These views were expressed by the Executive Director of K&N’s Adil K Sattar while briefing to the members of Lahore Economic Journalists Association (LEJA) at K&N’s poultry processing plant near Lahore on Thursday.

Almost 40 per cent industry was closed due to drop in sale of chicken after bird flu and increase in prices of poultry feed, he said adding that this slump had badly affected the poultry industry and out in into a sudden slump. According to The News, all these factors pushed the prices of chicken meat upwards, he observed adding that the poultry sector has now been recovering from the crisis, which ultimately reduced the prices of chicken meat.

Talking about chicken export, Mr Adil pointed out that European Union gives subsidy to its poultry sector, which makes Pakistani raw chicken meat uncompetitive in those markets; however he saw the potential in exports of value added chicken products, especially to the Middle East.

He said in order to make Pakistani chicken products very competitive in the international market the government needs to ensure agricultural productivity, which has a direct link with the production of poultry feed.

He was of the view that Pakistan can enter the global Halal food market, which has been growing at a rapid pace, even in non-Muslim countries. “Pakistan must establish itself as a reliable supplier of Halal food products to the world,” he remarked.

Mr Adil emphasised that local poultry industry must continue to modernise for attaining efficiency, and thereafter should strongly consider adding value to poultry meat if it wants to compete effectively in the global arena.

Pakistan’s poultry industry in terms of breeder population is considered among top ten poultry industries worldwide. Country’s broiler production peaked at approximately 800 million per year in 2007-08. Presently the industry is in recovery phase after suffering heavy losses due to some unfavourable circumstances, which forced a lot of farms and even breeding companies to close down.

He pointed out that the global halal food trade was estimated at $632 billion and overall halal trade was estimated to be between 1.2 to 2 trillion dollars and Pakistan can get a sizeable share being a trust worthy Islamic principles abiding country.

Similarly, the Middle East’s annual halal food imports are estimated at $45 billion, whereas France alone exports 750,000 tons of halal chicken meat to Muslim countries. From Asia, Thailand is the biggest exporter of halal food products even bigger than Malaysia, which has managed to establish itself very well as a hub of halal food products.

Adil Sattar said that K&N’s introduced new dimensions, and took the lead in modernising the entire poultry production chain decades ago for the promotion of poultry in Pakistan.

K&N’s is promoting the poultry industry on modern lines, meeting international standards and providing consumers with world-class chicken products. He said K&N’s endeavoured to move in this direction to ensure quality and food-safety.

Later, the journalists visited the poultry processing plant of K&N’s and keenly watched the efforts put in the production and provision of hygienic and high quality chicken products for local consumers.