PM’s adviser on overseas Pakistanis on first visit to UAE since COVID-19 outbreak

ISLAMABAD: The prime minister’s special assistant on overseas Pakistanis, Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, is leaving for the UAE on Wednesday to discuss with Emirati officials the situation of Pakistani workers on the labor market as the Gulf state’s economy is emerging from a coronavirus standstill. 
Thousands of Pakistani expats lost their jobs amid COVID-19 lockdowns and business closures in the Gulf state. During his first visit since the recent reopening of the UAE’s airspace, Bukhari is expected to meet with the Emirati labor minister to discuss the issue.
“UAE is one of the two largest labor markets for Pakistani workers. The meeting is expected to highlight issues faced by Pakistani labor generally and specially during COVID-19,” Bukhari’s office said in a statement.
He will also meet with members of the Pakistani diaspora, especially those whose philanthropic activity helped compatriots in the UAE stay afloat amid the health and economic crisis.
“The donors contributed thousands of dollars in cash and kind to help their countrymen in need,” the statement said, adding that Bukhari will express gratitude to them on behalf of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The UAE is home to 1.2 million Pakistanis and the second biggest host to overseas Pakistani workers and source of foreign remittances, after Saudi Arabia.