ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health minister Abdul Qadir Patel in a meeting with his Saudi counterpart on Tuesday discussed job openings for Pakistani medical professionals, the health ministry said in a statement. 

Patel is in Cairo to participate in the 69th Regional Mediterranean Conference organized by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Abdul Qadir Patel also shared brief about Pakistani professionals — skilled — nurses, paramedics, technicians, including physiotherapists, requesting the Saudi Health Minister that services of these professionals should be engaged on priority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the Pakistani health ministry said in a statement after Patel’s meeting with Fahad Bin Abdur Rehman Al-Jalaja.

“Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia share common religious family values and looking after the elderly and patients by trained professional nurses will be great work,” Patel said. 

He also briefed Al-Jalaja over the issues of the recognition and accreditation of degrees from Pakistani medical universities in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Jalajel said his ministry, in collaboration with the Pakistani ministry for expats, would ensure that nurses and paramedical staff learnt the Arabic language so it would be easier for them to get jobs in the kingdom.

The Saudi minister also assured his counterpart he would take up the matter relating to the registration and accreditation of Pakistani degrees with concerned Saudi authorities and “ensure an early resolution.”