ISLAMABAD: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans to invest $5 billion in an oil refinery project in Pakistan by the end of 2019, said UAE’s top diplomat while talking to Arab News on Thursday.
“We are going to launch very soon one of the biggest investments in a refinery project in Hub (a town in Balochistan). It is going to be a $5 billion investment between Mubadala Petroleum Company of Abu Dhabi, Pak Arab Refinery Limited (PARCO) and OMV [OMV Pakistan Exploration Gesellschaft],” UAE Ambassador Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi said.
PARCO Coastal Refinery is among UAE’s major investments in the country. It was incorporated in Pakistan in May 1974, as a public limited company. Today, PARCO is considered the fulcrum in Pakistan’s strategic oil supply and logistics.
Mubadala Petroleum is an international oil and gas company based in the UAE.
The plan is to set up a deep-conversion, state-of-the-art refinery that would have an output of 250,000-300,000 barrels per day.
Al-Zaabi said the project was the result of extensive discussions between Mubadala Petroleum and Pakistan’s petroleum ministry along with PARCO and OMV.
“This project will show the strength of UAE-Pakistan relations and how the UAE is focusing on investment in and future of Pakistan.”
Pakistan has sought local and foreign investment in oil and gas sector. It is also offering good rates to oil and gas exploration and production companies.
“The two governments are finalizing the minute details of this refinery project. Many meetings have taken place regarding this project,” Al-Zaabi said, adding that a UAE delegation, headed by Musabbeh Al Kaabi, the chief executive officer of Mubadala Petroleum, visited Pakistan a few months ago and met with the board of investment chairman and Pakistan’s petroleum minister.
“They have discussed this project in detail. We are going to launch it very soon,” he added.
UAE to invest $5 billion in Pakistan's oil refinery, says envoy
UAE to invest $5 billion in Pakistan's oil refinery, says envoy
- PARCO Coastal Refinery is among UAE’s major investments in the country
- The oil refinery project in Hub, Balochistan, will have an output of 250,000-300,000 barrels per day
Pakistan lauds female polio workers as push to end virus intensifies
- Acknowledgement comes as Pakistan marks annual campaign promoting women’s rights and safety
- Ayesha Raza Farooq says the real strength of the polio program is its female workers and their bravery
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top polio official on Tuesday praised the country’s female vaccination workers for their “extraordinary contribution” to the eradication drive, saying their efforts were central to ending the virus as Pakistan marked the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, an annual campaign to promote women’s rights and safety.
Female health workers administer the majority of polio drops in Pakistan, going door to door in remote, high-risk and conservative communities where women are best positioned to gain access to children.
Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world, alongside neighboring Afghanistan, where wild poliovirus remains endemic. The country has so far reported 30 cases this year.
“What you do is extraordinary, and your courage in all circumstances is the reason Pakistan will soon be polio-free,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s focal person on polio eradication, during a meeting with frontline workers in Islamabad.
“Pakistan’s real strength in this program is its female polio workers,” she added.
Farooq said she had listened to the concerns of field teams and assured them of full government support.
She maintained that female vaccinators had shown “remarkable bravery” despite difficult terrain, security concerns and community resistance in some areas.
In October, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) named Farooq Pakistan’s first gender champion for her leadership in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in public health and in the eradication effort.
Pakistan is scheduled to kick off the last nationwide anti-polio vaccination drive of 2025, according to the National Emergencies Operation Center (NEOC), with an aim to inoculate 45 million children.
The NEOC has also urged parents to coordinate with health workers during the campaign.
