‘Remittances from UAE likely to fall’

PESHAWAR: The Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Tuesday asked the government not to over-rely on the overseas remittances as these may continue to fall due to changing global scenario.

The government has been urged to focus on exporting the skilled workers and find new markets as conventional markets are becoming crowded with cheap labour from India, Bangladesh and some other countries, Atif Ikram Sheikh, chairman FPCCI Regional Committee on Industries, said in a statement here.

Some nations are not happy with Pakistan’s positive role in the recent problem among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Qatar, while United Arab Emirates (UAE) has increased import of workers from India to boost relations, he added.

Atif Ikram Sheikh, who is the former president of the Haripur Chamber of Chamber and Industry, said Pakistan received 63 percent of the remittances or $12.1 billion from GCC countries, but overreliance on these sources was not in national interest.

He added that Pakistan received 28 percent of the remittances from Saudi Arabia which was reducing reliance on oil income, employing locals in the transport sector and diversifying its economy.”

Atif Ikram Sheikh said that Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had slapped tax on the non-earning members of the families of the expatriates.

Pakistan used to export 38,000 workers to Saudi Arabia in one month during 2016, while the number fell to 13,000 last year.

The business leader said that Pakistan received remittances from the US and UK equal to that it received from the Saudi Arabia, but both the nations were now looking inward and trying to reduce unemployment by giving jobs to locals which also turned to be a challenge for Pakistani job-seekers abroad.

Atif Ikram Sheikh said that keeping in view this emerging scenario, the government should focus on exporting skilled workers, engineers, doctors and IT experts to the countries that lacked human resources.