Pakistan Ambassador to the UAE, Moazzam Ahmad Khan, is proud of the fact that his country was the first to recognise the UAE as a nation. Now, with 1.5 million Pakistanis calling the UAE home, this special relationship remains stronger than ever.
Pakistan is in a period of significant growth and development, with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) set to revolutionise the republic’s infrastructure and economy. Around $60 billion of foreign investment is earmarked to transform the country. Regardless of the changes that Pakistan is going through though, Khan believes that the UAE will remain a key international partner. “At the moment, we have around $8 billion of bilateral trade with the UAE. That makes the UAE the third biggest trade partner of Pakistan.”
Khan’s role as Pakistan Ambassador covers a number of different areas. He is responsible for overseeing various services for Pakistanis here in the UAE including, offering assistance with visas, passport renewals and attestation of official documents as well as providing advice and assistance to destitudes. This also involves helping Pakistanis who are experiencing legal issues and Khan’s team regularly visit prisons to achieve this.
The Embassy also works alongside the Pakistani community, providing assistance in areas such as education, where it encourages subsidised scholarships for pupils.
Another key aspect of Khan’s role is to oversee the further development of trade ties. Last year, he facilitated visits from delegations and figureheads from Pakistan, such as the Minister of defence and the Chief of Army Staff, to the UAE to promote defence and security cooperation. He also invites UAE businesses to Pakistan to encourage investment in his home county.
One of the key components in this relationship is the supply of manpower to the UAE from Pakistan. “The government of Pakistan and the government of the UAE had a very fruitful exercise recently,” says Khan. They met to ensure that Pakistan supplies the right sort of workers and establish how to facilitate the whole process. “Also, the UAE were very helpful in addressing some of the concerns that we have about citizen’s safety when they take jobs here,” he says.
The embassy has streamlined processes, so that people can now apply for passports online and there are more staff to process requests. One of the outcomes of this is a significant increase in Emiratis visiting Pakistan, especially following security improvements in the last five years.
The Ambassador sees several key areas of growth for Pakistani business in the UAE ranging from tourism and food security to IT, hospitality and national security. “I think that defence and security cooperation is an area with a lot of potential. We regard the security, stability and integrity of the UAE very close to our hearts. It’s fundamental to our security, he says. “There is a lot we can do from training to sharing expertise.”
For National Day, there will be flags raised across the UAE in honour of Pakistan and expats will congregate in different emirates. Khan is undoubtedly proud of his country, yet he is equally proud of its special relationship with the UAE. During the Year of Zayed, Khan reminds us how the late Shaikh Zayed who was the original catalyst for this special bond. This continues with the current leadership of the UAE. “I must speak about the special initiative that His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces has undertaken to eliminate Polio in Pakistan, which is going very well,” he says.
By 2025, many analysts predict that Pakistan will be the twentieth largest economy in the world. Khan is optimistic for what this growth and investment means for both his home country and expats here in the UAE. “Pakistan is progressing fast and we stand at the cusp of many positive developments. The world has recognised that we are going through a transformation process that the government has initiated. I would strongly urge them to remain confident and have faith in their country. They are about to see a transformed Pakistan.”
