JEDDAH, 29 June  — The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia values the expertise and sincerity of Pakistani personnel working in the Kingdom and contrary to the general perception manpower import from Pakistan has increased, said the outgoing Consul General of Pakistan Qazi Rizwanul Haq Mahmood.

After successfully completing his three-year tenure here, Qazi is scheduled to leave for Abu Dhabi on July 5 to join Pakistan Embassy as a minister. Nazir Chaudhry will succeed him as the new consul general at Jeddah.

Citing figures to corroborate his claim, the outgoing consul general said Saudi companies have recruited a record number of Pakistani professionals in the past three years.

He said that in the year 1999, over 22,000 people were hired, while in 2000, this number shot up to 67,000. In the current year, as the trend shows, a fairly big number of Pakistanis have been employed by local firms as well as by government-run institutions. This year 3,500 doctors have been recruited so far from Pakistan, out of them 400 have been hired by the Ministry of Health.

“It is not due to socio-religious proximity between the two countries alone although this is one of the reasons. Pakistanis are preferred to others for their competence and expertise, hard work and loyalty,” he said.

Certainly, the construction boom of the eighties is over with the infrastructural development of Saudi Arabia, so the labor class is hardly seen these days. Now the maximum number of people are coming in the IT sector, accounts and health-related jobs, he observed.

As far as the flow of remittances to Pakistan is concerned, “Let me tell you that it has gone up by 18 percent during 2000 to 2001.”

Last year the total remittance to Pakistan from expatriates in the Kingdom was $245 million, this year’s figure till now is $118 million, which is the highest in comparison to any other country.

But the consul general admitted that the government’s decision to freeze the foreign currency accounts (FCA) was “ill-conceived” and had shattered the overseas Pakistanis’ confidence. He said that as per the assurance given by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz that there will be no such move in the future. Their confidence has been restored, he added.

One big problem in this context, he said, is “hundi” system. But the government is working to evolve a mechanism to counter this menace. Experts are pondering ways to make provisions for immediate money transfer and to overcome the disparity between the exchange rates of banks and “hundi operators, Qazi said. A team of bankers will soon come to the Kingdom to work on that. Furthermore, those who will send money through official channels will get duty rebate on their goods back in Pakistan, this has already been announced in this year’s budget, Qazi said.

Regarding bilateral trade development, the consul general said, “the trade is our primary objective, the consulate works as a catalyst and a bridge between the trading communities of the two nations.” For the last three years, 2-3 high-level trade delegations visited Saudi Arabia every year. One such team was led by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and president of the Pakistani Federation of Trade and Commerce

 A joint investment council has also been established two years ago to correct the trade imbalance. A website which is updated every third day is in place for the development of trade between the two countries. The site can be accessed at www.pak_sauditrade.com, the site is a treasure trove of tarde-related information, Qazi said.

All these efforts resulted in the increase of export to 27 percent during July 2000 to March 2001 against a target of 21 percent. It surpassed our own target by six percent. This in itself is a big achievement, the consul general said. Our trade delegations have assured Saudi companies that there will not be any compromise on quality, which has further enhanced their trust in Pakistani products, he said.

Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation during his Islamabad visit had expressed his confidence in Pakistan. A prominent Saudi businessman Khalid Juffali, who visited Pakistan recently has held out an assurance of a substantial investment. “The relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is a relation between two nations, not between two individuals, which is not affected by any political change,” Qazi said.

The major export to the Kingdom from Pakistan consists of bedwear (44.2 percent), rice (39.5), ready-made garments (25.3) percent, followed by some other products. The total export during 1989-90 was worth $185 million. This figure had gone up to $215 million in the year 2000. The Saudi import to Pakistan is worth $923 million, which consists of petroleum and petroleum products, the consul general said. “We are trying our best to bridge the trade imbalance.”

He also informed that in the past three years no Pakistani has been arrested on drug smuggling charges in the Kingdom. “This is a very big achievement of our Anti-Narcotics Force.”

To promote Pakistan as a favorite tourist destination among the Arab tourists particularly among Saudis, the government is formulating a tourism policy, which will be adopted very soon, the consul general said. He said “Pakistan has tremendous tourist opportunities and places of general interest with wonderful and exotic ambiance, but we lack in basic infrastructure. Now this is being upgraded.” Once the policy is adopted Pakistan will attract tourists from all corner of the world, Qazi said.

Regarding Haj management, the consul general said it remains smooth and takes care of the comfort and convenience of the pilgrims. He said that so far selection of buildings are concerned a lot of market factors play an important role.

There are countries with lesser number of pilgrims but bigger purses, so naturally they get better buildings and that too nearer to the Holy Haram. Such factors are beyond our control, the consul general said.  Last year the PIA, Pakistan’s flag-bearer, achieved 98.6 percent on-time flight punctuality, Qazi said. “But despite our satisfactory performance during Haj, still a lot needed to be done on this account,” Qazi observed.

When asked about his achievements here, the consul general modestly described himself as any other diplomat. But for a large section of Pakistani community, Qazi was not only a cliched philosopher, friend and guide but a fountainhead of creative and constructive ideas which helped a lot in the uplift of the community. In his stay here, Qazi pursued a vision to make difference in the life of his expatriate brethren. One such project was a free computer education to Pakistanis in Jeddah for which he took initiative and started a computer education center in the consulate premises under the supervision of the Welfare Wing.

The other one is Database developed in the consulate which helps unemployed people in getting jobs. Last year 732 people got job through it while this year till now 547 people have been benefited by utilizing this database.

Qazi’s other achievement in Jeddah was that he brought all section of Pakistani expatriates, irrespective of their party affiliation, on one platform and forged a strong bond of unity among them which helped in various socio-cultural activities. A grand “Mushaira” in Saudi General Hospital auditorium was the result of his effort.

On the school front, the consul general said that the election of the board of directors will help in the smooth functioning of the school’s day-to-day activities. He appealed to the community members to come forward and actively associate themselves with the school.

The consul general’s wife also worked with great deal of enthusiasm with the women folk of the community and was a constant source of inspiration for them. She was associated with various voluntary organizations and patronized a number of them. Recently she had started a campaign under the banner of Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Pakistan, to help financially and by providing legal aid, to Pakistani women who are lodged in jails on various charges.

In his message to a strong and vibrant Pakistani community in the Kingdom Qazi said that “he was very happy to see that Pakistani’s are held in high esteem in the Kingdom. To keep their image and reputation intact, they should work harder with honesty and dedication and should always abide by the law of the land.”

One more thing which Qazi added was that “Pakistanis should bear in mind that the consulate is always willing to provide whatever assistance and support they need from time to time.”