The government has set a target of manpower export of one million this year, as many countries, including Romania, Portugal and Greece, have shown interest in importing manpower from Pakistan, said Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sajid Hussain Turi, reports WealthPK. He expressed these views while addressing the business community during his visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) on Tuesday.

The minister said the government was working to allocate quota to overseas employment promoters (OEPs) in order to increase the manpower exports. Turi said he had visited many countries, including Romania, Portugal, Greece, Malta, Poland, Hungary, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, which had shown interest in importing manpower from Pakistan and MoUs were being signed with many of them.

He said over 4,700 OEPs are working in Pakistan out of which about 2,200 are active. He urged them to play their role in promoting manpower exports and assured them of the government’s cooperation. The minister said his ministry will include OEPs in its delegations so that they could explore new avenues of manpower export. He said special courts would be set up to decide the cases of expatriates in 60 days, adding that more schools and industrial homes would be set up for them.

Turi said the protector offices in Islamabad, Sukkur, Abbottabad, Bannu and Gilgit-Baltistan would be opened to facilitate the OEPs in promoting the manpower export. He said a new policy for community welfare attaches (CWAs) is being made to give them targets for community welfare and addressing the issues of expatriates. He assured that all highlighted issues of the business community will be solved.

Speaking on the occasion, President of ICCI Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari said Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are low and promoting manpower export is the best option to enhance remittances and improve the forex reserves. He said 65 percent of the population of Pakistan is quite young and the government should equip this talent with the latest skills and training to improve the prospects of manpower exports.

He said the rising difference between the interbank and open market dollar rate should be taken up with the finance minister, as it would further reduce the forex reserves and weaken economy. Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI; Hafiz Faheem Iqbal, Senior Vice Chairman; Asad Hafeez Kiyani, Vice Chairman Pakistan Overseas Employment Promoters Association (POEPA); and others highlighted various issues of OEPs related to NAVTTC, OPF, Bureau of Immigration, EOBI, Workers Welfare Fund.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk