Senior PML-N leader and Advisor to Punjab CM, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, said the poultry sector could be turned into huge foreign exchange-earner for country by merely formulating soft policies.

The Nation of Pakistan reports that he expressed these views while addressing the National Poultry Congress 2009 on the topic 'Management, Avian Health and New Trends' organised by Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) at a hotel in Lahore last week.

He said that the poultry sector has all the qualities of industry with export potential but still it was confronting uncertain situation owing to multi-factors including lack of check and balance.

PPA central chairman, Khaleeq Star, said that we were confronting the number of problems as one of the most disastrous diseases: bird flu completely demolished the poultry sector. He said that for various reasons, a large number of poultry farms were closed down and this sector deprived of huge profitable centres.

PPA Chairman for Northern Areas, Khaleeq Arshad, said that poultry farming on a commercial scale started in Pakistan in the early 1960s,and it has now matured to become a vibrant industry. He said that scientific research should be given priority in this sector.

He further said that the relationship between farmers, veterinarians as veterinary sale teams play a pivotal role since this connection was the essential element of technical application of latest technology in the animal health.

Later, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa also inaugurated the International Poultry Congress and Exhibition 2009, comprising almost 50 stalls.

Provincial Minister for Livestock and Dairy, Ahmad Ali Aulakh, Secretary Livestock and Dairy Development Jahanzeb Khan, Chief Organiser Abdul Haye Mehta, Advisory Board Convener Raza Mahmood Khorand and other poultry officials including Shahid Iqbal, Muhammad Azmat, Faqeer Muhmmad Saghir, Dr Abdul Ghafoor Chaudhry, Dr Muhammad Aslam, Abdul Jabbar and Muhammad Irfan Ghazi also participated in the congress, reports The Nation.