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Islamabad and Doha sign key agreements to boost job opportunities for Pakistanis in Qatar

Islamabad and Doha sign key agreements to boost job opportunities for Pakistanis in Qatar
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Jawad Sohrab Malik, signs agreement with Qatari Diyar-Saudi Bin Laden Group Construction (QD-SBG) in Doha, Qatar, on January 22, 2024. (Photo courtesy: Government of Pakistan)
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Updated 22 January 2024
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Islamabad and Doha sign key agreements to boost job opportunities for Pakistanis in Qatar

Islamabad and Doha sign key agreements to boost job opportunities for Pakistanis in Qatar
  • Deals with Qatari firms mark “crucial step in strengthening bilateral relations in field of human resource development” 
  • Pakistani human resource minister meets Qatar’s labor, interior and education ministers during three-day visit to Doha
Updated 22 January 2024
Arab News Pakistan
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ISLAMABAD: Islamabad has signed several agreements and letters of intent with Qatari companies to “significantly enhance employment opportunities for the Pakistani workforce in Qatar,” a statement from the overseas Pakistanis ministry said on Monday.

During a three-day visit to Qatar by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Jawad Sohrab Malik, agreements were signed with firms like Qatari Diyar-Saudi Bin Laden Group Construction (QD-SBG), Hamad Bin Khaled Contracting Company W.L.L (HBK), Ali Bin Ali Holding W.L.L, Sheikh Jabor Bin Mansour Bin Jabor Bin Jassim Al Thani (JMJ) Holding, Tabeeb Care Medical Services, and Al Rawnaq International Commercial Projects.

The deals marked a “crucial step in strengthening bilateral relations between Pakistan and Qatar in the field of human resource development,” the overseas Pakistanis ministry said. 

Malik also held a meeting with Hamad Saleh Al Qamra, Chairman of Al Qamra Holding, focusing on the recruitment of Pakistani manpower for various company projects. The visit also included a tour of the View Hospital, a part of Elegancia Health Care, where the recruitment of Pakistani health professionals is underway following a recent MoU between Elegancia Health Care and the Overseas Employment Corporation of Pakistan.

“The primary objective of these initiatives is to create enhanced employment avenues for Pakistani workers in Qatar,” the overseas Pakistani ministry said.

“SAPM Malik highlighted the potential of Pakistan as a key manpower exporter and detailed the government’s efforts to streamline this process through quality recruitment agencies, skill development, and addressing foreign employers’ needs.”

Malik also held separate, one-on-one meetings with Qatar’s labor, interior and education ministers.

“These agreements and discussions represent a significant stride in increasing the presence of the Pakistani workforce in Qatar, paving the way for mutual economic growth and stronger bilateral ties,” Malik’s office said.

Topics: Pakistan Qatar ties job opportunities

Pakistan navy chief counts Iran-Israel tensions among growing maritime challenges in Indian Ocean

Pakistan navy chief counts Iran-Israel tensions among growing maritime challenges in Indian Ocean
Updated 16 sec ago
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Pakistan navy chief counts Iran-Israel tensions among growing maritime challenges in Indian Ocean

Pakistan navy chief counts Iran-Israel tensions among growing maritime challenges in Indian Ocean
  • Long-time rivals Iran and Israel traded missiles in October following surging tensions in Gaza
  • Long-time rivals Iran and Israel traded missiles in October following surging tensions in Gaza
Updated 16 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf has said in a recent interview that Iran’s growing tensions with Israel and the United States may turn into a “precarious situation” in the Indian Ocean, warning that any escalation of tensions between the sides will prove harmful for shipping. 

Israel’s war on Gaza has escalated tensions in the Middle East, with fears of a wider war breaking out in the region surging to alarming levels after the two countries traded missiles in October. Iran’s tensions with the US, a staunch ally of Israel, have also surged following the Jewish state’s military campaigns in the Middle East and Tehran’s strong criticism against it. 

Speaking to the “Daily Mirror,” a Sri Lanka-based online news publication on Dec. 18, Ashraf spoke about growing maritime security challenges faced by Pakistan in the Indian Ocean due to instability in Afghanistan, provocations from neighboring India, and the Middle East’s regional tensions. 

“On our eastern side, India is disturbing regional peace by blatantly provoking its neighbors,” Ashraf was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror. “On our western flank, Iran’s standoff with the US and Israel may manifest into a precarious situation for the shipping plying along the international Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs).”

The Indian Ocean is home to key maritime routes, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea, considered essential for global oil and trade shipments. Experts warn that conflicts in the Indian Ocean can result in blockades or increased risks of attacks on commercial shipping and hence adversely impact global energy markets.

Ashraf said in the non-traditional domain, the Indian Ocean faces “maritime terrorism, piracy, drug trafficking, gun running and human smuggling” as key security challenges. 

“The challenge to our regional maritime security is an ominous hybrid mix of traditional and non-traditional threats,” he said. 

Speaking about the upcoming AMAN-25 exercise, a series of multinational exercises started in 2007 by the Pakistan Navy to promote regional cooperation and stability, Ashraf said Pakistan is geared up to conduct it next year.

