ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is sending 600 medical professionals to Kuwait, and a first batch of 221 doctors, nurses and technicians is all set to fly out on Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis, Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, said on Wednesday.
A second group of 200 medical professionals will also fly to Kuwait in the coming months, under an agreement signed between the two countries in July this year, Bukhari’s office said in a statement.
The adviser virtually addressed the health care workers set to leave on Thursday and urged them to uphold the highest values and standards of professionalism in Kuwait as they were the “ambassadors of Pakistan.”
“It will be you who will pave the way for other Pakistanis aspiring to seek jobs in Kuwait,” Bukhari said.
He added that Pakistan was committed to the development of Kuwait and would provide skilled workforce in multiple sectors aligned with Kuwait’s Vision 2035 to diversify the economy away from oil and strengthen relations with Asia.
In this photo taken on October 21, 2020, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis, Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, and the ambassador of Kuwait to Pakistan, Nasr Abdul Rehman J Al Mutairi, address healthcare professionals leaving for Kuwait. Islamabad, Pakistan (Photo courtesy: APP)
“The revival of workforce export to Kuwait was a historic moment for Pakistan as not a single worker had been sent to the Gulf country during the last 13 years,” Bukhari said, adding that Kuwait planned to hire the services of over 1,000 Pakistani health care professionals, including doctors, paramedics and nurses.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government had sent around one million Pakistanis abroad to explore jobs opportunities in different countries, Bukhari said: “The government’s prime focus was to export skilled manpower to the member states Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) along with the European countries.”
According to the statement, the ambassador of Kuwait to Pakistan, Nasr Abdul Rehman J Al Mutairi, thanked the Pakistan government for providing medical assistance to his country to help combat the novel coronavirus.
“You are leaving your country to go to your country…you are leaving your families to join your families in Kuwait,” he said to the medical professionals. “And I am sure that you will prove to be a great help for your Kuwaiti brothers and sisters.”
