ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to strengthen trade and economic ties by removing all impediments and ensuring seamless flow of investment and commercial activities between the two countries, said Ghulam Dastgir, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE, on Monday.
“I had a very positive meeting yesterday with His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister and minister of presidential affairs at Qasr Al Watan [presidential palace] in Abu Dhabi,” Dastgir told Arab News in a telephonic interview from the UAE. “Both sides discussed issues related to trade and investment. The UAE assured cooperation at all levels to enhance business and economic ties with Pakistan.”
He added that the two sides also reviewed bilateral relations and discussed ways of enhancing cooperation in the development sector.
“The UAE representatives showed interest in establishing business-to-business and government-to-government contacts between the two countries.”
The ambassador said he wanted to convince UAE investors that Pakistan’s economy was back on track and offering exciting trade and investment opportunities.
“Pakistan has a lot of investment potential and I want to show this to UAE investors, both in government and private sector,” he added. “We are also going to establish a direct connection between UAE investors and Pakistan’s Board of Investment.”
Dastgir said he was also trying to promote tourism, adding that “we want to facilitate Arab tourists to explore Pakistan.”
The UAE, he added, was responding positively to the idea of facilitating Pakistani expats in the Emirates. Sharing of the digital job portal, he continued, was also part of the initiative which would eliminate middlemen exploitation.
Last week, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis, Syed Zulifqar Abbas Bukhari, had told Arab News that UAE Minister of Human Resources and Emiratization, Nasser bin Thani Al Hameli, had offered to open up its digital labor database to Pakistan to boost the export of labor from Pakistan.
Dastgir also thanked UAE officials for arranging such a high-level meeting in a short time.
“It was the meeting that took place on my request. Since I am new in the UAE, it was part of my courtesy call, but it turned out to be a very special meeting,” he added. “They arranged the meeting in such a short time which shows that the UAE government is very serious in taking forward bilateral relations between the two countries.”
