Labour and Overseas Pakistanis Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan has said that the government will simplify the procedure for employment abroad by removing bureaucratic hurdles to enable private sector to play its full role in providing jobs to the skilled and semi-skilled labour of the country in foreign countries.
He was addressing the newly elected central body of the Pakistan Overseas Employment Promoters Association (POEPA) in Islamabad here on Wednesday.
Ghulam Sarwar said that he has directed the 12 subordinate departments of his ministry and the labour attaches in foreign embassies to facilitate the POEPA members who are doing a great service to the nation by arranging jobs for thousands of Pakistanis abroad.
He said that he would hold a detailed meeting with the representatives of the POEPA and the government would amend the relevant laws and acts in the light of their recommendations. Earlier presenting the address of welcome, POEPA Central Chairman Ehsanul Haque said that the private employment promoters had so far arranged jobs for over three million Pakistanis who were remitting $4 billion annually.
He said that the 1979 Immigration Ordinance was a great hurdle in growth of their business as the promoters could not retain the passports and bio-data of the candidates seeking jobs in foreign countries under the present law.
He said Pakistani promoters are facing great competition from the Philippines, India, Bangladesh and Thailand as the governments of these countries provide all kinds of facilities to their promoters.
He said that last year POEPA members sent record number of 215,000 Pakistanis abroad for employment. He was confident that with the co-operation, guidance and simplification of the procedure this number could be doubled.