KARACHI (APP) - Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, has said that Allah has blessed Pakistan, particularly Sindh province, with rich resources including minerals, land, forests, desert and rivers and it is essential to utilise the same for our progress and prosperity. He was talking to a UAE delegation which called on him at Chief Minister House here. He informed about vast investment opportunities in the fields of agriculture and coal mining as well as dam projects, particularly construction of small dams in areas of Khirthar Range, Nain Baran, and Karoonjhar Range. On the occasion, Secretary Agriculture Sabhago Khan Jatoi informed that Sindh has a total cultivable area of 5.76 million hectares and 1.37 million hectares horticulture area with wheat, cotton, rice and sugarcane being main crops which forms 70% of total cropping area. Besides, mango, banana, chilies, dates, guava and onions are also important agriculture commodities. He said Sindh contributes 32% of rice, 24% sugarcane, 12% cotton and 21% wheat to the country's total agricultural production while cultivation of sunflower and soyabean crops is also being encouraged. Sabhago Jatoi said the banana production in Sindh contributes 70 percent of the country's total banana production, dates 40%, onion 40%, red chilies 80% and mango 30% and these have great export potential in the Middle East, specially UAE. He said the mangoes, specially the Sindhri variety is in big demand in international market, specially in Dubai, UK, USA, Singapore etc. and their export could grow manifold if infrastructure for cooling, grading, vapour heat treatment and packing are developed. Secretary Agriculture told the visitors that abundant land is available at various sites for the establishment of dates processing industry while there is an airport at Sukkur where facility of daily flights is available. He said joint venture opportunities are also available in dates, onion, chilies, tomato, fodder oil extraction plants, mechanised farming, floraculture, as well as seed production, agriculture engineering etc. Sindh Secretary for Mines and Mineral Development, Younus Dhaga highlighted investment opportunities in coal mining and power generation. He said Sindh possesses huge resources of minerals and many investors have expressed interest for investment in Thar coal projects. Expressing satisfaction on the briefing and possible investment opportunities, the UAE delegation said positive initiatives would soon be taken in this regard.