06-14-2006, 05:23 AM
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Govt mulling incentive package for overseas Pakistanis
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Tuesday that the government was considering a package to increase the number of incentives for overseas Pakistanis.
Addressing a ceremony held for the distribution of financial aid to families of oversees Pakistanis and compensation to the Gulf war victims, the minister said that the package would be finalised after completing discussions with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Board of Revenue (CBR).
The federal minister said that government had presented a worker-friendly budget and announced various incentives and benefits for the workersâ community. He said that 7.5 million overseas Pakistanis, living in various countries of the world, were contributing to the foreign exchange reserves worth $4.25 billion, which, he said, strengthened the countryâs overall economy.
He said that the Oversees Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) had introduced a financial aid scheme for families of overseas Pakistanis, who had died or were physically disabled while working in foreign countries.
He said that OPF had so far distributed Rs 80 million among 3,756 families of Pakistani expatriates. He said that the amount of financial aid would be reviewed and increased as well. The minister said that OPF board of governors was being reconstituted to ensure the maximum participation of overseas Pakistanis in the board to make them part of the policy making process.
He said that restructuring of OPF was also underway, which, he said, would be finalised by the end of June 2006. He said that the government was also reactivating the Overseas Pakistanis Advisory Council (OPAC) to get response from overseas Pakistanis for setting OPFâs objectives. He said that the ministry had proposed an investment conference of overseas Pakistanis that could be held in September-October 2006, adding that the moot would encourage the Pakistani business communities in foreign countries to invest in their own country. âHousing schemes of OPF in Islamabad, Peshawar and Lahore are in development phase and work on them will start by the end of this year,â he said.
He said that a large number of late claims of Gulf war victims had been received after October 2003 and the United Nationâs Compensation Commission (UNCC) had approved 830 claims and issued $12.66 million for the affected people. He said that the government had made all efforts to make the process of distributing compensation transparent.
Addressing the ceremony, Mushtaq Ahmad, the OPF managing director, said that the foundation had received 44,498 claims from Pakistanis affected by the Kuwait-Iraq war before January 1996, which were forwarded to the UNCC. He said that out of 44,498 claims, the UNCC had approved 43,971 claims and transferred $316 million to the Pakistani government for their distribution among the affected people. He said that late claims filed by the people in 2003 were also sent to UNCC, but only 830 claims had met the required criteria and OPF had received the compensation amount. He said that OPF had so far distributed Rs 520 million to 586 people, while over Rs 20 million to 21 affected people would be distributed during the ceremony. He said that OPF was following the procedure set by the UNCC in distributing the compensation.
He briefed the audience about the OPFâs financial aid scheme that started in 1980 for the welfare of families of Pakistani expatriates in the country, adding that the OPF had allocated Rs 9 million in its 2005-06 budget for the scheme. He said that Rs 7.6 million were being distributed among 255 deserving families of overseas Pakistanis today (Tuesday).
Minister for overseas Pakistanis Division Raza Hayat Hiraj and Federal Secretary Muhammad Aslam Sanjrani were also present in the ceremony. online
Govt mulling incentive package for overseas Pakistanis
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Tuesday that the government was considering a package to increase the number of incentives for overseas Pakistanis.
Addressing a ceremony held for the distribution of financial aid to families of oversees Pakistanis and compensation to the Gulf war victims, the minister said that the package would be finalised after completing discussions with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Board of Revenue (CBR).
The federal minister said that government had presented a worker-friendly budget and announced various incentives and benefits for the workersâ community. He said that 7.5 million overseas Pakistanis, living in various countries of the world, were contributing to the foreign exchange reserves worth $4.25 billion, which, he said, strengthened the countryâs overall economy.
He said that the Oversees Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) had introduced a financial aid scheme for families of overseas Pakistanis, who had died or were physically disabled while working in foreign countries.
He said that OPF had so far distributed Rs 80 million among 3,756 families of Pakistani expatriates. He said that the amount of financial aid would be reviewed and increased as well. The minister said that OPF board of governors was being reconstituted to ensure the maximum participation of overseas Pakistanis in the board to make them part of the policy making process.
He said that restructuring of OPF was also underway, which, he said, would be finalised by the end of June 2006. He said that the government was also reactivating the Overseas Pakistanis Advisory Council (OPAC) to get response from overseas Pakistanis for setting OPFâs objectives. He said that the ministry had proposed an investment conference of overseas Pakistanis that could be held in September-October 2006, adding that the moot would encourage the Pakistani business communities in foreign countries to invest in their own country. âHousing schemes of OPF in Islamabad, Peshawar and Lahore are in development phase and work on them will start by the end of this year,â he said.
He said that a large number of late claims of Gulf war victims had been received after October 2003 and the United Nationâs Compensation Commission (UNCC) had approved 830 claims and issued $12.66 million for the affected people. He said that the government had made all efforts to make the process of distributing compensation transparent.
Addressing the ceremony, Mushtaq Ahmad, the OPF managing director, said that the foundation had received 44,498 claims from Pakistanis affected by the Kuwait-Iraq war before January 1996, which were forwarded to the UNCC. He said that out of 44,498 claims, the UNCC had approved 43,971 claims and transferred $316 million to the Pakistani government for their distribution among the affected people. He said that late claims filed by the people in 2003 were also sent to UNCC, but only 830 claims had met the required criteria and OPF had received the compensation amount. He said that OPF had so far distributed Rs 520 million to 586 people, while over Rs 20 million to 21 affected people would be distributed during the ceremony. He said that OPF was following the procedure set by the UNCC in distributing the compensation.
He briefed the audience about the OPFâs financial aid scheme that started in 1980 for the welfare of families of Pakistani expatriates in the country, adding that the OPF had allocated Rs 9 million in its 2005-06 budget for the scheme. He said that Rs 7.6 million were being distributed among 255 deserving families of overseas Pakistanis today (Tuesday).
Minister for overseas Pakistanis Division Raza Hayat Hiraj and Federal Secretary Muhammad Aslam Sanjrani were also present in the ceremony. online