Pakistan poultry industry hopes for int'l market

Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) president has stated that standards used in the poultry industry in Pakistan are as good as in the US and Europe, and that Pakistan is now a country free of bird flu. Head of RCCI, Dr Hasan Sarosh Akram, said that no cases of bird flu were reported in the last several months and no poultry farm has been affected by the disease.

Akram is optimistic that, in having access to the international market, a new positive attitude in the industry would develop and that those farmers losing heart would recommence their businesses with new courage and passion. He appealed to the government to grant loans to bird flu affected farms on soft terms basis so that they could restart their business. "The poultry industry faced a crisis during the last two years so it must be exempted from the income tax for the coming five years," he said, recommending developing a trend for frozen chicken in order to prevent the poultry from diseases and provide healthy meat to the masses.