The first session of the overseas Pakistanis Forum will be held in Dubai on December 6. Federal Minister for overseas Pakistanis Dr Farooq Sattar will preside at the forum. The forum will act as a bridge between the overseas Pakistani community and the government of Pakistan, said Ambassador Javed Malik who is organising the forum.
"We need to review the nature of the "one sided" relationship between overseas Pakistanis and their government, and transform it into a "two way partnership" that appreciates their role, addresses their issues and jointly evolves strategies that gives them a role in the nation building proves," he said.
Until now the role of overseas Pakistanis have been limited although they have a lot to offer to their country. "Many overseas Pakistanis while living abroad have acquired skills, expertise and reached to top positions. Their issues are different and they want to play an active role in the nation building process back home, but there is not proper system through which we can utilise their skills," he added.
"This forum is the first step to reach out to this community, listen to them, and then evolve strategies to provide solutions. He said, "We intend to work with the host governments in order to train our people according to the needs of the host countries so that they become more effective workers when abroad."
Many overseas Pakistani businessmen intend to do business in Pakistan, but the lack of incentives prevents them from doing so, he said. "We intend to work with ministry of commerce and investment to evolve strategies that address this issue," he added.
It may be added that the forum will be a permanent body associated with the ministry of overseas Pakistanis and will have the Federal Minister for overseas Pakistanis as its Chairman. Ambassador Malik is the vice Chairman and Secretary General. The forum will also constitute Advisory committees. The Forum is non-political and only aims to advise the government on the different issues on behalf of the community, he said. "We are starting with the UK Chapter as well as the UAE Chapter as a large number of Pakistanis live there. We will also expand to other countries. The next session of the forum will be organised in London in February 2010.