Governor Riyadh Prince Faisal Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud receives Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif
FBR crosses Rs 2 trillion tax collection figure
ISLAMABAD, Oct 24 (APP): The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has achieved yet another milestone on Monday by crossing revenue collection figure of Rs 2 trillion, a month earlier than last year.
According to brief statement by the board, Chairman FBR, Asim Ahmad appreciated the performance of team FBR. He expressed optimism to achieve the collection target set for FY 2022-23, the statement added.
Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani along with other leaders of the Islamic World attending a reception hosted by the Speaker of the house of representatives of Indonesia
Hindu community performing religious rituals during Diwali Festival at Local mandir
Hindu community performing religious rituals during Dewali Festival at Krishna Mandir in the Provincial Capital
Artist performing on the stage during a drama titled ”Paisa Bolta hai” organized by Arts council
PM Sharif congratulates Rishi Sunak on nomination as Conservative leader, UK PM
ISLAMABAD, Oct 24 (APP): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Monday congratulated Rishi Sunak on his nomination as leader of the Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
In a tweet on social media platform Twitter, he said, “Congratulations to Rishi Sunak on his nomination as leader of the Conservative Party and next Prime Minister of the UK.”
“I look forward to working with him to advance shared interests and further deepen the abiding partnership of Pakistan and United Kingdom,” he added.
UN calls journalist Arshad Sharif’s death ‘tragic’, urges probe
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 24 (APP): The United Nations Monday called for a thorough investigation of the circumstances in which senior Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif was shot and killed in Kenya.
“I saw the tragic reports about the incident,” UN Secretary-General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in response to a question at the regular noon briefing at the UN Headquarters in New York.
He hoped the Kenyan authorities would investigate the circumstance in which journalist Sharif, 49, was killed.
In Islamabad, the Foreign Office confirmed that Pakistan’s envoy to Kenya along with embassy officials had identified the body at the Chiromo Funeral House in Nairobi and are now awaiting further procedures and a police report.
Trade, investment ties key component of Pakistan’s multifaceted relations with EU: Naveed Qamar
BRUSSELS, Oct 24 (APP): Minister for Commerce and Investment, Syed Naveed Qamar met the Chair of the European Parliament’s committee for International Trade (INTA), MEP Bernd Lange here on Monday.
Ambassador of Pakistan to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union, Dr. Asad Majeed Khan and other officials were also present during the meeting.
The Commerce Minister underscored that trade and investment ties were a key component of Pakistan’s multifaceted relationship with the EU.
The Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus has been a mutually beneficial undertaking that played an important part in the growth of Pakistan’s bilateral trade with the EU countries, he added.
According a press release issued by Pakistan Embassy in Brussels, the Minister highlighted that economic stabilization and growth were the key priorities of the current government particularly in the aftermath of the devastating floods and the EU remains a major partner for Pakistan to realize these objectives.
Naveed Qamar emphasized that the GSP Plus was an excellent model for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides, as Pakistan’s export to the EU has increased by 86 percent whereas the EU’s exports to Pakistan grew by 69 percent, since inception of the scheme in 2014.
He expressed the hope that the new GSP Plus regulation would continue to focus on its central tenets of supporting sustainable development, poverty alleviation and good governance in the beneficiary countries.
The Chair INTA Committee MEP Lange thanked the Commerce Minister and agreed to work together in further strengthening Pakistan-EU relations, including enhanced exchanges.
During his meeting with European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mr Janusz Wojciechowski, the Minister for Commerce and Investment stressed the importance of enhancing Pakistan-EU cooperation in agriculture sector especially for modernization of agro-based industries, expansion of storage facilities, research, water management, food security and flood protection.
In a separate interaction, Naveed Qamar met the Standing Rapporteur of Trade Monitoring Group for South Asia in the Committee on International Trade, MEP Maximilian Krah and briefed the MEP about ways and means to further strengthen Pak EU trade and investment relations.
The Minister for Commerce and Investment is visiting Brussels on a weeklong official visit from October 23 to 29, 2022.
FPCCI, UN to collaborate for sustainable development
KARACHI, Oct 24 (APP): President, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) Irfan Iqbal Sheikh welcomed the steps taken by the United Nations in Pakistan to promote sustainable, inclusive and socially responsible business growth and practices.
On the occasion of FPCCI and UN’s consultative session on sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the potential of sustained collaboration, the President FPCCI also expressed his desire to collaborate with the UN from the platform of the chamber on behalf of the entire trade and industry community of Pakistan, said a statement issued here on Monday.
He said FPCCI was in a unique position to create awareness in all sectors of the economy on SDGs, climate change, gender equality and social justice.
The high-profile event was attended by UN officials from its various organs namely United Nations Resident Coordinator Office, UN Industrial Development Organization, UN Development Program, UN International Children’s Education Fund, Food and Agricultural Organization, World Food Program and Global Compact from Pakistan, Bangladesh and USA.
SVP FPCCI Suleman Chawla informed that FPCCI had functional and representative standing committees in place on various socioeconomic sectors of the economy. It could fully support the UN’s Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Pakistan for the period of 2023 – 27. These committees comprise reputable experts from varied fields of sustainable development, i.e. environment, climate change, health, education, women entrepreneurship, women empowerment, human rights, and skills development.
VP FPCCI Engr. M. A. Jabbar taking part in a high-profile panel discussion with Shahnaz Wazirali, a noted politician and a former member of the federal cabinet, emphasized that Pakistan needs to have an efficient, modern, functioning, honest and socially responsible bureaucracy to create an enabling environment for social development. Otherwise, he cautioned, no program for sustainable development and social upliftment would be successful.
Shahnaz Wazirali said that we must embrace diversity, inclusivity, environmental consciousness, social justice and women emancipation to achieve SDGs and tread the path of inclusive and sustainable economic growth. She added that education for all should take prominence in achieving sustainable development.
The UN Resident Coordination Officer, Shah Nasir Khan informed that UN was aware of the fact that Pakistan needs tens of billions of dollars to rehabilitate 33 million people affected by the recent floods and rebuild the infrastructure in the affected areas.
Dr. Jawaid Qureshi, Convener of FPCCI’s Central Standing Committee on UN Affairs, maintained that for protecting Pakistan from the adverse and disproportionate effects of global warming, we need to have at least 25 per cent of the country covered by forests. But, he regretted, currently as we only have 2 per cent of forests in the country.
APP /ah