The Federal Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, has said that Pakistan would export 200,000 manpower to Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Qatar and Bahrain. He was addressing the first batch of Pakistani workers that was ready to proceed to Malaysia in Pakistan Manpower Institute, Islamabad on Friday.
He said that by the relentless efforts and personal interest of President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Malaysia had declared Pakistan as a source country and announced to import 100,000 Pakistani workers in manufacturing, construction, plantation, fisheries and agricultural services.
He further said that the government was also trying to get quota for Pakistani workers in overseas jobs from other countries.
Sarwar Khan lauded the role of overseas Pakistani workers in boosting the economy of the country and ensured them of the government commitment to protect their rights here and abroad.
He said that role of middleman should be minimised and there should be direct connection between promoters and workers.
The Minister advised the members of first batch, ready to leave for Malaysia, to abide by the local laws and respect the people, their culture, religion etc.
"You are going in first group as the ambassador of Pakistan and keep Pakistani flag high and flying", he said.
He appealed to the representatives of Pakistan Overseas Employment Promoters Association to extend maximum support to poor workers aspiring to go abroad.
He said that there was a great demand of skilled workforce abroad and Pakistani government had decided to set up a National Training and Vocational Education Authority to train raw manpower to fill the void.