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Pakistan embassy to reopen centres for expatriates in UAE
A top Pakistani diplomat said the community centres in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi will soon reopen now that the UAE authorities have given their permission.
- By Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 20:50 August 1, 2008
- Ahsan Ullah Khan, the outgoing Pakistani Ambassador to the UAE, said there was top level permission for the reopening of the Pakistani centres.
- Image Credit: Atiq-Ur-Rehman/Gulf News
Al Ain: A top Pakistani diplomat said the community centres in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi will soon reopen now that the UAE authorities have given their permission.
Both centres were shut down by the UAE authorities about 11 years ago and are still not functioning despite repeated announcements from the Pakistani embassy that they will be reopened. The latest announcement was made in February this year.
Ahsan Ullah Khan, the outgoing Pakistani Ambassador to the UAE, said there was top level permission for the reopening of the Pakistani centres.
The ambassador was speaking at a farewell party organised by Akram Farooqi, a community leader in Al Ain. The event, held at the Hilton Hotel, was attended by embassy officials and senior members of the community.
The strong Pakistani community has called for the reopening of the centres for quite some time, since they had lost a venue to organise their cultural and social events. Under the new arrangement, the centres will operate under the Pakistani embassy's supervision.
Khan said the UAE and Pakistan have been enjoying brotherly relations and a strong Pakistani workforce in the emirates has further cemented these relations. He said community members are the real ambassadors of Pakistan, asking them to continue to play their role in the socio-economic development of the UAE.
Khan said he has succeeded in achieving several targets including the increase in home remittances of Pakistanis and the improvement of Pakistan-UAE trade relations.
"My target was $1 billion for the current fiscal year ending in December, but we achieved it by the end of May," he said.
He added that the UAE is in the top three countries where Pakistanis send much-needed remittances. Trade relations have also shown an improvement and the UAE's imports from Pakistan have shown an increase of 55 per cent, said the envoy.
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