KARACHI: United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday opened its largest visa centre in Karachi inaugurated by Sindh Governor Imran Ismail in a special ceremony.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and Consul General in Karachi Dr Salem Al Khadim Al Dhanani. Several senior officials of the Sindh government, business persons and media personnel were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the ceremony, the governor said UAE has emerged as one of the largest economic and trade partners of Pakistan. He praised UAE for hosting Expo 2020 Dubai and said it played an important role in strengthening cooperation and global partnership to build a better future.
He congratulated the people of both countries and thanked the UAE minister for initiating such a visa centre to facilitate people in Karachi.
On this occasion, UAE Minister Nahyan said they working on new areas of mutual cooperation to move forward.
UAE Consul General Al-Dhanhani commended the “solid historic relations between the UAE and Pakistan since the era of the founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan.”
“The visa center, one of the largest in Asia, will provide distinguished consular services in line with the latest international standards,” he said.
The center comes as part of the framework to provide all administrative services aimed at improving the level of customer service and issuing visas to facilitate the entry of Pakistanis into the UAE through electronic gates at the ports, according to the UAE consul-general.
More than 1.6 million Pakistani expatriates live in the UAE and work in different public and private sectors, who remit over $4 billion to Pakistan annually.
With the inauguration of a modernized visa center in Karachi, Pakistan and the UAE have laid “strong foundations of bilateral relations, friendship and cooperation over the years,” Governor Ismail said on Twitter.
inauguration ceremony of a modernised UAE Visa Center in #Karachi along with #SheikhNahyanBinMubarakAlNahyan & Dr. Salim Alkhaddeim AlDhanhani CG UAE #Pakistan & #UAE have laid strong foundations of bilateral relations,friendship & cooperation over the years. pic.twitter.com/hdh4Md3owp
— Imran Ismail (@ImranIsmailPTI) November 28, 2021
