ISLAMABAD: A high-level committee, tasked by Prime Minister Imran Khan to formulate recommendations for making e-visa policy more effective to attract foreign investment and promote tourism, deliberated upon various proposals on Monday.

The committee headed by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi held its first meeting at the Foreign Office on Monday, and deliberated upon various proposals with regard to making e-visa more effective with an objective to promote investment and tourism in the country, the media office of the foreign minister said.

The meeting was attended by the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Division, Moeed Yousaf, and Adviser on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, besides Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood, federal secretaries on interior, religious affairs, health services, and Chairman National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Usman Mubeen as well as senior officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The chairman NADRA gave a detailed briefing to the participants regarding e-visa facility and various categories of e-visa recently introduced by the government. Speaking on the occasion, the foreign minister said that Pakistan offered tremendous opportunities for foreign investment and tourism, adding that the government introduced e-visa facility with an objective to facilitate tourists and foreign investors.

He said that after receiving encouraging results of the e-visa facility, the prime minister had decided to further expand this policy. He said that the committee would review all the aspects and factors that could be used to make the e-visa policy more effective and result-oriented. Once finalised, he added that the committee would send comprehensive recommendations to the prime minister for final approval by the federal cabinet after threadbare deliberations.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020