ISLAMABAD, Jun 15 (APP):President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday expressed condolence and deep sorrow over the death of daughter of former secretary Tariq Najeeb Najmi.
The president called the former secretary over telephone and expressed sympathies with him on his daughter’s death who was suffering from cancer.
President Alvi prayed to Allah Almighty to grant courage to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss. He also prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul.
ISLAMABAD, June 15 (APP): Pakistan on Thursday strongly condemned India for confiscating the properties of Kashmiri activists and human rights defenders in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
“We are concerned about the recurring acts of confiscation of properties by India in IIOJK,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said at a weekly press briefing.
Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said India’s National Investigation Agency and the State Investigation Agency (SIA) had moved “aggressively” to seize immovable properties of several Kashmiri activists.
“It is concerning that just SIA has attached 124 such properties since its establishment in 2021,” she said.
She said, “We condemn India’s recent move to confiscate the property of All Parties Hurriyat Conference Spokesperson and Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader, Ayaz Akbar, in Srinagar.”
Akbar remains behind the bars since 2017 on fictitious charges.
The FO spokesperson said India must end dispossessing the political leaders and human rights defenders of their rightful properties.
“Kashmiris are the rightful heirs to their own land. It is unfortunate that non-Kashmiris are being encouraged to buy land and property in the disputed territory while the properties of Kashmiris are being confiscated and destroyed,” she said.
During the ongoing visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Azerbaijan, she said, the two sides would exchange views on diverse areas of bilateral cooperation including in energy, culture, banking, education, defence, information technology, science and technology, and trade and investment.
Also, the two countries would sign a programme of cultural cooperation and a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the foreign service academies of Pakistan and Azerbaijan.
The FO spokesperson said the 12th round of Pakistan -Iran Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC) would be held in Tehran on June 17-18 June.
The Foreign Secretary will lead Pakistani delegation while Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs of Iran, Ali Bagheri Kani will lead the Iranian side, she said.
Baloch said regarding the progress on implementation of decisions of last session, the BPC would review all aspects of Pakistan-Iran bilateral relations covering political, economic, trade, investment, border security, education, climate change and culture domains.
She said the two sides would also hold discussions on regional situation particularly Afghanistan, Kashmir, resumption of Iran-Saudi Arabia diplomatic ties and regional peace and stability.
The two sides will also discuss progress on institutional frameworks to promote ongoing cooperation in all areas of mutual interest, she said.
In Tehran, the foreign secretary will call on the Iranian Foreign Minister and address the Institute of Political and International Studies. He will also hold meeting with Secretary General of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and Chairman of Pakistan -Iran Parliamentary Friendship Group. The last meeting of BPC was held in Islamabad in October 2021.
The spokesperson said the second round of Pakistan-Belgium Bilateral Political Consultations is being held in Islamabad today. Additional Foreign Secretary (Europe) Ambassador Muhammad Saleem will lead the Pakistan side while the Belgium delegation will be led by Ambassador Cooreman, Director General, Bilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium.
“The two sides will review the entire spectrum of Pakistan-Belgium relations and set the agenda for bilateral engagement and cooperation for the next year,” she said.
Pakistan and Belgium, she said, would discuss collaboration at international forums, including at the UN, and important regional and global developments. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Belgium.
“Pakistan remains committed to further deepening and broadening its ties with Belgium in the areas of trade, investment, academic and cultural cooperation, tourism and labor mobility,” she said.
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 15 (APP): The United Nations offices in Pakistan and India are in touch with the concerned authorities for any support as Cyclone Biparjoy heads towards the two countries’ coastal areas, a UN spokesman said today.
“All the country offices in the countries potentially impacted are in touch with local authorities to see how they could best help, support”, Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told the daily noon briefing in response to a question.
Currently classified as a “very severe cyclonic storm”, Biparjoy was on track to make landfall between Pakistan’s port Keti Bandar and India’s Gujarat by this evening.
BAKU, Jun 15 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was presented guard of honour here at the Presidential Zugulba Palace on Thursday.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev warmly received PM Shehbaz upon his arrival at the Zugulba Palace.
A contingent of Azerbaijan armed forces also presented salute to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Later the two leaders proceeded for a meeting at the Presidential Palace. After the meeting the two leaders will also talk to the media. A delegation of Azerbaijan ministers will also call on the prime minister to discuss the bilateral cooperation between the two countries in trade and energy sectors.
