KARACHI: Raja Nasir Ali Khan, the minister of tourism and sports for the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region, said Pakistan wanted to use the Dubai Expo to showcase the country’s tourism potential and attract Gulf nations to a planned winter sports festival this year, particularly to participate in a desert rally.
Gilgit-Baltistan is home to the Himalayas and the world’s second highest mountain K2. In 2018, it was listed by Forbes among the 10 “coolest places” to visit. The region’s economy is largely dependent on tourism and was severely hit last year as outbreaks of COVID-19 and travel curbs deterred tourists from flocking to GB’s glacial lakes, valleys and 8,000-meter-plus peaks.
This year, the government is banking on the arrival of a large number of tourists on account of fewer coronavirus infections and the loosening of domestic travel restrictions as well as visas on arrival for 65 nationalities.
From Gulf nations, Pakistan hopes people will come to participate in a rally in the Sarfaranga Desert, also known as the Skardu Cold desert, the tourism minister told Arab News.
Located at a height of 7,500 feet, it is the world’s highest desert where car rallies have been held for the last many years.
Khan said Pakistan had set up a huge pavilion, costing $28.72 million, at the Expo 2020 Dubai which will kick off next month, and hoped to use the platform to showcase the country’s “tourism potential” for winter and summer sports, particularly before Gulf countries.
“The people [from Gulf nations] will have opportunities to get firsthand knowledge of what we [Pakistan] have to offer them in northern parts of the country,” Khan said. “We will showcase our products like dry fruits and handicrafts and gems stones.”
“Through Dubai Expo 2020 our target is Gulf countries as we want their people should participate in the cold desert rally,” he said, adding that 150 drivers and over 100 bikers had participated in the last event.
Khan said he expected participation to increase by at least 50 percent this year as coronavirus rules had been relaxed.
“We want international participation, especially from Arab countries, for the event,” the minister said.
Pakistan hopes Dubai Expo pavilion will attract Gulf nations to desert rally this winter
https://arab.news/wrqth
Pakistan hopes Dubai Expo pavilion will attract Gulf nations to desert rally this winter
- Sarfaranga Desert, located at a height of 7,500 feet, is the world’s highest desert
- A car rally has been held in the ‘cold desert’ for the last few years
Amid Middle East tensions, Pakistan says viral notice on temporary port shutdown is fake
- Viral fake notification claimed Pakistan suspended port entries until Mar. 10 over Middle East situation
- Tensions have surged in the region after US and Israel bombed Iran and killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s information ministry on Thursday dismissed as fabricated a notice circulating on social media platforms about Islamabad suspending all types of entry at the country’s ports, clarifying that no such order has been issued.
The clarification came after a notification that stated it was from the Cabinet Division went viral on social media. It claimed that the maritime affairs ministry, on the instructions of the Prime Minister’s Office, decided to order the temporary suspension of all types of entries at Pakistan’s ports till Mar. 10.
The notification claimed that the decision was applicable on the Karachi Port Trust, Port Qasim Authority, Gwadar Port Authority, Port of Pasni, Port of Ormara and the Port of Jiwani, saying the decision had been taken “in the interest of national security and strategic preparedness.”
“The notification is FABRICATED,” the information ministry’s Fact Checker account wrote on X. “No such order has been issued by the Cabinet Division or the Ministry of Maritime Affairs.”
Tensions have surged in the Middle East since Feb. 28, when the US and Israel launched surprise airstrikes against Iran after months of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iran confirmed on Sunday its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed in the strikes as the Middle Eastern country retaliated with drone and missile attacks against US military installations in the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan has dismissed fears of a fuel shortage in the country, after the Strait of Hormuz was shut by Iran amid escalating hostilities between Tehran, the US and Israel. The conflict has disrupted tanker traffic through one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints.
Pakistan, which imports most of its fuel from Middle Eastern nations, has moved quickly to ensure its stock of petroleum products does not take a massive hit.
Pakistan has asked Saudi Arabia for help in securing crude oil supplies through the Red Sea port of Yanbu, the petroleum ministry said on Wednesday.
Pakistan’s Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has also allowed oil companies to regulate supply to their retail outlets to prevent hoarding and artificial price hikes as tensions in the Gulf surge.
