ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Defence Production and Science and Technology Rana Tanveer Hussain on Saturday said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his government were determined to bring economic stability in Pakistan and have a peaceful neighbourhood.
While addressing the representatives of over 120,000 Pakistanis based in South Africa at the High Commission of Pakistan, Pretoria, he said that his government had accorded top most priority to the welfare and well-being of all Pakistanis living abroad, said a press release received here.
The minister also briefed his fellow Pakistanis on various measures taken by the government for a bright future of Pakistan. In response to a couple of issues raised by the community representatives, Rana Tanveer Hussain promised to look into these after going back to Islamabad.
Speaking on the occasion, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, MNA Ch Jaffar Iqbal, shared his experiences with Pakistanis living abroad and stated that every Pakistani working abroad was contributing in the economy of Pakistan.
Terming the expatriate Pakistanis as an ‘asset’, the parliamentary secretary praised the peaceful community living in South Africa and urged them to increase people-to-people contact and trade between the two countries.
President of Pakistan-South Africa Association Raja Fakhar Hayat, representing over 120,000 Pakistanis based in South Africa, expressed deep gratitude to the Government of Pakistan and the High Commissioner of Pakistan for effectively looking after the interests of the community.
He also expressed gratitude for expeditiously resolving all issues facing the community, in particular, issuance of Machine Readable Passports (MRP) to all categories of applicants. The High Commission has so far issued more than 13,000 MRPs since August 2015.
High Commissioner Najm us Saqib addressed his fellow Pakistanis and expressed satisfaction over the performance of Pakistan-South Africa Association with regard to the well-being of all Pakistanis residing in South Africa.
Guiding the community on their future plans, the high commissioner stressed on the need of providing higher education to the Pakistani youth, in particular, in the fields of Science and Technology.
In the end, Mufti Akbar Hazarvi of Dar ul Uloom Pretoria along with the gathering prayed for the betterment of people of Pakistan and a deserving future for the oppressed people of Jammu and Kashmir.
