I think that is a bad idea. Selling Pakistani land to some other country. Instead of selling the why not paki experts do for themselves. It loosk like Pakistan is on sale.
ISLAMABAD: The ministry of investment has decided to lend 700,000 acres of farmland to Arab countries on the basis of long-term investment.
An official of the ministry said, the decision has been taken keeping in view the interest of Arab countries in agricultural land of Sindh and Punjab. The government is also working to remove reservations of persons associated with the agriculture sector, a private news channel reported.
Investment Minister Waqar Ahmed Khan said if the government successfully achieves its objectives; it will pave the way to get the latest technology for the agriculture sector in the country.
‘Over the past few weeks, the Saudi government has been in talks with us to lease 700,000 acres of farmland; and we are currently in the process of locating which land we could give them,’ Tauqir Ahmad Faiq, regional secretary, Ministry of agriculture, said in an interview.
It is not a new thing that Pakistan has been the victim of conspiracies. Foreign as well as internal defectives have destroyed this country. Another era of destruction is starting according to my thinking. My instincts are 99% right. I strongly believe that by giving 5 lac acres of land to Saudia Zardari is filling his pockets but selling our mother land. Saudia despite of being a Muslim country. Saudia despite of being the start of final form of Islam. Saudia despite of being the birth place of our beloved Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). Saudia despite of being our friend is an American puppet. USA will do a lot of damage to us through Saudia. It is a conspiracy. I can see through the matrix. Its a conspiracy.
How is lending land out to be farmed any different from giving out land to foreign govt or companies to set up factories, real estate ventures, and massive call center’s?!?!
Atleast in this case, we have investment that employs a much larger proportion of the countries work force then a car factory would.
And this kind of invesment is far less fickle. Car factories and call cetres can close down if the economic environment is not suitable, but people have to eat, so I doubt such investors will be scared off or forced to leave by a bad economy etc.
And this kind of invesment is far less fickle. Car factories and call cetres can close down if the economic environment is not suitable, but people have to eat, so I doubt such investors will be scared off or forced to leave by a bad economy etc.
Oh please! If this is oh-so-good idea then all countries in the world would be selling land rather than setting up factories.
The way countries can develop is through industrialization.
Pakistanis are leasing their land because no one is investing in the country. Pakistanis don't have much options to make money.
Oh please! If this is oh-so-good idea then all countries in the world would be selling land rather than setting up factories.
The way countries can develop is through industrialization.
Pakistanis are leasing their land because no one is investing in the country. Pakistanis don't have much options to make money.
Calm down man.
Where did I say we shouldnt have factories?!?!
And I dont know if you have actually studied history, but no country that is now industrialized has ever done so without first having created a strong agricultural base... Its common sense.
And considering Paksitans economy is so dependant on agriculture, I think big investments such as these that have the potential to employ far more of Pakistan population then factories that would require trained manpower.
Take the example of Indian call centers. They employ a lot of people. But they leave out much of the general population which doesnt have the skills to work in such call centers.
Re: Pakistan to lend 700,000 acres farmland to Arab states
^ No one can change what you think.
But what I think is that leasing lands to foreigners will not help Pakistan develop.
And what "agricultural base for Pakistan" are you talking about? We are LEASING our land so that foreigners could grow THEIR crops. We are not increasing our agricultural base.
^ No one can change what you think.
But what I think is that leasing lands to foreigners will not help Pakistan develop.
And what "agricultural base for Pakistan" are you talking about? We are LEASING our land so that foreigners could grow THEIR crops. We are not increasing our agricultural base.
Dude.. Who do you think is going to be working on these farms?
Dont you think that these large farms will bring inovation to Pakistani agriculture?!?! They will most likely be using modern farming techniques, which will have an impact on the rest of the agriculture sector whether food grown is for locals or foreigners.
The Saudis may well invest heavily in improving our agriculture by building new farm to market roads, improving the supply chain. They may well invest in improving water usage by investing in canal upkeep etc. cnstruction of dams etc.
And you think Pakistan is giving this land away? They are being PAID real money!
This is an investment. Its no different realy then investors in stocks or factories etc.
And do you honestly think the Pak govt didnt think about your concerns before hand? They arent stupid enough to just give land away .
And Pakistan isnt the only country that these countres are leasing land in.
Re: Pakistan to lend 700,000 acres farmland to Arab states
lol. Your description of how this lease is going to develop Pakistan is really funny.
It's also funny that you trust Pak govt so much. About stupidity, remember who was stupid enough to create Taliban monster, which is now biting its own creator?
