KARACHI, Sept 4: Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Shaukat Aziz said here on Saturday, that Pakistan’s proximity to the Arab world is one of its strongest strategic advantages, and this demands that “we should (study the) Arabic language vastly, so that we can strengthen these ties and solidly secure our outer boundaries.”
Mr Aziz said this while presiding over the 28th annual convocation of the Society for the Promotion of Arabic at its premises, where he was welcomed by SPA president Mahmudul Aziz and the Society’s members.
The minister said that the remittances sent by overseas Pakistani expatriates have consistently gone up, and are expected to cross the $3 billion mark this financial year. He said that nearly two and a half million Pakistani workers and professionals are working in the Arab countries, and they are a major source of remittances received in the country. Aziz observed that these are important economic ties and need to be strengthened further. He said that apart from cultural and religious ties, “we are also bound with the Arab world in the economic field. We import a great deal of our petroleum products from Arab countries, and they import large quantities of our products.”
Highlighting the post Sept 11 scenario, he maintained that the Arab world is, and will continue to, look eastwards in the coming years. “The west is no longer the preferred destination of Arabs, be it (for) education, business (or) tourism.” He said Pakistan stands to benefit greatly from this new scenario “provided we ensure peace and stability in the country.” He said that “we are already witnessing considerable interest from Arabs in different economic areas. To position ourselves, we are making concerted efforts to revitalize our relations with the Arab world.” He pointed out that President Pervez Musharraf has visited nearly all the Arab countries including Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Tunisia and Bahrain. He said that Pakistan had revived the joint economic commissions with Oman, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and Kuwait. He was confident that in the days ahead, Pakistan would be better placed to take advantage of the emerging opportunities.
He stressed that Arabic as a language would be a major catalyst in strengthening ties between Pakistan and the Arab countries. He recalled that in the not too distant past, every literate person in the subcontinent knew three languages — Arabic, Persian and Urdu. “In fact, it is so unfortunate that our colonial heritage has deprived us of our most precious cultural assets.”
Aziz said that in Pakistan today, we are struggling to preserve Urdu, what to talk of Persian and Arabic. He lauded the work undertaken by the Society for Promotion of Arabic and the fact that over 20,000 students had passed the Arabic course conducted by the Society.
Welcoming the finance minister, Mr Mahmudul Aziz paid tributes to Shaukat Aziz for bringing financial discipline and putting the derailed economy of the country back on track.