ISLAMABAD, JAN 28, (DNA) – U.S. Embassy Economic Counselor Joel Robert Garverick will lead a delegation of senior Pakistani government officials, businessmen, farmers and agriculture experts to Atlanta, Georgia, January 28 – February 4, to promote U.S.-Pakistan bilateral commercial ties and increase trade and investment in agriculture.

The delegation will attend the 2017 International Production and Processing Expo (IPPE), the United States’ largest annual trade show for the poultry, meat, and feed industries, building on the theme, “innovation in agriculture.”   Agriculture is Pakistan’s leading industry, accounting for more than twenty percent of GDP and two-fifths of employment. Major products include cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables, dairy, beef, mutton, poultry and eggs.

The United States is Pakistan’s largest trading partner, exporting $447 million in agricultural goods to Pakistan in 2015. These imports help support Pakistani agricultural exports, which were $ 3.7 billion in fiscal year 15/16 (July-June).

Following the expo, the group will meet with U.S. agribusiness executives and researchers, including experts at the Georgia Tech Agriculture Technology Research Group and Innovation Lab, to explore innovations that could benefit Pakistan, expand bilateral trade, and create investment opportunities for U.S. companies.  The group will also visit a peach farm in Georgia, and conduct meetings with Georgia’s Farm Bureau, Cotton Commission, State Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Research Service.

Representatives from all four provinces of Pakistan will take part in the trade mission, as well as officials from the Ministry of Food Security and Research, the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council, and the Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture Multan.=DNA

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