LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Industry and Commerce Chaudhry Shafay Hussain and Chinese Consul General Sun Yan inaugurated the 19th International Agri Exhibition and Conference 2026 at the Expo Centre Lahore.
The three-day agricultural exhibition has been jointly organised by the Punjab Industries and Commerce Department and the Henan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
President of the Henan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hu Zhaoling, officials of Chinese companies, Managing Director Agri Exhibition Aziz Nizam and members of the business community attended the ceremony.
During the inauguration, a cooperation agreement on agricultural machinery was also signed between the Henan Chamber of Commerce and Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan.
After inaugurating the exhibition, Chaudhry Shafay Hussain visited various stalls and expressed keen interest in modern agricultural machinery on display.
He said modern agriculture is the future of Pakistan, adding that agriculture serves as the backbone of the national economy. He credited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz for taking historic steps to promote modern farming.
The provincial minister said Punjab had launched Kisan Cards and Livestock Cards for the first time to help farmers purchase agricultural inputs and access leased land.
He added that measures were also being taken to develop quality seeds and increase cotton production, while Punjab would benefit from Chinese technology to modernise agriculture.
Chaudhry Shafay Hussain invited Chinese investors to establish agricultural machinery manufacturing plants in Punjab’s Special Economic Zones, saying several tractor manufacturing companies were already interested in investing in the province.
He said incentives were being offered in Special Economic Zones and Business Facilitation Centres were issuing NOCs for business activities within 30 days.
The minister also said Vivo mobile phone manufacturing would soon begin in Faisalabad for the first time in Punjab’s history, while construction of 10 new factories was underway at Quaid-e-Azam Business Park.
He further said work was continuing on the Metal Processing Zone in Gujranwala and that commercial property trading in industrial estates had been stopped to ensure only factories operated there.
Chaudhry Shafay Hussain added that Punjab was also working with Huawei on drone technology and modern agricultural initiatives, calling China a sincere friend of Pakistan.
Speaking on the occasion, Chinese Consul General Sun Yan said economic cooperation between China and Pakistan was already strong and had further expanded under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
He added that China would continue cooperation with the Punjab government for the promotion of modern agriculture.
Earlier, the provincial minister also visited the Pakistan-China Electronic Fair at a local hotel, where he met representatives of Chinese and Punjab business communities and reviewed exhibition stalls.