“I may mention that the previous edition of the exercise held in February 2023 witnessed the participation from 50 countries across the globe,” he said. “Keeping the same spirit, we are hopeful that this edition will also mark a distinctive chapter in history of AMAN exercises with enhanced participation of friendly countries.”

The AMAN-25 is slated to be held from Feb. 7-11 in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi. The exercise is expected to bring together chief of navies, coast guards and defense forces to provide them the opportunity to exchange views on global and regional security and adopt innovative solutions to address evolving challenges at sea. 

Topics: Pakistan navy chief

Pakistan reports fresh polio case from Balochistan province, pushing 2024 tally to 65

Pakistan reports fresh polio case from Balochistan province, pushing 2024 tally to 65
Updated 24 December 2024
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Pakistan reports fresh polio case from Balochistan province, pushing 2024 tally to 65

Pakistan reports fresh polio case from Balochistan province, pushing 2024 tally to 65
  • Killa Abdullah district reports its seventh polio case this year, confirm Pakistani authorities 
  • Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains last polio-endemic country in the world
Updated 24 December 2024
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: Pakistan has reported its latest polio infection from the southwestern Balochistan province, the country’s polio eradication program confirmed on Tuesday, pushing the total tally of cases of the disease this year to 65. 

The recent case was reported from Pakistan’s Killa Abdullah district in Balochistan, the seventh from the area this year, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at Pakistan’s National Institute of Health said. 

Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. The nation’s polio eradication campaign has faced serious problems with a spike in reported cases this year that have prompted officials to review their approach to stopping the crippling disease.

“Pakistan is responding to the resurgence of WPV1 this year with 65 cases reported so far,” the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme said in a statement. “Of these, 27 are from Balochistan, 18 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.”

It said a sub-national polio vaccination campaign in Balochistan is scheduled to begin from Dec. 30, during which all 36 districts of the province will be targeted for vaccination. 

“To keep children safe, it is critical for parents to welcome vaccinators among them and bring their children forward for vaccination,” the statement said. 

Poliovirus, which can cause crippling paralysis particularly in young children, is incurable and remains a threat to human health as long as it has not been eradicated. Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain.

In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.

Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994 but efforts to eradicate the virus have since been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams. 
 

Topics: Polio Pakistan Balochistan Arab News Pakistan

West Indies cricket team to arrive for first Test tour of Pakistan in 19 years on Jan. 6

West Indies cricket team to arrive for first Test tour of Pakistan in 19 years on Jan. 6
Updated 24 December 2024
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West Indies cricket team to arrive for first Test tour of Pakistan in 19 years on Jan. 6

West Indies cricket team to arrive for first Test tour of Pakistan in 19 years on Jan. 6
  • West Indies to play two Test matches against Pakistan in Multan from Jan. 17-29, says PCB 
  • West Indies last toured Pakistan for a Test series in November 2006 for three-match series
Updated 24 December 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The West Indian national men’s cricket team will arrive for their first Test tour of Pakistan in 19 years on Jan. 6, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Tuesday, during which they will play two Test matches. 

The last time the West Indies played a Test series on Pakistani soil was in November 2006, when they played three Tests. Their last Test away Test series against Pakistan was in the UAE in October 2016, which was selected as Pakistan’s home venue for cricket series after 2009 when a militant attack in Lahore scared away international cricket teams from touring the country. 

The former two-time ODI World Cup champions have, however, thrice toured Pakistan since April 2018— one for an ODI series in June 2022 and twice for a bilateral T20I series in April 2018 and December 2021. 

“The West Indies cricket team will arrive in Islamabad on 6 January and after playing a three-day match against Pakistan Shaheens from 10-12 January at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, they will take on Pakistan in back-to-back Tests in Multan,” the PCB said. “The first Test will be played from 17-21 January, while the second Test will be held from 25-29 January.”

International cricket teams refused to play cricket in Pakistan for years after militants attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore in 2009, wounding six players and killing two civilians and six security officials.

International cricket and its stars, however, slowly returned to playing in the country as the security situation in Pakistan gradually improved. The South Asian country is gearing up to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 from February to March next year. 

This will be the first time that Pakistan will be hosting an ICC tournament on its home soil since 1996 when it co-hosted the ICC ODI World Cup won by Sri Lanka. 

Topics: Multan Stadium West Indies tour Pakistan Cricket

Pakistan orders resolution of land, power hurdles for Chinese investor in special economic zone

Pakistan orders resolution of land, power hurdles for Chinese investor in special economic zone
Updated 24 December 2024
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Pakistan orders resolution of land, power hurdles for Chinese investor in special economic zone

Pakistan orders resolution of land, power hurdles for Chinese investor in special economic zone
  • China’s Century Steel Group has complained of lack of power, high land costs in Rashakai Special Economic Zone 
  • Minister urges authorities to confirm land prices to Chinese steel giant, maintain reasonable power distribution margin
Updated 24 December 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has urged authorities to resolve land and power tariff hurdles reported by a Chinese steel giant in a key special economic zone (SEZ) located in the country’s northwest, state-run media reported this week, amid Islamabad’s intensifying efforts to attract foreign investment in vital economic sectors. 

