Pakistan and the United States have agreed to strengthen collaborative research and to broaden private sector support for economic growth in the agriculture sector. It was agreed during the deliberations in the 3rd meeting of the Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture under the Pakistan-US Strategic Dialogue framework held here on Tuesday, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. Secretary Ministry of Food and Agriculture Junaid Iqbal led the Pakistani side, assisted by Malik Zahoor Ahmad, Chair / Chief Coordinator of the Strategic Dialogue Secretariat. The US delegation was co-chaired by Ms. Darci Vetter, Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture and James Bever, Assistant Administrator of USAID. It was agreed that both sides would continue to work together to modernize Pakistan's agricultural sector to ensure adequate supply of food items; foster faster economic growth; alleviate poverty and enhance rural employment, said a joint statement issued by the US Embassy here on Tuesday.
