National Farmers’ Day, also known as Kissan Day, at the Pakistan Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai.

The week-long celebrations aimed at showcasing the rich agricultural heritage of Pakistan; a land blessed with five mighty rivers and four seasons.

Farmers’ Day celebration in the UAE highlighted the important role farmers play in global food security and seeks to make global audience of Dubai Expo realise their significance in bringing food to our table.

Fatima Fertilizer has been regularly organising a number of activities, highlighting seasonal developments of fruits and vegetables. The Pakistan pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai was decorated with various agricultural produce from Pakistan, split into two key seasons of Rabi and Khareef. With key crops of Rabi being Wheat and for Khareef being Cotton and Rice. Apart from these fruits like Mangoes and Oranges / Kinnows play a crucial role in Pakistan’s Agri economy and are immensely popular here in UAE.