Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is trying to recover $800 million from United Arab Emirates (UAE) telecom giant Etisalat on account of privatisation of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT), Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui in a press conference said that a meeting was held with Etisilat for retrieval of the owed $800 million and also promised that the government is fully responsible for the recovery of the accrued money.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will invest $5 billion in an oil refinery project in Hub, Pakistan by the end of the year, local news channel reported. The investment will be between Mubadala Petroleum Company of Abu Dhabi, Pak Arab Refinery Limited (Parco) and OMV [OMV Pakistan Exploration Gesellschaft], revealed UAE Ambassador to Pakistan Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi.
In comments reported by the Emirati newspaper Gulf News, on Tuesday – the Abu Dhabi’s ambassador to New Delhi, Ahmad Al Banna, said the issue was an “internal matter” but that the revocation of the treaty would lead to peace. He further stated that the changes would improve social justice and security and confidence of the people in the local governance.
Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services, Murad Saeed has said that Pakistan-issued driving licenses will be accepted in Dubai after signing of MoU. A team will be visiting the Gulf state in coming week for this purpose. Once MoU is signed, job opportunities for Pakistani expats will increase significantly, as there will be no need to get UAE license.
The ambassador of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hamad Obaid Alzaabi has revealed that the UAE Consulate will open a visa centre in Karachi this September. Opening first week of September, the visa centre will be UAE’s biggest facility in Asia. Similarly, another visa centre in Islamabad will be functional in October. The entire team for the centre would come from UAE.
The current tax amnesty, due to end 30th June, is expected to have Rs. 1 trillion declared with assets in United Arab Emirates (UAE) taking the lead. According to reports, Rs. 346 billion or nearly one third of total, has come from UAE, followed by Switzerland (Rs114.8 billion), UK (Rs89.7 billion), Singapore (Rs87.3 billion) and British Virgin Islands (Rs48.9 billion).
In order to attract families during summer season, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to give visa-free entry for two months. Starting July 15 till September 15, visitors under age of 18 can visit without a visa which otherwise costs Dhs 497 (Rs. 21000) for 14-day visa and Dhs 917 (Rs. 39000) for 30-day visa.