Dr.Syed Mehboob
Economic and Political Analyst
http//: www.thenewslark.com
Oman is Pakistan’s one of the most trusted, reliable, sincere friends. This friendship is historical, time-tested, all weathered. It is deeper than oceans and greater than the Himalaya. It is interesting to note that about 30% of Omanis are Balouch origin from Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, having settled in Oman over a hundred years ago. Gwadar was formerly part of Oman but was given to Pakistan on 8 September 1958.
Pakistanis are proud to serve their Omani brothers and they are contributing valuable services for the development, progress and prosperity of Pakistan. Recently Pakistan and Oman achieved another milestone in their brotherly and friendly relations. Both countries agreed on early finalization of the MoU on labour and manpower exchange which would facilitate the enhancement of Pakistan’s workforce and its smooth movement from Pakistan to Oman. This was decided in a meeting held recently in Muscat between Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, and Dr. Mahad bin Said Ali Baowain, Minister of Labour of the Sultanate of Oman. Chaudhry Salik Hussain was on a three-day visit to the Sultanate of Oman last month where he met with different ministers of Oman and inaugurated a new branch of Pakistan International School in Muscat. During the meeting, Chaudhry Salik Hussain apprised the Omani side of the major reforms the Government of Pakistan is undertaking to improve the emigration process of Pakistani workers, their professional capacity enhancement, and the marketing of the Pakistani workforce abroad. He said that the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis was upgrading the technical training centers in Pakistan on modern lines which would train the workforce according to the certification requirement of each country or region.
Oman is the third largest employer of Pakistani workforce in GCC after Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates and there are 360,000 (approx.) Pakistanis working in Oman. Pakistan receives more than $ 1 bn in remittances every year from Oman and the Pakistani diaspora contributes greatly to the country’s foreign exchange. Most of Pakistanis are employed in the construction, oil & gas, manufacturing, logistics, wholesale, and retail trade sectors. Pakistanis are working in the healthcare, teaching, hospitality, banking, and IT sectors as well.
The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis is going to start a pre-departure orientation program for all the workers going abroad which would educate them about the labor laws of the host country, workers’ rights and duties, cultural sensitivities of the host country, and reprieve mechanism in case of any eventuality during ones stay abroad. Mr. Salik also offered the Oman Government to send well-trained human resources from Pakistan through Government-owned Overseas Employment Corporation which maintains a database of over five hundred thousand Pakistanis in different fields.
Dr. Mahad bin Said bin Ali Baowain said that Pakistan and Oman enjoy very cordial relations and Pakistanis are contributing to the development of Oman. He said Pakistanis are very skilled workers and work in a vast variety of fields. He expressed the commitment of the Government of Oman to streamline the process of migration of workers to Oman and remove any irritants thereof.
There is great potential for Oman to invest in Pakistani human resources by helping and establishing technical training centers and taking advantage of their skills by importing human resources from Pakistan. Pakistan is very rich in terms of its youth who are sixty percent of Pakistan and if they are provided the right guidance, skill enhancement training, and quality education many of them go abroad and earn precious foreign exchange and help Pakistan to uplift its economy and get rid from its debt burden.
The Sultanate of Oman is a country located in Western Asia. It is situated on the Southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Spans of the mouth of the Persian Gulf. It shares a land border with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen while sharing a maritime border with Pakistan and Iran. The Madha and Musandam exclaves are surrounded by the United Arab Emirates on the land borders, with the Strait of Hurmuz which it shares with Iran, and the Gulf of Oman forming Musandam’s coastal boundaries.
The future of Pakistan Oman relations is Inshah Allah very bright and both countries are moving in the right direction and are partners of peace, development, and prosperity.
