ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has launched Vision F.O.to ensure a vibrant and effective foreign policy to protect political andeconomic interest of Pakistan.

Addressing the launching ceremony in Islamabad on Friday, he said that thelaunch of new website of the Foreign Office will help enhance accessibilityand it will be more informative for the visitors. He said it will befollowed by another launch of APP “FM Direct”, which will connect officersof the Foreign Service to the Foreign Minister and the Foreign Officedirectly from any part of the world. He said FM Direct will create anenvironment of meritocracy in the Foreign Office.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Foreign Office has enlisted a secure andactive video conferencing facility to connect with the key capitals of theworld to get first hand and prompt knowledge of the developments takingplace across the world.

He said we are going to restructuring, redesigning, and relocating ForeignService Academy to provide state of the art training facilities toPakistani as well as diplomats from across the region.

The Minister stressed the need for optimum utilization of available toolsand facilities in a more scientific way to upgrade foreign policy of thecountry. He said we are also going to launch FM Connect to engage withdifferent stakeholders, including think-tanks, academia, and media personsfor an effective foreign policy formulation.

He said we are going to engage with seasoned, experienced, and retireddiplomats under Foreign Minister Advisory Council to relate currentchallenges with their past experiments.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said economic diplomacy has a vital role in attractinginvestments, enhancing country’s trade and exports with foreign countries.For this purpose, we organized a two-day envoy’s conference titled EngageAfrica and the next conference has been scheduled in Nairobi to promotepolitical and economic interests of Pakistan. He said the diplomatic corpsshould look into the Memorandums of Understanding and other agreements,Pakistan has signed with various countries, and devise a policy how theycan be used for improving lives of common people.

Highlighting importance and contributions of Pakistani expatriates, theMinister said our envoys need to tap the huge potential of Pakistanidiaspora living in European and other countries.