Taking a u-turn, Commerce Division has decided to participate in Expo 2020 Abu Dhabi on turnkey basis subsequent to the commitment of funds from donors' and fearing that withdrawal from Expo will have negative effects on bilateral relations between the two countries.
Background information gathered from Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other quarters concerned, revealed that the earlier decision not to participate was altered at a meeting held at TDAP, Karachi on November 9, 2019 presided over by Prime Minister's Advisor on Commerce, Textile, Industries and Production and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood in which the entire scenario was discussed.
Earlier, as sources claim, Prime Minister, Imran Khan had decided to withdraw Pakistan's participation in Expo 2020 Abu Dhabi due to financial constraints as the total cost was about $ 50 million.
Sources in TDAP told Business Recorder that the meeting took the following decisions: (i) considering the commitment of funds by donors and relaxation of construction timeline, the project is revitalized; (ii) Ambassador/ Section Commissioner General may issue a Letter of Intent (LoI) to M/s PICO Intl. LLC Dubai for execution of the project on turnkey basis against their quoted price of $ 21.3 million, excluding VAT 5 per cent and cost of Facade, as per attached format; (iii) Ambassador/ Commissioner General may ask M/s PICO Intl. LCC to immediately provide detailed break up of cost, scope of work and terms & conditions for performance of services and the update shared with the Commerce Division for approval; and (iv) the remaining funds, approximately $ 4.74 million provided by the Finance Division for Expo 2020 project shall be kept in the Expo 2020 account maintained by the Mission, to cater for unforeseen contingencies and uncertainty of Pakistani donors to meet the facade costs etc.
TDAP had been verbally informed that in addition to an initial $ 5 million approved and remitted to the SCG at Abu Dhabi, an additional $ 5 million has been approved by the Prime Minister, which leaves a deficit of an estimated amount of $ 17 million. The issue of how the financing of $ 17 million would be achieved, and whether TDAP and Commerce Division should start work on a project without any firm commitment of the finance required, needed to be further discussed.
The meeting decided that TDAP being responsible authority for Expo 2020 shall support/coordinate with Ambassador/ Commissioner General for finalizing the scope of work on turnkey basis and modalities for execution of the project viz-a-viz payment mechanism and contractual requirements.
Prime Minister's Office (PMO), sources said, informed the stakeholders concerned that Pakistan's Mission in Abu Dhabi has shared its concerns that Pakistan's non participation in Expo 2020 would be received negatively by the UAE side. The decision would not only deprive Pakistan of an important platform to promote its commercial/ trade interests but would also have serious implications for Pakistan-UAE bilateral relations.
According to senior officer in Prime Minister's Office, given the sensitivity of the matter, Pakistani Mission recommended that the decision regarding withdrawal from the Expo 2020 may be appropriately explained to the UAE side at the political leadership level, before conveying it through diplomatic channel.
The sources said, when this question was placed before Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is also Minister in-charge Commerce Division, he stated that he would personally talk to the authorities in the UAE.
However, PMO, conveyed to the authorities concerned in Islamabad that it has been desired that the Ministry of Commerce, in consultation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, may take note of Pakistan Mission's concerns/ recommendations and share its assessment with the PMO at the earliest.
In October last year, incumbent Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood signed a participation contract with Expo 2020 on behalf of Pakistan.