DUBAI/ISLAMABAD - President Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday inaugurated Pakistan Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020. First lady Samina Alvi and Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood were also present on the occasion. The president also visited different stalls of the pavilion where he was briefed about Pakistani products.
The president while meeting with heads of leading investment and technology firms in Dubai said that Pakistan is offering promising business opportunities to foreign investors through one-window operations in sectors of innovation and technology. The President said the one-window facility under Special Technology Zones
Authority is aimed at encouraging and facilitating the foreign investors to expand their information technology footprint in Pakistan.
He said the government has set up the STZA with a mandate to provide world-class digital and physical infrastructure across the country and put Pakistan on global technology radar. The President invited the companies to invest in Pakistan’s diverse sectors particularly in e-business. The business heads expressed keen interest to make investments in Pakistan in their respective domains and also briefed them about their companies. The president later witnessed the signing of three MoUs between Pakistan’s Special Technology Zones Authority with Mastercard, Galaxy racer (E-sports) and Shorooq Partners VC Funds.
Meanwhile, in an interaction with media persons after the formal inauguration of Pakistan Pavilion in Dubai, President Dr Arif Alvi said Pakistan is a beautiful mix of different cultures, ethnicities and civilizations.
He stressed the need for projecting its positive image as a peaceful country as the country is innovating a future of immense opportunities for growth. The president said Pakistan Pavilion is the true depiction of cultural co-existence and gave the ‘best flavour of Pakistan’ for the outside world.
Also, President Dr Arif Alvi said that overseas Pakistanis have an important role in the development of Pakistan. Addressing the inauguration ceremony of Roshan Apna Ghar Scheme in Dubai, he said that Pakistan produced brilliant doctors and engineers in 70s and 80s but the structure in Pakistan was unable to support them, therefore they emigrated to foreign countries.
He said that now Pakistan is changing and it has a huge potential for investment.
He said that Pakistan has investment friendly environment with tremendous opportunities for investment, including in the Information technology sector.
He said that the investors are being provided better facilities and security for their investment in the country, which is rising and developing at a fast pace.
He said that Pakistan provided refuge to four million Afghan refugees for three to four decades but not a single Pakistani leader said that they should be repatriated to their home country. He said that Pakistan sacrificed 80 thousand lives and suffered loss of billions of dollars in the war against terror.
President, UAE prime minister reaffirm resolve to strengthen Pak-UAE ties
President Dr. Arif Alvi met with Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Dubai on Saturday.
The President congratulated the Vice Minister and Prime Minister of the UAE for the successful inauguration of Dubai Expo 2020.
The President underlined that the Expo 2020 is a landmark event not just for the UAE but also for the whole region.
He said that Dubai Expo 2020 would offer a unique opportunity to the countries of the region and beyond to establish linkages and partnerships with multinational companies.
The President also apprised the Prime Minister on the continued and blatant violations of fundamental human rights of the Kashmiri Muslims by the Occupying Indian Armed Forces in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The President also expressed gratitude to the leadership and people of the UAE for hosting 1.6 million Pakistanis in the UAE.