Cabinet approves broad-based agenda of int'l cooperation

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Federal Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif approved a broad-based agenda including cooperation with other countries in air services, climate change, defence and financial intelligence.

AIR SERVICES:

The cabinet approved accords for starting of negotiations on air services with aviation of other countries including Azerbaijan, Serbia, Vietnam and Brazil.

COMMERCE:

The meeting gave ex-post facto approval to start negotiations and approval for signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and the respective departments of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan.

CLIMATE CHANGE:

The cabinet gave a nod to Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol (KP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),

The meeting also approved MoU signing on cooperation in disaster management with Kazakhstan through National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Ministry of Climate Change.

DEFENCE:

Approval was given to cooperation in defence and technical training with the countries including Indonesia, Turkey, Thailand and Poland.  ECONOMIC AFFAIRS & TOURISM:

The meeting ratified inter-governmental agreement on CAREC Institute, Economic Affairs and an MoU with Cuba in the field of tourism and economic affairs.

EDUCATION:

The cabinet approved signing of agreement on cooperation in higher education and professional training with Turkey.

Ex-post facto approval was given to Agreement between Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow and National University of Modern Language (NUML), Islamabad.

FINANCE:

Approval was given to ratification of MoU between Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) of Pakistan and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Turkmenistan Concerning Cooperation in exchange of financial intelligence related to money laundering and terrorist financing.

The meeting also approved signing of MoU between State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBRF) on bilateral cooperation.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

The cabinet approved to commence negotiations on MoUs on bilateral consultations with Foreign Affairs Ministries of other countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Niger, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Senegal, Kenya and Romania.

AGRICULTURE:

The meeting approved cooperation in the field of agriculture and food security with Uzbekistan and Uganda.

PETROLEUM:

The meeting approved to start negotiations with the Government of Kuwait for signing a MoU for petroleum exploration in Pakistan.  AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION:

The cabinet approved to amend the existing convention for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion of taxes on income with several countries including Turkmenistan, Serbia, the United Kingdom, Mauritius, Tajikistan, Thailand, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Africa, Kuwait, Yemen, Japan, Bangladesh, Oman, Ukraine, Iran, Vietnam and Sudan.

MoUs WITH MALDIVES:

The meeting gave ex-post facto approval to start negotiations and approval for signing of MoU to develop relations in tourism between Pakistan and Maldives. Approval was also given to start negotiations on draft MoU for opening of Defence Credit Line of US$10 million for Maldives.

Another approval was given for signing of MoU by Civil Service Commission of Maldives with National School of Public Policy, Pakistan.

The Cabinet approved commencement of negotiation of MoU between the Foreign Services Academy (FSA) of Pakistan and the Foreign Service Institute (FOSIM) of Maldives.

APPOINTMENT:

The Cabinet approved appointment of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Petroleum and Natural Resources, besides approval of terms and conditions of appointment of members of Gas and Oil, of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).

RATIFICATION OF DECISIONS:

The meeting also ratified decisions taken by the Cabinet Committee on Energy in its meetings on 29-05-2017, 30-05-2017, besides those taken on 06-06-2017 and 30-05-2017.

The Cabinet also ratified decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, in its meeting held on 07-06-2017.

The Cabinet ratified the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, in its meeting held on 17-06-2017.