NA body askd MOFA to expand network in Africa, other countries

ISLAMABAD, Apr 9 (APP):The National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Tuesday directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to expand network in Africa and other countries keeping in view the potential of trade, giving access to Pakistani traders.
The Standing Committee, held here at Parliament House, asked foreign ministry to also develop a proper mechanism to ensure the quality of Pakistani exports and blacklist those forms who damage the prestige of the country, said a news release issued here.
The committee expressed concern that Pakistani exports had been declined with the passage of time due to absence of consecutive trade policies of the successive governments.
The committee directed the ministry to develop a proper liaison with other ministries working on parallel grounds to explore new international markets to generate maximum revenue for the country.
The committee also directed the ministry to develop appraisal system to evaluate the performance of Pakistani personnel working in Pakistani Embassies and engage professional staff to achieve the targets set by the government.
The committee expressed concern over the lack of expertise of Commercial Attachés working in Pakistani Missions as they failed to cope with the requirements of the country and directed ministry to device a strong trade policy in collaboration with Ministry of Commerce to increase Pakistani exports.
Earlier, representatives of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Commerce briefed the committee about the measures adopted by them to enhance performance of Pakistani missions working abroad and problems faced by them in this regard.
The meeting was attended by Members National Assembly Mehar Ghulam Muhammad Lali, Muhammad Ameer Sultan, Syed Fakhar Imam, Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi, Ms. Munaza Hassan, Fazal Muhammad Khan, Ms. Maleeka Ali Bukhari, Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Ali Zahid, Ms. Mehnaz Akbar Aziz, Noor ul Hassan Tanvir, Ms. Zahra Wadood Fatemi, Ms. Maiza Hameed, Nauman Islam Sheikh and secretaries of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other senior officers of the concerned ministries and departments.