The two-day Agri-Connections 2025 conference and expo with the theme of ‘Investing in Agriculture for Growth’ will kick off on Wednesday at Karachi Expo Center.
The conference will have speakers from Turkey, Italy, Hungary, Peru, Uzbekistan, France, the United States of America, and Pakistan.
The speakers will highlight how global historic geo-political changes like US and EU sanctions on Russia, and anticipated US tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada, present opportunities for Pakistan in terms of the new commodity flows.
The expo and conference will be opened with the welcome address by Kazim Saeed, CEO Pakistan Agricultural Coalition, and opening address by Syed Qassim Naveed Qamar, Special Assistant to Chief Minister Sindh on Investment and Public-Private Partnerships.
The first session’s key address will be by Salma Butt, Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Commodities Management.
A session on ‘investing in agriculture for growth at scale’ will have presentations by Matteo Iagatti, Senior Agro-economist, FGM International, Ulughbek Rahimov, ESG Manager, Indorama Agro LLC, and John McGillicuddy, Agri-Commodity Consultant, IFC.
The session on ‘how Pakistan can develop a national agri-commodity market’ will have presentations by John McGillicuddy, Agri-Commodity Consultant, IFC, Agha Jan Akhtar, ex-Secretary Agriculture Sindh, Khurram Zafar, CEO Pakistan Mercantile Exchange, and Najam Shah,
Chairman P&D Government of Sindh.
The session on ‘Seeds for growth and resilience’ will have presentations by Charles Schneider, Program Manager, IFC Pakistan, and Asif Ali, Chairman, National Seed Development and Regulatory Authority.
A session on ‘The policy framework for agriculture’ will have presentations by OIivier Durand, Lead Agriculture Specialist, The World Bank, Dr. Waseem Ajmal, Secretary, Federal Ministry for National Food Security & Research, and Suhail Ahmed Qureshi, Secretary Agriculture Sindh.
The conference will have a special session on ‘What Pakistan can learn from Hungary’ with the Embassy of Hungary Islamabad in which Balint Pongracz and Dr Altaf Ali Sayal, Vice Chancellor of University of Agriculture, Tando Jam, will give their presentations.
Other notable speakers of various sessions include Assad Zamin, Director General, Public-Private Partnership unit, Government of Sindh, Iftikhar Sahoo, Secretary Agriculture Punjab, Ms. Gediz Kaya, CEO GAIA Climate (Turkey), Ms. Ayesha Moriani, Secretary Climate Change, Government of Pakistan, Dr. Costantino Parma, International Project Coordinator, OliveCulture Pakistan, Sheryar Taj, Secretary Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP, Ms. Florence Rolle, Country Representative United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization, Mahmood Nawaz Shah, President, Sindh Abadgar Board, Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani, Minister for Agriculture, Government of Punjab, and Sardar M Bux Khan Mahar, Minister for Agriculture, Government of Sindh.