Spread over an area of 1,000 acres, the Rashakai Special Economic Zone (RSEZ) is a flagship project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project that aims to connect Pakistan’s Gwadar port to China’s northwestern Xinjiang region. 

Pakistani media outlets have reported that China’s Century Steel Group, the primary investor in the RSEZ, has expressed its frustration over the past couple of months at Pakistani authorities for failing to finalize a plot purchase agreement and ensuring power supply for its steel mills operation. 

Iqbal held a meeting with China Century Steel Mills officials during which various issues faced by the investor came up, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Monday. The minister instructed Pakistan’s Board of Investment (BoI), Power Division and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to address the issues hindering industrial development promptly, it said. 

“Specifically, he directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) to confirm land prices to the company at the earliest, by their demands,” it said. 

The KPEZDMC officials briefed Iqbal that the company had requested discounted rates for land per acre. Meanwhile, the Century Steel Group consultant cited examples from China, saying that land there is often provided free of charge to industries in SEZs, APP said. He stressed on the need for similar incentives in Pakistan.

“Addressing concerns over power tariffs, the minister directed authorities concerned to maintain a reasonable distribution margin and ensure that the zone receives power at the same rates as regular consumers,” the state-run media said. 

Iqbal instructed the FBR, Pakistan’s premier revenue authority, to conduct a consumption survey in northwestern Pakistan to estimate anticipated power consumption accurately, APP said. 

Pakistan has increasingly eyed investment from China and other regional allies, particularly from the Middle East, as it seeks to be less dependent on foreign aid and stabilize its economy. 

The South Asian country came close to suffering a sovereign default last year before it clinched a last-gasp $3 billion financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Islamabad has achieved some economic gains since then but Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has spoken repeatedly of bolstering the country’s economy via long-term financial reforms and international investment.

Topics: Pakistan China Ties Ahsan Iqbal special economic zones CPEC Century Steel Group

US joins UK, EU in raising concerns over Pakistan military courts sentencing civilians 

US joins UK, EU in raising concerns over Pakistan military courts sentencing civilians 
Updated 24 December 2024
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US joins UK, EU in raising concerns over Pakistan military courts sentencing civilians 

US joins UK, EU in raising concerns over Pakistan military courts sentencing civilians 
  • Pakistan’s military on Dec. 21 sentenced 25 civilians to imprisonment for violent protests in May last year
  • EU, UK have said separately that military courts lack judicial independence and due process guarantees
Updated 24 December 2024
Shahjahan Khurram

ISLAMABAD: The US State Department this week joined the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) in expressing concerns over a Pakistani military court’s recent decision to sentence 25 civilians to prison for partaking in violent protests last year, calling on Islamabad to respect citizens’ right to a fair trial and due process. 

Pakistan’s military on Dec. 21 sentenced 25 people to periods of two to 10 years of “rigorous imprisonment” for participating in violent protests on May 9, 2023, when hundreds carrying flags of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party attacked government and military installations. The protests erupted after Khan’s brief detention on corruption charges, resulting in damage to major military facilities and martyrs’ monuments in the country. 

Khan’s party challenges the military’s version, denying it was involved in the violence and stating that the May 9 incident was a “false flag” operation aimed at crushing it as it faced a nationwide crackdown with hundreds of its supporters arrested. 

The EU said on Sunday that the sentencing was “inconsistent” with Pakistan’s international obligations, and that according to them every person is entitled to a fair and public trial in an impartial and independent court. The UK also expressed alarm at the development on Monday, saying that trying civilians in military courts “lacks transparency, independent scrutiny and undermines the right to a fair trial.”

“The United States is deeply concerned that Pakistani civilians have been sentenced by a military tribunal for their involvement in protests on May 9, 2023. These military courts lack judicial independence, transparency, and due process guarantees,” the State Department said in a statement on Monday. 

“The United States continues to call on Pakistani authorities to respect the right to a fair trial and due process, as enshrined in Pakistan’s constitution.”

The Pakistan government and military have not yet responded to the statements by the US, UK and EU. However, while announcing the military court verdicts on Dec. 21, the army’s media wing said the sentences were an “important milestone in dispensation of justice to the nation.”

“It is also a stark reminder to all those who are exploited by the vested interests and fall prey to their political propaganda and intoxicating lies, to never take law in own hands,” the army said in a statement.

Others charged over the violence were being tried in anti-terrorism courts but justice would only be fully served “once the mastermind and planners ... are punished as per the Constitution and laws of the land,” the military said, in what was widely seen as a veiled reference to Khan.

The ruling came days after Khan was indicted by an anti-terrorism court on charges of inciting attacks against the military. An army general who served under him as his spy chief, Faiz Hamid, is facing a military investigation on the same charges.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court last week allowed military courts to announce verdicts in concluded trials of nearly 85 supporters of Khan on charges of attacking army installations. However, it made such verdicts conditional on the outcome of appeals against the jurisdiction of military courts over civilians.

The court last year provisionally allowed military courts to try civilians.

Topics: Imran Khan PTI military courts

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