Federal Minister for Communication and Postal Services Murad Saeed has announced free remittance service for overseas Pakistanis. Addressing a press conference here on Monday, he said that the Pakistan Post Office has started a service to let expatriates send remittances to their families in Pakistan free of cost.
He said that the Post Office has signed an agreement with the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) for free of cost delivery of remittances from abroad. Saeed said that other services introduced by the department are 'Same Day Delivery' and 'Export Parcel' and they are receiving a good response from the people.
The minister said that the Post Office has 12,000 offices across the country and the government has planned to expand the network to 27,000 branches.
The service for sending of remittances through the Post Office would help end transfer of money through hawala/hundi, he added. Murad said that foreign remittances of overseas Pakistanis have increased during the tenure of the present government. He appealed to overseas Pakistanis to play their role in development of Pakistan and send money through legal channels.
The minister said that postal service is also playing an important role to dispatch parcels abroad. He said that services offered by the Pakistan Post are being publicised abroad through Pakistani missions. He said that a small business segment in the country is being given incentives for using services of Pakistan Post. So far, 900 persons have signed up with the Post Office to get logistics services for their businesses, he said, adding that the number of small businesses linked to the Post Office would be increased to 10,000.
"We will talk to the Commerce Ministry and issue a subsidy card on export of products. Through subsidy cards, cheap logistics will be provided and in collaboration with the Overseas Ministry, the Post Office will also provide marketing and advertising services to the exporters and small businesses". The subsidy cards by the Post Offices will help increase exports, encourage young businessmen and boost economy, he noted.
He said that 'Made in Pakistan' products would be promoted, adding that the Post Office delivered 76,000 parcels on the basis of cash and delivery. He said that postal department has initiated services of e-commerce and electronic money order with facility to send Rs 50,000 with fee of Rs 500. The private companies are charging Rs 2,500 for the same amount.