Overseas Pakistanis biggest untapped assets of country: PM Imran

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan today (Thursday) has reiterated that overseas Pakistanis were the biggest assets of the country and previous governments were unable to tap their potential.

He expressed his views at the inauguration ceremony of Roshan Digital Account – an initiative to serve the banking needs of overseas Pakistanis so it is easier for them to invest in their home country.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister asserted that the Roshan Digital Account was a big step for overseas Pakistanis to participate in nation-building. He also emphasized the need to create suitable conditions for the overseas Pakistanis so that they can work for the development of the country.

“The way we should have helped overseas Pakistanis, we couldn’t do that, unfortunately. Hence, the opening of this Roshan Digital Account is a big step for Pakistan,” he remarked.

Referring to various new projects, including the Ravi City waterfront project and the ML-1 railway project, he said that the help of overseas Pakistanis was needed for all of them. He urged the expatriate community to invest in newly planned mega construction projects.

“We need to increase our economic activity to an extent where we are able to comfortably pay off these loans,” he said, adding that this was the aim of the construction sector.

The premier further said that the government came into power, there was a $40 billion trade deficit. “Our exports stood at $20bn, whereas our imports were roughly at around $60bn,” he added.

He said with a reduction in dollars, the rupee falls, there is inflation and people stop investing. “This results in a decline in wealth and investment. This is why we need dollar investments from overseas Pakistanis,” he added.

For the first time in the country’s history, the overseas Pakistani will be able to remotely open an account through an entirely digital and online process without any need to visit a bank branch, embassy, or consulate.