The country import bill has touched to more than 50 billion US dollar compared to export of 24 billion US dollar which demands immediate attentions of industry, policy makers and experts to minimize the increasing import-export gap.

It was echoed by speakers at the All Pakistan Food Sciences Conference arranged by National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad in collaboration with the Pakistan Society of Food Scientists and Technologists (PSFST) at Iqbal Auditorium, UAF on Monday. The inaugural session was chaired by UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Zafar Iqbal Randhawa, while Government College University Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ali, Government College Women University Faisalabad former vice chancellor Dr Naureen Aziz Qureshi, PSFST President Dr Faqir Muhammad Anjum, Dean Faculty of Food Sciences Dr Masood Sadiq Butt, NIFSAT DG Dr. Tahir Zahoor, Highfield International UK Chairman Richard Sprenger, Dr Shafique Chaudhry, Dr Javed Aziz Awan, and other notables spoke on the occasion. Addressing on the occasion, Dr Zafar Iqbal said that the Pakistan China Economic Corridor will pave the way for the socio-economic development for all the provinces. He added that food industry had lot of potential to expand. The country can earn heavy foreign exchange by giving value addition to its food industry. He showed his concern that value addition in the food industry is only 4 percent while the industry in the developed world was having at least 25 percent value addition. He added that there was weak industry-academia linkages in the country for which we had worked hard to cement the industry and academia ties. He said that he had dedicated pro-vice chancellor office for the industry to strengthen academia-industry linkages. He added that participatory management strategies were the step forward to address the different challenges confronting the country. Dr Muhammad Ali showed his concern that the education we were imparting was not at par with the industry. He added that for the promotion of lecturers, assistant professor, associate professor and professors, besides teaching and research, indicator of the teacher’s link with industry must be evaluated. He stressed upon the food scientists to get benefit from the CPEC and to get their due share in the international market. Dr Naureen Aziz Qureshi said that the food security was the global issue . She added the concentrate efforts were needed to fight the challenges of the modern era and to compete with the rest of the world. She said that the culture of beginning start-up companies among the students will promote the entrepreneurships and help alleviate the poverty. Dr Faqir Muhammad Anjum said that post-harvest losses in the country were standing at the 35 percent to 40 percent which is not only decreasing our productivity but also causing reducing the profitability margin. He said that establishment of Food Authorities contributed to make the situation of food quality better. He said that Halal Authority would also start working in two months. He added the CPEC would prove game changer in the coming years and we have to get our share. Dr Masood Sadiq Butt said that value addition in the developed nations were more than 50 percent whereas we are stuck to 3 percent only. He added that beside malnutrition, and food security; food processing is an area where we have to make joint efforts in order to flourish the sector. He added that the we were wasting huge fruits and vegetable due to lack of value addition. The issue needed to be addressed effectively. He said that they NIFSAT was offering nine degree programmes. He said that they had gotten NOC to initiate the PhD in nutrition. NIFSAT Director General Dr Tahir Zahoor said that value addition in the food industry would open up new avenue of progress in the country. He added that the we were wasting huge fruits and vegetable due to lack of value addition and post-harvest processes. The issue is needed to be addressed effectively. He said that by overcoming post-harvest loses; we can increase productivity and income upto 40 percent. He said that PSFST was playing a pivotal role in the uplift of the food industry and to develop academia-industry linkers. They also inaugurated the food exhibition set up in front of Iqbal Audiorium