The National Assembly was informed on Friday that foreign fishing vessels are not being allowed to fish in Pakistan’s exclusive economic zone to protect the interests of local fishermen.

Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi told the house during question hour that the deep sea fishing policy has been announced after consultations with the stakeholders. He said the bottom trawling has been banned in Balochistan as it damages the marine life and ecosystem.

Parliamentary Secretary for Industries and Production Aliya Hamza told the house that the auto sector is witnessing an unprecedented growth. She said twenty one new entrants have entered our auto market.

She said the cement export has increased sixty four percent over the last three years.

Parliamentary Secretary for National Food Security Ameer Sultan told the house the government has launched programs to enhance local production of oil seeds. He said currently 2.75 billion dollars are being spent on the import of oil seeds. He said the execution of these programs will help us cut this import bill by 600 million dollars by 2024.

 He said several endeavors are being made under the PSDP Pulses project to achieve self-sufficiency in lentils.  At present, he said, lentil is cultivated on 3000 hectares in Tank. Seed of high quality has been supplied in the area so that better yield and production may be fetched. He said some areas in Balochistan have also been identified as provincial hubs for lentil production.

The House will now meet on Monday at five pm.