The present government has sent 980,000 Pakistanis have been sent abroad for employment in the last two years, informed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari

Talking on the occasion of World Migrants day, Bukari said that Pakistan recorded a 6.75 percent growth in the economic contribution of Overseas Pakistanis in the country's GDP. He said Pakistan received a record USD$ 21.84 billion as remittances over the previous financial year despite the outbreak of COVID-19.

Remittances rose to 16.73 percent since 2014-15 with the leading share coming from GCC countries, he said.

Zulfikar Bukhari shared that “this is the first time Overseas Pakistani Foundation (OPF) has turned around from a loss making entity to a profit making organization”.

The SAPM informed that the authority introduced Biometric Registration System of Intending emigrants, to ensure secure, safe and fair migration for migrant workers. He informed that more than 970,000 workers have been registered biometrically for employment abroad through system linked with NADRA and FIA.

He said bilateral Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) in the field of labour and manpower have been signed with Saudi Arabia, Algeria, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Malaysia, South Korea, Bahrain, Japan and others.

Moreover, MOUs with Spain, South Africa, Syria, Ecuador, Ukraine, Botswana and Azerbaijan are in the pipeline.