IT is, perhaps, for the first time in decades that a government responded to the longstanding demands of the Overseas Pakistanis in a comprehensive manner and came out with a liberal package envisaging incentives as well as measures to mitigate their mental and physical woes.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday announced a series of incentives for Overseas Pakistanis, including special courts, tax remissions, job quotas and skill development opportunities to acknowledge their contributions to the country’s development.
Addressing the Overseas Pakistanis Convention in Islamabad, the Prime Minister said the government will also make the ‘green channel’ facility operational in the next couple of weeks.
Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, ably led by the Federal Minister Ch.
Salik Hussain and Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF), engaged in welfare of the expats under the guidance of its Chairman Syed Qamar Raza deserve appreciation for their positive role in the finalization of a historic package that evoked enthusiastic response from over 1200 delegates of Overseas Pakistanis from across the globe, who attended the first annual convention.
It is satisfying that fourteen key demands of the expats have comprehensively been addressed, which will go a long way in promoting their welfare, mitigating their financial and legal concerns and encouraging investment with peace of mind.
Litigation and frauds were among the major concerns of Overseas Pakistanis as they find it difficult to effectively pursue their cases in ordinary courts because of their commitments to jobs abroad, the Prime Minister announced establishment of special courts for swift resolution of legal cases filed by them.
The move will be highly beneficial as it allows e-filing of cases and recording of evidence on video links in Pakistani missions abroad.
Similarly, despite availability of resources, children of Overseas Pakistanis were not able to get smooth admission in quality educational institutions and with this in view the government has allocated a five percent quota in all chartered and degree awarding institutions and fifteen percent in medical colleges.
The programme aimed at offering skill development training to five thousand children of Overseas Pakistanis will also help them get gainful employment either at home or abroad.
The decision to provide online sales deed facilities at Pakistan missions abroad, special facilitation by federal and provincial boards of revenue, and categorize overseas Pakistanis as filers will mean much for them as these would save their time and money besides enabling them to get tax relief in banking and business transactions.
The Prime Minister also announced that every year on August 14, outstanding Overseas Pakistanis would be awarded civil awards based on remittance contributions, as tracked by the State Bank.
The diplomatic missions and the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) will submit their nominations for the purpose and hopefully this will incentivize them to send more through official channels and as a result the remittances, which are likely to cross $38 billion this financial year, will increase further.
It is because of their vital role in promoting economic and financial interests of the country that the Army Chief, General Syed Asim Munir, during his inspiring address at the convention, pointed out that Overseas Pakistanis are the finest example of ‘brain gain’ and not ‘brain drain’.
The issues of terrorism and security of their families and assets have also been sources of concern for expats but hopefully the unflinching resolve expressed by the COAS to wipe out the menace once for all and his declaration that even ten generations of terrorists will not be able to harm Balochistan or Pakistan will also boost their trust in the ability of those at the helm of affairs back home to ensure sustainable peace and security.
The assurances given by Chairman Senate Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani and Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to exploit the forum of the parliament for resolution of problems of the Overseas Pakistanis also mean they will have effective voices to support their causes.
