On Wednesday, a group of over 300 agricultural graduates departed for China to take part in a three-month advanced training program focused on livestock and agricultural technologies.

It is the first group of 1000 agricultural graduates in China to be trained under Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif's Initiative for Capacity Building.

The program will train young Pakistani agricultural graduates with competence in important fields of agriculture, fishery, and livestock technology at prestigious Chinese universities.

The first 300 graduates will enroll in training programs at Yangling Vocational and Technical College and Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University, two highly esteemed universities in the fields of veterinary sciences, food technology, and agriculture.

Senior representatives from the Federal Ministry for National Food Security and Research and HEC, including Adviser (Scholarships) HEC Muhammad Raza Chohan, attended the departure ceremony at Islamabad International Airport, along with Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reforms Mr. Ahsan Iqbal.

Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal spoke at the event and congratulated the chosen graduates on starting their new academic careers.

He emphasized that Pakistan is one of the top ten agriculturally producing nations in the world and that the sector has enormous growth potential. Agriculture is the foundation of the nation's development.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif envisioned the "Pakistan's Prime Minister's Initiative for Capacity Building of 1,000 Agricultural Graduates in China" during his visit to the Yangling Agricultural Technology Demonstration Base in Shaanxi province, China, last year.

A short-term training program is intended to provide an overview of the development of Chinese agriculture, lessons gained, and field visits to both public and private sector farms, laboratories, and businesses established in China.

In addition to receiving classes, the graduates will participate in lab workshops that provide them with practical experience. Evaluations of the participants' training progress and gained skills will also be conducted.

Under the direction of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, HEC made sure that the selection process was transparent after a thorough examination. Opportunity for agriculture graduates from remote and underserved regions, such as Balochistan, was given particular attention.