ISLAMABAD – The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human ResourceDevelopment, during first 10 months of the year 2019, has assisted over258,215 Pakistanis to proceed Saudi Arabia for prospective jobopportunities in various sectors.
According to the data compiled by the Bureau of Emigration and OverseasEmployment, the manpower export to Saudi Arabia had registered a markedincrease of over 207 per cent this year as compared to corresponding yearof the last year when 84,091 went there.However, some 176,947 Pakistanis went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fordifferent jobs, exhibiting a nominal growth of only 1.7 percent.
The number of Pakistani emigrants to Oman had also increased by 5.8 percent as 23,998 Pakistanis proceeded to the said country during the 10-monthperiod compared to 22,668 in the corresponding period of 2018.
An official source in the Ministry told APP that Special Assistant to thePrime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource DevelopmentSayed Zulfikar Bukhari had held consultations with relevant authorities inmultiple states to augment the number of Pakistani workforce abroad.
He said Zulfi Bukhari had formally requested Saudi authorities to enhancethe Pakistani manpower in multi-billion dollars’ project of New Taif Cityof the Kingdom.
He said Saudi Arabia had also extended an offer for Pakistani manpower’sexport through ‘Musaned’- a digital platform launched by the Kingdom tofacilitate labour recruitment process and ensure their rights protection.
The process would take some months and after that the Pakistani workforcewould be sent to Saudi Arabia through that platform, he added.
The official said the ministry was also in process of linking up itsdigital portal with the UAE to set up direct link between its intendingemigrants and foreign employers.
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The initiative would eventually minimize the middle-man’s role inrecruitment process and help the country to train its workforce as per theinternational markets’ demand.
He said the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation had offeredits labour market’s database access to Pakistan which would provideup-dated information of job opportunities in the Emirates.
Sharing details of the recent visit of Zulfi Bukhari to Qatar, he said theSAPM had held a fruitful meeting with Qatar’s Minister of Labor and SocialAffairs, Yousaf Mohamed-Al-Othman Fakhroo and highlighted the potential ofthe Pakistani workforce.
Zulfi Bukhari also urged the Qatari minister to expedite the public sectorrecruitment in the health and energy sectors.
During the meeting, the SAPM also emphasized the need for digitalconnectivity between the two ministries, which would make the recruitmentmechanism more efficient.
