Pakistan

Kuwait rendezvous: President, Saudi prince discuss regional situation

The meetings took place at the Bayan Palace after the two officials attended Kuwait’s golden jubilee celebrations.

February 28, 2011

President Asif Ali Zardari met Saudi Second Deputy Prime Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud in Kuwait on Saturday night to discuss bilateral relations and the current situation of the region.

The late-night meeting was held at the Bayan Palace after the two attended Kuwait’s golden jubilee celebrations.

President Zardari visited the Gulf state on a special invitation from Kuwait’s Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, to attend celebrations marking his country’s independence day.

Pakistan’s Ambassador in Kuwait Iftikhar Aziz said that the president also urged upon the Kuwaiti leadership to increase the number of Pakistani skilled labourers in the country.

Talking to PTV, Aziz said the President discussed bilateral ties and the enhancement of trade between both the countries with the Amir of Kuwait, the crown prince as well as other dignitaries.

He said that the president’s visit should prove to be productive by attaining more investment opportunities. Aziz said that more than 153,000 Pakistanis are currently working in Kuwait, who send $450 million remittances annually to Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2011.

COMMENTS (11)

abdullah | 13 years ago | Reply @ wahab u live in a dream land pakistanis only invested in property..and on other investments they r making money so nothin gr8 in wat u said ..i stay in dubai and know the situation very well i see it with my own eyes every day...wht i meant 2 say was that younger generation does not invest in pakistan coz they dont get proper response and if corrupton could b reduced ..billions would come in from this younger gen from dubai..pakis educated abroad and in dubai earn a lot...............and they can put in lots of dollars

wahab | 13 years ago | Reply @abdullah: they are not just remmitences. Billions of Pak rs have been invested their by our business men

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Ahsan Shahzad | 13 years ago | Reply If oversease Pakistani's starts sending a little money back to their county, and invest in a good bussiness other than the scam businesses then our economy will prove to be the best emerging economy of the world.

Billoo Bhaya | 13 years ago | Reply @TightDhoti: You are right. Don't you ever loosen that Tight Dhoti?? You should show what you have one of these days.

Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Overseas Pakistan abandon Pakistan for good. Most of them have got education in public institutions which is virtually free of charge even in engineering universities and medical colleges. They owe a lot to their poor countrymen and the country itself. What foreign exchange they send to Pakistan is appreciated but the pattern shows that only first generation sends money back home and only a fraction of the expatriates invest in Pakistan. A great majority of expatriates have little interests in Pakistan. They don't pay taxes here, do little spending in Pakistan, do not pay back to the country the scarce resources spent on their health, education, security, etc. Most of the people leave country due to pull factors and a small number flee due to push factors.

TightDhoti | 13 years ago | Reply Well these regimes hopefully wont be around for much longer, hopefully we wont be on the wrong side of history.

Meekal Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply @SMI: The host countries don't have any issue over the outflow; these are oil rich countries with massive foreign exchange reserves. With oil headed to maybe $120/bbl they won't know what to do with all the extra oil revenue coming in. Probably park it in some nice Jewish bank in New York! @Sahazada Malik Zahid Mahmoud Loan: They don't give money to government; they surrender the foreign exchange to the state bank and get rupees in exchange which they give to their families living in Pakistan. No tax is paid.

abdullah | 13 years ago | Reply our country gets so much of remittances from middle east ..alone 4rm UAE its crosses 2 billion dollars ...but corruption is the biggest prob v overseas pakis face....there r thousands of pakistanis in UAE who dont send money or invest in pakistan especially the younger generation bcoz of corruption ..i believe if a little bit of transperancy and reduction in corruption is done v can get lots of investment................

Uza Syed | 13 years ago | Reply @Sahazada Malik Zahid Mahmoud Loan: No doubt that, the Pakistanis who are employed over seas as well as those who have decided to live away from Pakistan permanently (immigrated to greener pastures!) do sent money to Pakistan which does help the State by enhancing its FE Reserves etc. However, let's be clear about this one fact, no one is sending money to help the country or people of Pakistan in general. These remittances are sent to their families and not the government as such.

Sahazada Malik Zahid Mahmoud Loan | 13 years ago | Reply The overseas Pakistanis need to send little money as well possible unless and until there is a transparent and honest government.

SMI | 13 years ago | Reply "Aziz informed that more than 153,000 Pakistanis are currently working in Kuwait, who send $450 million remittances annually to Pakistan." Gulf countries dont like that, dollars flowing outside of their country...

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