ISLAMABAD: Pakistani senator and former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gillani has thanked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government for establishing “Asia’s largest” visa center in the port city of Karachi, a statement from the UAE’s consulate in the metropolis said on Wednesday.
Inaugurated in November 2021, the visa center was officially launched in April this year with the aim of improving customer service and facilitate the entry of Pakistanis into the UAE through electronic gates at the ports.
Pakistan has always had close diplomatic and defense relations with the UAE. With a population of over 1.5 million, Pakistanis are the second largest national group in the UAE after Indians, constituting 12.5 percent of the country’s total population. Pakistani expats in the UAE remitted a whopping $5.10 billion back home in 2022, second only to remittances from Saudi Arabia which were recorded at $6.67 billion last year.
“Gilani paid a special visit to the UAE visa center and appreciated the efforts of the Emirati government in providing job visas and other facilities to Pakistanis,” the UAE consulate’s statement said.
“I hope that the love of the honorable founder of the UAE toward Pakistanis will continue to grow with each passing day,” the statement quoted the former prime minister as saying. “The consul general Karachi is an excellent diplomat and also has a genuine love for Pakistan.”
Gilani was welcomed at the consulate by the UAE’s Consul General Karachi, Bakheet Ateeq Al Remeithi, who said the Emirati government and people would always stand by their Pakistani brothers.
Grappling with a worsening economic crisis, Islamabad has looked toward the UAE for help with external financing to fulfill a requirement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before it unlocks critical bailout funds.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said last month the UAE had confirmed it would financially support Pakistan with $1 billion, brightening the South Asian country’s prospects of reviving the $6.5 billion IMF loan program.
