ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE Faisal Niaz Tirmizi this week lauded the Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD) for protecting migrant workers’ rights, highlighting the forum’s “unique role” in addressing labor mobility issues and stressing the need for innovative approaches to meet changing labor demands in the modern world.

The ADD was established in 2008 as a forum for dialogue and cooperation between Asian countries of labor origin and destination. The forum comprises ten member states, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. It also features six Gulf countries of destination, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Malaysia.

The forum’s chairmanship rotates between a sending and a receiving country on a voluntary basis. Tirmizi lauded the platform while he addressed the ADD’s 7th Ministerial Consultation in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

“Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi emphasized the forum’s unique role in addressing labor mobility issues and protecting migrant workers’ rights,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry wrote on social media platform X. It added that the ambassador appreciated the forum’s focus on women in green jobs and underlined the need for “innovative approaches to meet changing labor demands” and developing skills mobility partnerships.

“[He] underscored the global significance of addressing climate change and migrant health,” the ministry said. 

A senior official of the ministry of overseas Pakistanis last year identified Saudi Arabia and the UAE as the top preferred destinations for Pakistani migrant workers in 2023. According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2022-23, a total of 829,549 Pakistanis went abroad in search of better financial opportunities last year. Among them, 514,725 people, who accounted for over 62 percent of the total number, chose to relocate to Saudi Arabia, while 15.5 percent, or 129,000 workers, decided to move to the UAE to secure their livelihood.

Workers’ remittances are important to Pakistan’s economy, particularly after the country’s foreign exchange reserves rapidly depleted last year and as Islamabad repeatedly seeks financial assistance from friendly nations and international lenders.