Earlier, Shehbaz Sharif visited the mausoleum of National Hero and first President of Azerbaijan, Heyder Aliyev and laid a floral wreath at the mausoleum.
The prime minister also paid a visit to the martyrs monument.
ISLAMABAD, Jun 15 (APP): Pakistani freelancers and entrepreneurs are expanding abroad by establishing a company in the US and UK markets, as data shared by UK government on foreign-owned company establishment shows that Pakistan ranks first, especially in E-Commerce industry.
Workhy, which provides end-to-end solutions that facilitate company establishment abroad has started to provide services in Urdu to facilitate opening of Pakistani entrepreneurs, especially those operating in the e-commerce industry and providing freelance services, to global markets.
Pakistani entrepreneurs and freelancers export know-how and services to all over the world by using the possibilities of digitalization.
The data by the United Kingdom (UK) government on foreign-owned company establishment shows that Pakistani nationality ranks first in the e-commerce category. In addition, in The State of the Amazon Seller 2023, Pakistan ranks the fifth among the top selling countries in Amazon USA.
Considering the number of company establishments, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Workhy, Kenan Açikelli on Thursday said Pakistan has a great potential in terms of entrepreneurship ecosystem, and added “In the last five years, we see that most of entrepreneurs operating in field of e-commerce and doing business as freelancers are Pakistani citizens.”
It is known that nearly five thousand (5000) Pakistani entrepreneurs subscribed to Workhy to establish companies abroad.
According to the data shared by Workhy, in economically developing countries such as Pakistan, e-commerce plays a key role in increasing corporate competitiveness and country’s share in global trade. Pakistani citizens contribute to country’s economy with small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses they have established in countries such as the United States of America (USA) and the UK, promising great potential.
“Workhy is a platform that enables entrepreneurs from all over the world to establish companies and manage financial processes online in the country of their choice, without having to reside or travel.
Pakistani entrepreneurs can establish companies in the USA, UK, Estonia, Netherlands and Turkey with Workhy or can open a branch in Germany,” Açikelli said.
Workhy, which has recently started to provide services in Urdu in consultancy processes, visited Pakistan in 2023 many times and made strong partnerships with the entrepreneurship ecosystem. The company plans to launch Urdu version of its website soon.
Launched in 2022, Workhy has created above 20,000 companies for more than 130 nationalities. In addition, it is the exclusive partner of more than 20 global companies such as Payoneer, Wise, Mercury Bank, PayPal, Stripe. It has received investments from international investors and continues to expand to all continents.
ISLAMABAD, Jun 15 (APP): Minister of State for the Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar met the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) Josep Borrell in Strasbourg.
Recalling her meeting with the High Representative on the sidelines of the second EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Stockholm on May 13, the minister expressed satisfaction on the ongoing cooperation between Pakistan and the EU based on the Strategic Engagement Plan.
The minister highlighted, “Pakistan is engaging with the European institutions for building partnerships under various initiatives of the EU including the Global Gateway Strategy with a focus on green energy, and blue economies,” according to a statement received here on Thursday.
She also expressed the desire to further enhance EU-Pakistan mutual engagement, especially legal pathways to migration while addressing EU’s concerns on readmission.
Underscoring the importance of trade and economic cooperation, Minister of State emphasized that the EU’s GSP Plus framework had been mutually beneficial and instrumental in growth of trade between the two sides.
She highlighted the importance of decisive global action on climate adaptation and building climate resilience, and the importance of developed countries taking the lead in mobilizing climate finance, noting the significant role of public and private funds, and technology to facilitate the transition.
The minister and the High Representative/Vice-President also exchanged views on regional issues and reaffirmed their commitment to promote peace and prosperity through concerted efforts.
Hina Rabbani Khar expressed hope that the HR/VP would visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience.
BEIJING, June 15 (APP): A well-reputed Pakistani manufacturer showcased its high-quality dental surgical instruments at the Sino-Dental Exhibition, the world’s second-largest exhibition, held in Beijing, China.
My company successfully achieved its targets with the signing of two new contracts with Chinese companies, Muhammad Sabir Jan, Founder and CEO, of Sawuat (Beijing) International Trade Co., Ltd told APP here on Thursday.
He said that it was very hard to book a place in this exhibition but his company was allocated three booths because of the all-weather friendship between Pakistan and China.
