Pakistani schools would be set up in Gulf countries to help provide affordable education for children of the overseas Pakistani community, Barrister Amjad Malik, the head of the board of governors of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF), told APP on Sunday.

He said that the government launched various welfare programmes for overseas Pakistanis. It is the responsibility of government to provide maximum facilities to over 90 million overseas Pakistanis, he added.

The Overseas Pakistanis Advisory Council (OPAC) was playing a leading role in pursuing the interests of the community, he said, adding that the issues of the overseas community would be resolved on a priority basis.

Barrister Amjad Malik said that the number of overseas Pakistanis in Gulf countries had been declining due to the political and economic situations of the Gulf. Pakistan was looking for new labour markets to reduce unemployment, he added.

He said he personally visited 23 countries and held meetings with overseas Pakistanis, addressed their issues and informed them about the upcoming welfare projects.

Malik expressed his hope that in near future, overseas Pakistanis would get representation in the parliament and overseas banks would also be set up at embassy level to facilitate overseas Pakistanis.

He said that more housing schemes would be launched for expatriates and the OPF is planning to provide low-cost housing to the families of deceased Overseas Pakistanis.

He said 300 houses would be handed over to the overseas allottees in Zone-V within in three months and after another three months, 300 more houses would be handed over to the owners.