Ambassador of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Hamad Obaid Alzaabi has announced that UAE Embassy is going to be opening a visa center in Karachi which is able to become operational within the first week of Sept 2019 whereas another visa center also will become functional within the 1st week of October 2019 which might offer all facilities here in Pakistan.
“Everything will be here as well as the medical insurance, checkups and also the contracts etc. to facilitate visa provision from the visa center in Karachi which will be the largest visa center of Asia whereas the whole team for this Visa Center at Khayaban-e-Shamsheer in Karachi will come from UAE”, he said while exchanging views at a gathering throughout his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce (KCCI) on Friday.
Deputy Consul General of UAE Bakheet Ateeq Alremeithi, Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda, Senior vice chairman KCCI Khurram Shahzad, vice chairman KCCI Asif Sheikh Javaid, and KCCI Managing Committee members were also present at the meeting. While expressing feeling to KCCI for extending warm welcome on his visit to KCCI, UAE Ambassador stated that he has visited several areas of Pakistan including Faisalabad, Sialkot, Lahore, Peshawar, South Waziristan, and Quetta however Karachi was one among the foremost important cities of Pakistan where social life, atmosphere, culture, and residents are very different as compared to other areas together with Islamabad.
UAE Envoy stated that relations between Pakistan and UAE have forever been very robust and historical however there was a necessity to further build these relations by exploring the opportunities and potential areas for enhancing trade and investment. “The governments of UAE and Pakistan are operating very hard to slender the gap and find opportunities, chances, and potential for trade and investment”, he added.
“We try to seek out new areas of cooperation wherever we tend to might work along and also examining the challenging areas so these might be addressed by the authorities in UAE. Inshallah we are going to place our hands together to maneuver forward in future”, he added. He additional informed that UAE was currently providing Silver Investment Visa for five years and Golden Investment Visa for ten years that were being issued underneath specific criteria and depend upon the dimensions of an organization and also the amount being invested.
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He stressed the requirement for having a legal framework between UAE and Pakistan to encourage and save investments created either in Pakistan or in UAE. Agreeing to President KCCI’s suggestion of signing a memorandum of Understanding between KCCI and UAE Chamber, he stated it was very necessary so that a framework might be outlined because when there were a gap and no official visits, the business communities and Chambers of Commerce merely will have no idea about the business potential in Pakistan and UAE.
“Any suggestion from Karachi Chamber that pertains to signing MoUs, agreements, workshops, conferences, and seminars will definitely be taken into consideration”, he assured, “We are ready to support you and whatever you need, we are always there at the UAE Embassy and Consulate in Karachi to assist you.” Chairman BMG & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, in his remarks, appreciated the support and cooperation being extended by UAE’s Embassy and its Consulate in Karachi as they have been totally facilitating KCCI’s visa requests from time to time and that they haven’t faced any issues at all during this regard. However, he requested the Deputy Consul General to plot some kind of system in collaboration with KCCI so visas might be issued to credible businessmen and industrialists with a private guarantee by KCCI. He wise that metropolis Chamber totally reviews and verifies all the documents being submitted by its members intending to obtain KCCI’s visa recommendation letter so only genuine businessmen might avail this facility.
He also requested the Ambassador to solely entertain visa recommendation letters and requests from those Chambers of Commerce and trade associations that were legally registered at the Ministry of Commerce. In Pakistan significantly in Karachi, there have been plenty of paper-based and fake forums and Councils etc. that weren’t legally registered, he noted, adding that in this regard, UAE Embassy will easily obtain a list of all legal Chambers of Commerce and trade bodies along with their jurisdiction details from the Ministry of Commerce that may facilitate in better understanding the legalities and jurisdictions of 42 Chambers of Commerce and around 120 sector-specific trade associations in Pakistan, he added.
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While welcoming the UAE Ambassador, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda expressed the intention to sign a memorandum of Understanding with UAE Chamber so as to boost the trade and investment ties and produce business communities more close to each other.
“We ought to work jointly to reinforce bilateral trade and deal with all the irritants and barriers, particularly the non-tariff barriers between the two countries.” He stated that although traveler visa was being offered without any problem however the UAE government should also consider the possibility of supply business visas to Pakistan’s businessmen.
Junaid Makda informed that around 1.6 million Pakistanis were residing in several cities of UAE. The country received remittance of $4.62 billion from UAE during the fiscal year 2019, making it one in all the foremost attractive destination for Pakistani expats.
He said, “Pakistan was going through a tough time in terms of economic conditions however UAE’s support has been outstanding and that we are very grateful for helping Pakistan with $3 billion balance-of-payments support”.
