JEDDAH, 29 May 2007 — The government of Pakistan in cooperation with the Saudi Ministry of Finance plans to organize investment seminars in various cities of the Kingdom, Pakistan’s Consul General Masood Akhtar said at a press briefing here yesterday.
The consul general highlighted the steps taken by the consulate general during his tenure to provide services to the members of the Pakistani community and solve their problems. “More than a million Pakistanis live in the Kingdom and it is a difficult task to serve them with the limited resources that we have,” he said. “But thank God, we addressed their problems and resolved them,” said Akhtar.
He said the consulate is trying to seek the assistance of Allama Iqbal Open University and other reputable institutions to provide higher education to Pakistani students in the Kingdom, he added.
He said a consul dealing with education would be appointed to provide guidelines to students seeking courses in higher studies.
He said a reasonable number of Pakistani students were granted scholarships by the Arab Open University thanks to the efforts of Ambassador Shahid Karimullah. Akhtar said that Pakistani community schools in the suburbs of Jeddah that are unable to run independently would be given financial aid by the consulate.
A National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Swift Center has been set up in Jeddah while another center has been opened in Madinah, Akhtar said.
The consul general said the commercial section of the consulate was doing an excellent job. Imports from Pakistan to the Kingdom have increased and more people are remitting money through banking channels now. Pakistanis have remitted $733.48 million through banking channels during the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the consul general added.
He said top Saudi companies had participated in Expo 2007 in Karachi and it was for the first time that 11 Saudi businesswomen also took part in the expo.
He said 13 Pakistani companies dealing in medical supplies and surgical items took part in the Saudi Healthcare Exhibition held in Jeddah recently.
The consul general said that 7,792 Pakistanis, who had been in jail and deportation center, were sent home and a substantial amount was spent on their repatriation by the welfare wing.
Head of Chancery Zaighamuddin Azam, Consul (Commercial) Hijab Gul, Shoukat Ali, Consul (Welfare) and Consul (Press) Mohammad Jamil, were also present.