Punjab — Pakistan’s second-largest province — and California — the most populous US state — Monday signed an agreement at the State Capitol building in Sacramento, California, to declare the former as a “sister province” of the latter.
Representing the state of California, Mr Anthony Rendon, Speaker of the California State Assembly, signed the agreement.
On behalf of the government of Punjab, the agreement was signed by Mr Wasif Khurshid, Chairman Planning and Development Board of Punjab. Ambassador Masood Khan and former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani were also present at the occasion.
A press release stated that the agreement between California and Punjab would promote mutual trade and commerce and increase the potential for educational, environmental, and cultural relations between the Province of Punjab and the State of California.
“This would also provide an opportunity to exploit the untapped economic potential and promote people-to-people contacts,” the press release stated.
The delegation earlier in the day also visited the University of California Davis, the leading agricultural and veterinary research university in the world, and met Chancellor Gary May.
During the meeting, both sides discussed ways to strengthen the collaboration between UC Davis and Agriculture University Faisalabad and agreed to further build up the partnership.
The two sides also discussed ways and means to promote collaboration in the export of mangoes and dates from Pakistan and agri-tech for Kinoos from the US.
UC Davis support in hybrid seeds of wheat, cotton, and rice also came under discussion. Cooperation on Climate-smart agriculture was also discussed during the meeting.