This year’s exhibition focused on dental and healthcare and all international brands from the US, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, South Korea, Japan and China were displayed for the customers.
Sabir Jan company has over 30 years of experience in import and export as well as business consultancy in different related fields.
The company with its head office in Beijing China, and a sub-office in Virginia, USA, had been participating in this exhibition since 2010.
He said that being a professional importer and exporter of Made-in-Pakistan Dental Surgical Instruments, his company was awarded Drug Administration (CFDA), a certificate of registration of imported medical devices in China and the USA.
He said that most of his customers come from China, South East Asia, Middle East, Central Asian States and the USA.
For the next year’s exhibition, he would start his planning right now to participate in the event in a better way.
To a question, he expressed his commitment to providing good satisfaction to his customers through quality products.
He said that in every interaction, he aimed to treat his customers and employees with respect, offering superior services in a friendly, professional, and productive manner.
Sabir Jan was planning to showcase his products at the forthcoming exhibitions including DenTech, Shanghai and Greater New York Expo 2023.
BAKU, Jun 15 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday visited the mausoleum of National Hero and first President of Azerbaijan, Heyder Aliyev here and laid a floral wreath at the mausoleum.
Later, the prime minister will pay a visit to the martyrs monument.
He will also meet President Ilham Aliyev and both the leaders will later, talk to the media. A delegation of Azerbaijan ministers will also call on the prime minister to discuss the bilateral cooperation between the two countries in trade and energy sectors.
At the invitation of president Ilham Aliyev, PM Shehbaz is on his two-day official visit to Baku.
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 15 (APP): Pakistan has urged United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to step up its efforts to address the needs of children in humanitarian crises, including natural disasters, conflicts and situations of foreign occupation.
Speaking in the UNICEF’s Executive Board meeting, Pakistani delegate Hadiqa Qureshi also urged international donors to provide sustainable and adequate funding to UNICEF to enable it to fight the unprecedented impacts on children during the Covid-19 pandemic and those stemming from conflicts and climate change.
The Executive Board reviews UNICEF activities and approves its policies, country programmes and budgets. It comprises 36 members, representing the five regional groups of member states at the UN. Its work is coordinated by a Bureau, comprising the President and four Vice-Presidents, each officer representing one of the five regional groups.
“Despite all the challenges the world is facing today, we note with appreciation how UNICEF has responded to both human-made crises and natural disasters,” Ms. Qureshi, third secretary at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, told the Board.
A prime example, she cited UNICEF’s help to Pakistan during its recent climate-induced floods. UNICEF, with its field offices and four operational hubs, functioned as a frontliner in the rapid needs assessments and lead sectoral coordination in the WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) Programme, nutrition and education sectors and child protection.
Due to COVID, climate change and conflicts, the Pakistani delegate said nearly 50 million children have been pushed back into extreme poverty, increasing their total number to over 400 million.
“Our children are not just the present but our future; the future we all aspire to make better children must therefore be at the center of our strategy — today or tomorrow — to achieve growth and equity in all the world nations,” she added.
BEIJING, June 15 (APP): Pakistan Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque visited China National Precision Agricultural Demonstration Base and said that agricultural machinery based on AI technology was well suited for the agriculture modernization drive in Pakistan.
During the visit, the ambassador and his team were briefed Han Wei CEO of AI Force Tech. about his company latest products in the field of smart agriculture.
Terming agriculture a very important industry, he stressed that latest technologies could improve its efficiency and bring about agricultural modernization.
He said that the Pakistani government attached great importance to agricultural development and was also carrying out research to seek agricultural modernization.
The two sides discussed ways and means to expand development of agriculture in Pakistan with the use of new technologies.
Han Wei introduced the company’s talent team, scientific research and innovation, product system and business development.
He also spoke about the advantages of use of intelligent technology and practical achievements of his company in the field of agricultural production.
Han Wei said his company was committed to using artificial intelligence and self-driving technology to provide day-night farmland operation.
Han Wei said his company actively participates in the development and construction of countries along the Belt and Road and it was willing to carry out practical cooperation with Pakistan to promote agricultural modernization drive.
Ambassador Haque expressed willingness to establish a good cooperative relationship with AI Force Tech to promote the implementation of more efficient farmland robots in Pakistan.
During the visit, Ambassador Haque and his team also witnessed the operation of robot products such as intelligent agricultural machinery, patrol robots, medicine robots and transportation robots in the joint laboratory.
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