Picture used for illustrative purposes only.

Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter

Pakistani expats have been playing a key role in the development of the UAE since the start and today we need a more skilled and educated workforce to continue our role for both UAE and Pakistan.

This was said by Pakistan Ambassador to UAE Faisal Niaz Tirmizi at the Meet The Press event with a group of mediapersons from the Pakistani Journalist Forum (PJF) at the Pakistan Association Dubai on Wednesday.

The event was attended by Tahir Munir Tahir, PJF President, executive body members and  over a dozen Pakistani journalists based in the UAE working in different media outlets. In this informal meeting, the Ambassador talked about various topics and answered queries from journalists.

“The bilateral relationships between the UAE and Pakistan are historic and have reached new heights. Recently, the Pakistani PM lauded the UAE President’s gesture and admired his role,” he said.

Responding to a question, he said that the current job market is changing rapidly due to the technology and we are continuously working through different channels to promote and highlight the importance of a skilled workforce for the UAE exponential market. “We through Pakistan missions in the UAE have been working with different Pakistani government and private sectors to prepare youth with latest job market skills to fulfil the local demands,” he added.

He further said that Pakistan has extraordinary potential in many sectors but tourism is one of the key sectors which is still untapped. “We have forwarded suggestions to our government to further ease the visa process for residents of the UAE to explore the hidden gems of local tourism. We have oldest civilisations like Indus Valley, Texila and other religious tourism sites for Buddhists and Sikhs. We have to promote these besides natural gems scattered in the country to promote tourism and earn foreign exchange as many countries around the world are doing,” he said.

Further responding to a question, he mentioned the efforts for the relief of prisoners. “We have already signed an accord with the local government for Pakistani prisoners to serve their remaining terms in Pakistani jails near their dear ones as it will be a great relief for their families.” The Ambassador also lauded the role of Pakistani journalists raising community issues with the Embassy and Consulate besides sharing valuable suggestions to improve the services at the missions.

Relating to community schools in the UAE, he said that no one should ignore the importance of education and there is a lot of work to be done. “We need more community schools for Pakistani children in the UAE as I personally spoke with many educators from Pakistan to invest in the education sector in the UAE to provide quality and affordable education.”

Ambassador Tirmizi has served twice in the UAE beside seven other countries for Pakistan. He is an avid reader and shared his passion for books and how he gained knowledge of politics, geography, poetry and culture. “To better understand local values, one has to spend more time with the local community to learn their culture, history and traditions,” he said. He assured mediapersons he would take them on visits to local prisons to meet the Pakistani prisoners and Pakistani schools across the UAE.