'Naya Pakistan Calling Portal' launched for expats' expertise in national development

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD) Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari Wednesday launched a web portal titled 'Naya Pakistan Calling' to hire services of Pakistani diaspora in diverse fields of their expertise for national development.

It will provide the diaspora a gateway where they could share their professional prowess and experiences, he said while addressing a launching ceremony of the portal held here at the Overseas Pakistan Foundation (OPF) office.

Bukhari reiterated the government's resolve of maximum capitalization of this resourceful segment, seeking direct involvement of overseas Pakistanis in strategic decision making with the aim to give them a sense of ownership in their 'own' country.

Terming the initiative 'reversal' of the brain drain, he said overseas Pakistanis would be given ownership here under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, regretting that they were not on priority list of previous governments.

From the very first day of this government, Zulfikar Bukhari said " We focused on maximum utilization of this valuable asset, who left their homes and children behind expecting better treatment on coming back in return to their huge contribution for the country's economic growth."

He announced the opening of an ownership cell in the Ministry by month-end to remove their sense of deprivation developed due to non-productive policies of the past regimes.

The Pakistani expatriates now could submit their Curriculum Vitae(CVs) on the portal and register themselves by selecting their area of interests where they intend to serve.

Determined to promote e-governance in its department, Bukhari said "This is a step in the right direction to provide a digital platform to Pakistani expatriates at this stage."

He said a number of overseas Pakistanis contacted him for making investment in Pakistan, for which the government was working out a framework to remove the red-tapism and flaws in banking process.

Federal Secretary for OP&HRD Muhammad Asif said the launching of portal was the part of Prime Minister Imran Khan's first 100 days reforms initiative plan.

Prior to official launching the portal, he said the department made its test-run at the official during which as many as 380 expatriates submitted their CVs so far while particulars of 30 notable overseas Pakistanis had been forwarded to the relevant departments for necessary action and process.

"We are ready to engage those overseas professionals who could share their skills in different relevant fields online. Besides, this portal will also help connect the department with those who are willing to come to Pakistan for serving the country," Asif added.

When the top brass of the Ministry recently reviewed the OPF mandate, he said "We perceived that the OPF is missing a very important task which is reintegration of repatriates."

Commending his team's efforts in developing the portal in just 26 days, he said the Ministry was working on fast-track since Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government came into power.

Giving a demo to the audience of registration process on the portal, Managing Director Dr Amir Sheikh said, interested expatriates had to add their qualification, area of interest and experience in particular field after registering themselves on the department's official site. The OPF, after verifying their particulars, would recommend the successful aspirants to relevant department, considering their abilities, knowledge and experience, Amir Sheikh added.

The MD said the portal contained a database, comprising of professional profiles of overseas Pakistanis, which would be accessible to all stakeholders.

They (expats) are a potential source of opportunities including trade, investment, innovation and technical knowledge, he added.