Pakistan’s exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have enhanced by 26 percent while the number of expatriates in the host Country has increased by 200,000 since Faisal Niaz Tirmizi assumed the charge as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE.
In an interview with Punjab Euro TV, Ambassador Faisal Tirmizi said that nearly 1.8 million Pakistanis are residing in the UAE, making them the second largest community of expatriates in the Emirates after Indians.
The ambassador told that most of the Pakistani expatriates are affiliated with the construction work while a large number of people also remain associated with agricultural, driver, lift operator, and security guard jobs.
Ambassador Faisal Tirmizi said that Pakistani community is very vibrant and diversified as 3,000 to 4,000 Pakistani doctors and equal number of engineers are offering their services in the UAE. Likewise, a number of Pakistanis are engaged in the real estate and industrial sectors.
To a question, the ambassador said that a very marginal number of Pakistanis hold the nationality of the UAE. He said that only those expatriates who arrived in the UAE in 1950s, 60s, 70s or some of those who worked for the former UAE President Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan managed to obtain the UAE’s Citizenship.
The envoy said that the UAE authorities very rarely grant the Country’s nationality to expatriates; however, now they have begun issuing Golden Visa under which an expatriate having an adequate education or investment can live in the Emirates for up to 10 years.
When asked, he told that if anyone wants to make an investment in Dubai, he needs to possess minimum of 2 to 3 million UAE dirhams.
Ambassador Faisal Tirmizi informed that in the UAE, 200,000 to 300,000 Pakistani children are in the school/college going age, and the Embassy/Consulate itself is running six schools which don’t cater the required needs. He urged the Pakistani investors to build schools, colleges and universities in the UAE, so that maximum Pakistani students could be imported education therein and their skill set be enhanced.
The ambassador said that the annual volume of Pakistan-UAE trade is US$ 11 billion, adding that a major component of Pakistan’s imports from the UAE is oil while Pakistan’s exports to the Country stand at around US$ 2 billion.
Faisal Niaz Tirmizi told in the last one year, Pakistan’s exports to the UAE have increased by 26 percent. He said that Pakistan’s top exports to the UAE include meat (worth US$ 300 to 400 million), rice, household items, textiles, and garments. He also said that the number of Pakistanis in the UAE has increased by 200,000 in last 11 months.
