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Australia offers joint venture for development of Thar Coal

ISLAMABAD: Australia has offered Pakistan joint venture for the development of Thar coal to exploit its energy potential that would help the country overcome its energy crisis.
“We can jointly exploit the gift of Thar Coal,” the Ambassador of Australia to Pakistan Peter Heyward said Tuesday in a meeting with the delegation of Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI).
The delegation members included President IWCCI Farida Rashid, Adviser IWCCI Malik Sohail, Naima Ansari and other officer bearers.
The Ambassador said that major Australian mining and oil and gas companies were keenly watching developments in Pakistan which would help them plan stepping in this promising market.
The Australian Ambassador said that his country was also interested in Pakistan’s matchless potential in human and natural resource.
Peter Heyward said that Australia can get access to energy rich central Asia and Gulf states by using Pakistan as an economic bridge and noted that both the countries can further strengthen bonds in education and agriculture sectors.
Pakistan fulfils every criterion to become a developed nation soon, he said, adding that no county can afford keep away women from taking part in the development of economy.
Underlining the importance of linkages, Heyward said that Pakistani and Australian businesswomen associations would be linked while his country will offer training, education, networking, information sharing and exchange opportunities to Pakistani women.
According to IWCCI press statement, speaking on the occasion,wife of the Ambassador, Ms Suzzane Heyward said that she will try best to infuse confidence in business women by encouragement and capacity building measures.
She offered her residence for exhibitions where wives of all Ambassadors would be invited which will help local women entrepreneurs find business and intercommunication opportunities.
President IWCCI Farida Rashid said that economies of Pakistan and Australia were compatible which is prerequisite for enhanced bilateral cooperation.
“We have a great consumer market and a competent workforce which is fourth largest in the world,” Farida informed.
Adviser IWCCI Malik Sohail also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the potential of Pakistani market for the international investors.

World wastes 1.3bn tons of food annually

ISLAMABAD, Oct 20: Roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, which amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year, according to results of a study commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The study reveals that food is lost or wasted throughout the supply chain, from initial agricultural production down to final household consumption.
In medium- and high-income countries food is to a significant extent wasted at the consumption stage, meaning that it is discarded even if it is still suitable for human consumption.
Significant losses also occur early in the food supply chains in the industrialised regions. In low-income countries food is lost mostly during the early and middle stages of the food supply chain; much less food is wasted at the consumer level, it says.
The causes of food losses and waste in low-income countries are mainly connected to financial, managerial and technical limitations in harvesting techniques, storage and cooling facilities in different climatic conditions, infrastructure, packaging and marketing systems; in medium and high-income countries, the causes of food waste mainly relate to consumer behaviour and lack of coordination between actors in the supply chain.
The study says that food losses in industrial countries are as high as in developing countries, but in developing countries more than 40 per cent of the food losses occur at post-harvest levels, while in industrialised countries, more than 40 per cent of the food losses occur at retail and consumer levels. Food waste at consumer level in industrialised countries which amounts to 222 million tons, is almost as high as total net food production in sub Saharan Africa, stands at 230 million tons.
Per capita food wasted by consumers in Europe and North Africa is 95kg to 115kg a year, while this figure in Sub-Saharan Africa and South/ Southeast Asia is 6kg to 11 kg per year.
The study emphasised the need that food supply chains in developing countries should be strengthened by encouraging small farmers to organise and to diversify and upscale their production and marketing.
Investments in infrastructure, transportation, food industries and packaging industries are also required. Both the public and private sectors have a role to play in achieving this, the report stresses.
Food security is a major concern in large parts of the developing world. Food production must clearly increase significantly to meet the future demands of an increasing and more affluent world population.
In a world with limited natural resources – land, water, energy, fertiliser – and where cost-effective solutions are to be found to produce enough safe and nutritious food for all, reducing food losses should not be a forgotten priority, it concludes.