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The media reports about an agreement under which some 500,000 acres of land, located in each of the four provinces, would be leased out to Saudi Arabia to grow food crops that would then be whisked away to the desert kingdom, have been coming in for some time. Surprisingly, there has been little protest from any quarter. Yet imagine what this would mean in real terms: tracts of land within a country unable to meet the food needs of its own people would be converted into an oasis of green, where the best inputs provide the highest yields. Impoverished peasants, who survive on a pittance and struggle to eke out a living from their own patches of land, would be kept away by the stringent security measures to be installed around the lands. The abundant bounty grown here would not in any way benefit them. Indeed, some of those looking on may have been pushed into the growing sea of unemployment in cases where cultivated land is leased out. Others employed on these farmlands face potential exploitation. The Saudis are not known as especially benevolent employers.
There are other issues as well. Does the government have the moral authority to lease land that belongs to the state and the people of Pakistan? Can it, with any conscience, do so given that its priority must surely be to feed its own citizens? What will this mean in terms of political sovereignty, given that the control of vast farmlands will also give the Saudis a stronger hold over the country. Other issues could arise too. Saudi royals and their large entourages, permitted to hunt the endangered Houbara bustard in the southern Punjab, have for instance aroused the anger of local people who have complained about the attitude of the guests. Occasional complaints of the harassment of women have arisen. There are in this possible repercussions as far as Pak-Saudi ties go.
In a country where land hunger is acute and hundreds of thousands of skilled cultivators have no land or are without subsistence-level holdings, the giving away of land to foreign parties or non-farming institutions or retired civil and military employees for that matter, should be considered a criminal denial of the people’s rights and their interest.
The government itself is a lessee as all land belongs to God, according to the Islamic faith, or to the state (not government), according to the official theory in Pakistan. Both restrict the government’s power to lease/sell land. Besides landless peasants have the first right on any land that is at the government’s disposal.
It is also necessary to take into consideration four unavoidable consequences of leasing land to foreign investors.
Firstly, if land already under cultivation is leased out, all those working on it, haris and field workers, face the threat of unemployment.
Secondly, we have learnt from the experience of the mustajiri system (whereby commercial entrepreneurs acquire big farms on lease) that the contractors, in their drive to maximise profits, exploit the land so ruthlessly that it loses fertility and becomes weak and sick.
Thirdly, land lease arrangements can lead to the unconscionable exploitation of physical and human resources, such as that seen in the working of timber and mining mafias in Latin America.
Finally, lessees of land acquire considerable political clout that undermines the capacity of the lesser-states to uphold their national interests.
Re: Pakistan to lend 700,000 acres farmland to Arab states
when exactly was Pakistan not on sale..... Pakistan army( or at least the leadership) and intelligence agencies has been on sale for quite some time. Afghan war, we were at sale,.war against terror, we are at sale. UNO Peace keeping missions, Pakistan has the biggest contingency amongst all the big UN cooperating nations. cause we are on sale.. So its always like that...
now who is going to secure all the land which will be given to Saudi Arabia. God know what US can do in those lands with the help of Saudis... What I know is that Saudi has recently stoppped cultivating in its own land at various points, cause as per them it was effecting the land cause of huge amount of water being drained into land, thus increasing the under ground water level and effecting the oil and gas reserves.
why not Pakistan make model farms by themselves and start exporting the goods??? It will serve the same purpose right.
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Dude.. Who do you think is going to be working on these farms?
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It doesn't matter, major benficiary will not be Pakistan but the other country. Leasing or selling of your motherland to other coutnry is just like selling your mother. The government should rather sell/lease to Pakistani formers to improve the yield for benefit of Pakistani people.
lol. Your description of how this lease is going to develop Pakistan is really funny.
It's also funny that you trust Pak govt so much. About stupidity, remember who was stupid enough to create Taliban monster, which is now biting its own creator?
I didnt say I trust the govt blindly. If it turns out to be a mess, then I would agree with you. But this land isnt given way for pennies. No one in the govt is going to simply give away land leased or otherwise, for nothing in return.
I understand that people have reasons to be mistrusting of the govt, but some people go way out there, almost to the point of thinking up some grand conspiracy theories.. Its just land, and its just another invesment oppurtunity.
As for the Taliban, thats not something we can discuss here. Sufice it to say, the Pak govt had its reasons. And Pakistanis arent the first to support such groups.
It doesn't matter, major benficiary will not be Pakistan but the other country. Leasing or selling of your motherland to other coutnry is just like selling your mother. The government should rather sell/lease to Pakistani formers to improve the yield for benefit of Pakistani people.
I think no country in the world is doing that.
Your not making sense. I ask again, how is this any different from govts allowing foreign compaines to setup massive car factories in rural areas, when that same land could have been used to grow food for the locals?!?!
The sentiment about land is sweet, but thats all it is, sentiment.
In the end, this land is being used to produce food. The countries that are leasing this land pay REAL money for it, not monopoly money. That money can be spent on real things to help real people...
