ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Saturday said Pakistan is working on proactive diplomacy and its relations with other countries are getting better. He was addressing a news conference flanked by Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti, Information Minister Murtaza Solangi, IT Minister Dr Umar Saif, Law Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam, and SAPM on Overseas Pakistanis, Jawad Sohrab Malik following a meeting of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

The foreign minister said that in the second day of the SIFC meeting was briefed about Pakistan’s foreign policy.

In the meeting, relations with different countries were discussed.

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Pakistan’s relations with other countries in the region, including China, are getting stronger, he said.

Jilani said Pakistan also enjoys good relations with Saudi Arabia, Middle East, GCC, South Asian and Central Asian countries.

Pakistan has excellent relations with Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Africa is emerging as an important region. The Look Africa Policy has been formulated.

Under the policy, relations with African countries will be further increased, the minister said. He further said relations with European countries are also of great importance.

Trade with the European Union will be further promoted, he added.

We have excellent and strong friendly relations with China. Steps are being taken to solve the problems of global investors, he said.

Many countries showed a positive trend due to the actions of the SIFC, he further added. The foreign minister said steps are being taken to solve the problems of international investors.

Jalil Abbas Jilani said long-term visas will be provided to the investors.

Speaking on the occasion, Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti said the Interior Ministry has made visa policy business friendly. He assured to issue visas to international investors on easy terms. The minister said special measures have been taken to prevent smuggling and the government has a zero-tolerance policy against this menace. He said law enforcement agencies have achieved great success in the war against terrorism. He warned that no one will be allowed to impose their agenda at gunpoint.

A visa policy could not be formulated for a long time, he said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has made the visa policy business-friendly.

Provision of visas to foreign investors on easy terms will be ensured, he said.

Special measures have been taken to prevent smuggling, the minister said while adding that actions are ongoing with coordinated cooperation between institutions to prevent smuggling.

In the coming days, more successes will be achieved for the prevention of smuggling.

The caretaker government has a zero tolerance policy regarding smuggling.

NADRA is doing its work in the best way.

Law enforcement agencies also achieved success in controlling terrorism.

No one will be allowed to impose their agenda at gunpoint. Jawad Sohrab Malik, in his remarks, said a cell will be established in collaboration with the Interior Ministry where issues related to the overseas Pakistanis will be solved.

Meanwhile, Dr Umar Saif said taxation system is being digitalised and it will help in documenting the economy.

Tax system is being digitized and digitization will help document the economy.

Work is under way to make the economy cashless, he added. The total exports of Pakistan’s IT sector are 2.6 billion dollars. The foreign exchange reserves of the country will further increase with the measures regarding the IT industry. Training will be provided to 0.2 million youth in IT department.

Various measures are also being taken for the convenience of freelancers.

Freelancing facility will be provided for 0.5 million people across Pakistan.

With special measures, the youth will be able to become a part of the global economy.

The minister said if the freelancers of Pakistan work easily, foreign exchange worth billions of dollars can come into the country.

Mobile phones are being manufactured in Pakistan, he further said.

He said training will be provided to 200,000 youth in the IT sector, whereas, freelancing facility will be provided for 500,000 people across the country.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023