Pakistan working with European partners to jointly ban illegal immigration: PM

Shehbaz invite Austrian investers to join EU-Pakistan Business Forum in Islamabad in April

VIENNA:  Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that Pakistan was working with European partners to “jointly ban” illegal immigration.

The premier made the remarks while addressing the Pakistan-Austria Business Forum in Vienna, where he arrived a day earlier for a two-day official visit.

Addressing the forum, PM Shehbaz said Pakistan was “absolutely” against illegal immigration, and gave assurance that the government of Pakistan was “working with our European friends — Austria, France, and Germany — to jointly ban this illegal immigration [and bring it] to a grinding halt”.

He affirmed that Pakistan would fulfil Austria’s “demand for skilled labour” as per the international certification required by it.

At the outset of his address, the premier stressed that Pakistan and Austria shared “long-standing friendly relations”.

The premier outlined the areas in which the two countries remained “proactively engaged”, including mining and minerals and renewable energy.

He detailed that he held meetings with the leadership of Austria, stating that he aims “to take many of these discussions to their logical conclusion”.

He noted that 6o per cent of Pakistan’s population was young and “needed modern training in their hands, including laptops, AI, and IT-led initiatives”.

PM Shehbaz further added that Pakistan held “huge potential” in the field of agriculture.

“Here, Austria can be a great partner, providing Pakistan with experience and modern technology to have value-addition in the field of citrus root, and make marmalade, juices and export them to Austria, the Middle East and other parts of the world”, the premier added.

According to a press release issued by PID, PM Shehbaz and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker co-chaired the forum of chief executive officers (CEOs) from leading Austrian and Pakistani companies working in a wide range of areas.

“It was agreed to expand G2G, G2B and B2B engagements between the two countries through the effective utilisation of the existing platforms,” the statement read.

The prime minister invited the Austrian businesses and companies to participate in the upcoming EU-Pakistan Business Forum to be held in Islamabad in April this year.

PM presented guard of honour at Austrian Chancellery

PM Shehbaz and Stocker held a “restricted meeting” at the Federal Chancellery, which was followed by delegation-level talks, the PID statement said.

The delegation talks included Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi, and Foreign Secretary Ambassador Amna Baloch.

The statement read: “Both leaders recalled the friendly and historic ties between the two countries and committed to work together more closely to further strengthen the bilateral relationship in diverse fields, including economic cooperation, trade and investment, tourism, hospitality, education, IT, healthcare and human resource development and mobility.

“To this end, they agreed to work for the early finalisation of MoUs (memoranda of understanding) under consideration related to these areas.”

The premier and the chancellor also “exchanged views on regional and global developments, and agreed on the central role of the United Nations in addressing the challenges of peace and security, peaceful settlement of disputes, sustainable development, climate action and protection and promotion of human rights”. Staff Report