JEDDAH, 9 November 2006 — Efforts are under way to streamline the working of Pakistani schools in the Kingdom, said Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia retired Adm. Shahid Karimullah yesterday.
Speaking to journalists at the Consulate General of Pakistan in Jeddah, the ambassador said he would discuss the issues of school boards at a meeting with Saudi authorities on Nov. 13.
He said he would nominate the members of the board who would subsequently be approved by the Saudi Ministry of Education. He also said the school in Jeddah is overstaffed and its working needs to be streamlined.
Ambassador Karimullah said the validity of a machine-readable passport could be increased to more than five years but ruled out the inclusion of children in a parent’s passport. “A separate passport will have to be made for each child,” he said.
About the construction of a new building for the consulate, he said the master plan for the complex is being prepared that will house the consulate building, a community hall and a recreation center. Prime Minster Shaukat Aziz may perform the foundation-laying ceremony during his visit to Saudi Arabia slated for December.
About the problem of overstayers, he said the Kingdom’s move to deny Umrah visas to those below 40 years coming alone has yielded good results. “There has been a 12 percent decline in the influx of potential overstayers to the Kingdom from Pakistan,” he said.
Karimullah said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in science and higher education and a formal agreement to this effect would be signed shortly.
He said there is great potential for the promotion of tourism in Pakistan. “The only thing we lack is infrastructure. We need to provide facilities and develop tourist resorts to attract foreign visitors.”
A commercial attaché will soon be appointed in Riyadh to look after Pakistan’s commercial interests. India and Bangladesh have several commercial officers who are working to promote their business interests in the Kingdom.
About the midterm elections in the US, Karimullah said any outcome will have no major bearing on the country’s policy. They have a system in place where an individual has a limited say, he added.
