ISLAMABAD, Apr 24 (APP):The Overseas Pakistanis Foundation Tuesday asked the repatriated workforce to consult it after compilation of data, which is under process, to help their reemployment home and abroad.
Talking to APP, OPF’s Additional Director Mustafa Haider said there was no available data of repatriated manpower and the foundation was working on its collection which was expected to be completed in a month.
“The recently launched pilot project “Facilitation and Reintegration Centre” (FRC) in two phases is aimed at gathering and sharing the data to the relevant institutions and provide assistance to the returnees on financial and technical grounds to help them reenter in the job industry.
The foundation in its extended plan was also considering to hire a reputed consultant for short term to monitor the project and make it a success. The consultant would also give his feedback throughout the trial project and ensure some corrective measures, if required, for the hurdles that may come in the way of the initiative, he said.
The expert’s assistance for six months would help execute the project’s action plan in consultation with the department after which the intending skilled repatriate would be referred to National Education Foundation for the enhancement of their skills. They would later be recommended to the potential job areas through Overseas Employment Corporation for their reenactment.
OPF, Mustafa said, would also recommend semi-skilled and non-skilled workers in getting micro-finance loans from private banks to start their business in Pakistan, he added.
“Short And Medium Enterprises Development Authority will provide the business development services to those returnees willing to start business on their own “, he said.
The FRC, he said, was the extension of OPF’s earlier project of Rehabilitation Programme for Migrants that was only aimed at facilitating the families of returnees with some financial assistance who had either died or return to the countries with physical disability.
“Some 4.5 million foreign workforce’s repatriation due to economic shifts in GCC since 2015 has forced OPF to launch this project and make this skilled manpower a part of economic mainstream again” , Mustafa concluded.