Thursday 25 / April / 2024
Muscat: With some 272,000 Pakistanis living in Oman, the Sultanate has the fifth largest Pakistani expat population worldwide, which demonstrates the successful relationship between the two nations, Pakistan’s ambassador to Oman affirmed.
Ali Javed, Pakistan’s envoy to Oman, noted that apart from trade ties, Oman and Pakistan have a blood bond, and the two countries must stand side by side.
“Many of the Omani tribes hail from Pakistani lands, and this is a bond that can be considered a blood bond,” said Javed. “This is not just traditional friendship or ties based on trade figures, but this is far beyond that, much deeper than that.
“Pakistan is very proud to have cooperated with our friends and brothers in this region, establishing their infrastructure, their banking, and even their airlines,” remarked Javed.
“There is a lot of potential for our countries to coexist. The two countries are looking to further their cooperation in cybersecurity, health and education. Port connectivity is another area where ideas are being discussed, from Karachi to Gwadar and then on to Muscat, for conveying both passengers and cargo.”
“Both countries are interested in developing shipping lanes through a direct fast ferry service. There are currently more than 60 weekly flights (operating between the two countries), and that is a huge number for us,” he stressed.
“We have five different airlines operating, and we connected the Dhofar region with Pakistan on December 1, 2016. It is the first time that the south of Oman was directly opened to Pakistan, so you can imagine the doors of opportunity this will open, in terms of tourism, and for the promotion of agriculture, because there is a lot of that in the Dhofar region, besides people-to-people exchanges. Over the past year, a lot of developments have taken place, and I think this is a step in the right direction.”
In the wake of Oman’s 47th National Day celebrations, Javed was also quick to praise His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said for his steadfast vision and leadership.
“His Majesty the Sultan has not just provided stability in policy formation and execution, but has brought a vision to achieve prosperity and promotion through friendship,” explained Javed.
“This is very difficult to practise, especially in the current decade, where alliances are built and then broken within a fortnight. Alliances are like shifting sands, but one person continues to stand as a beacon of hope and prosperity in this region, and this is why he has earned global recognition and respect.
“In 2001, His Majesty came to Pakistan on a state visit, and as a consequence, Pak-Oman Investment Company, headquartered in Muscat, was established with a joint capital of $100 million,” he mentioned. “Pak-Oman has now emerged as the top joint-investment company among those Pakistan has established with about seven or eight other nations, and as of early 2017, when the reports came in, Pak-Oman’s assets were found to cross $600 million.
“In addition to this, I am happy to say that Habib Bank, the oldest bank in Oman, is still active, and currently operates about seven branches.”
Javed also reminded Pakistanis in Oman that the Embassy of Pakistan would always stand by them when needed.
“We had launched a WhatsApp broadcast initiative on 23rd March, and by August, we had over 11,000 subscribers and another 3,000 waiting to join the group. We have another 11,000 people subscribing to us on email. Today, no one can claim there is any barrier between the people and the government representative of Pakistan in Oman. We also have a dedicated SMS service with the envoy’s number.”
This has not just brought them in direct contact with us, because there is a lot of advice that we can share with them, in terms of travel, immigration or healthcare, but also established transparency,” he emphasised.
If you are a Pakistani resident in Oman, you can join the WhatsApp broadcast group on 91980458, join the email group at [email protected], or directly SMS the ambassador on 90941957.
