ISLAMABAD: Pakistan High Commissioner Designate to Canada Ameer Khurram Rathore has said that the Government of Pakistan is striving to put Pakistan on the road to a speedy economic recovery and the role of overseas Pakistanis in achieving that goal is of paramount importance. 

He said this while talking to a public forum-cum-e-katchehry arranged by the Pakistan High Commission Ottawa and the Consulate Generals of Pakistan in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

During the session, various issues including promotion of bilateral commerce and trade, NICOP related problems, civil status documents, the support of Pakistan for managing anti-dumping issues at the WTO level, display of information on website, Roshan Digital Accounts, periodic biometric verifications, promotion of brand Pakistan were discussed. Consul General of Pakistan Toronto Abdul Hameed, Consul General of Pakistan Vancouver Janbaz Khan and Consul General of Pakistan Montreal Ishtiaq Akil answered the questions raised by the community members. Earlier, addressing the forum Ameer Khurram Rathore said that he was looking forward to an enhanced engagement with the Pakistani diaspora in Canada as this was the major message impressed upon him by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi during a meeting before his departure for Canada. 

The High Commissioner Designate said he would extensively interact with the community in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and other parts of Canada in coming days and weeks to consult them and take their feedback and suggestions for further enhancing bilateral ties between Pakistan and Canada as well as bilateral trade, cultural exchanges, and tourism in Pakistan. He also urged the community members to give their suggestions on how the e-katchehry’s format could be further improved to enhance its scope and outreach and allow an easy and greater participation of Pakistani Canadians in its future sessions.