FARUKH SHEHZAD

ISLAMABAD, FEB 2021: Ambassador of Yemen Motahar Alashabi visited the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) and met NUML Rector Major General (r) M. Jaffar in his office, on Monday, Feb 15.

The rector briefed the visitor about the university and said the university was teaching 26 regional and international languages and was the only university of its kind in the country.

He said besides languages, the NUML had also four other faculties e.g. Social Sciences, Engineering, English, and Management Sciences.

The rector said that majority of Pakistanis were keen to learn the Arabic language. He said the Arabic language department at the NUML was playing a pivotal role in promoting the Arabic language and culture.

The Yemeni ambassador appreciated the role of NUML in promoting the Arabic language and culture in Pakistan and he urged the NUML rector to start a student exchange programme.

The rector assured him of cooperation in that respect. He later presented a NUML memento to the Yemeni Ambassador Motahar Alashabi.

------------------------------------------------------------

COURTESY the news

--------------

• Meeting took place at the Embassy of Indonesia in Islamabad under very friendly environment; Number of good topics came under discussion; CGSS and the Embassy of Indonesia will organize joint activities such as article writing competitions, online internships and courses

ISLAMABAD, FEB 2021: A meeting was held between the Ambassador of Indonesia to Pakistan, Adam Mulawarman Tugio and Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad at Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Islamabad, on Tuesday, Feb 16.

During the meeting, it was decided that CGSS will establish and facilitate academic collaboration between Indonesia and Pakistan.

This collaboration will be fruitful in connecting the academic sector and student fraternity of both countries.

Furthermore, various projects of mutual interests were also discussed and it was decided that CGSS will actively engage in activities with different institutions and Think Tanks in Indonesia.

It was also agreed that CGSS and the Embassy of Indonesia will organize joint activities such as article writing competitions, online internships and courses as well.

Adam Mulawarman Tugio appreciated the efforts of CGSS in enhancing bilateral relations between Pakistan and Indonesia and expressed his support in further cementing this relationship between both the countries through joint efforts.

--------------------------------------------------------

COURTESY cgss

------------------------

ISLAMABAD, FEB 17 – A meeting was held between Mudassir Tipu, DG, China, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan, and other officers of China Desk with Shabbir Ahmed, Director, Area Study Center, (Russia, China, and Central Asia), University of Peshawar and Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director, CGSS at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan, on Tuesday Feb 16.

During the meeting, it was decided that Area Study Center (Russia, China, and Central Asia) will conduct extensive research regarding CPEC and its various projects in Pakistan. Moreover, research projects on the impact of CPEC on different sectors of Pakistan will also be conducted.

Prof. Dr. Shabbir Ahmed highlighted recent projects by Area Study Center (Russia, China & Central Asia), University of Peshawar. He also stated that it is essential to connect the academia of China and Pakistan for including the perspective of both countries in joint research activities.

Mudassir Tipu appreciated the contribution of the Area Study Center. He extended his full support to the institution in their projects related to China Pakistan Economic Corridor. He also emphasized that academic linkages between both countries are crucial for strengthened bilateral connectivity.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

COURTESY cgss

--------------------------

By Farukh Shehzad

Editor-In-Chief / diplomaticnewspk.blog

ISLAMABAD, FEB 2021: Madam Alia Dahroug, Wife of  Egypt Ambassador to Pakistan met CGSS Team members on Monday, Feb 15.

During the meeting projects of mutual interests in the fields of entrepreneurship and education were discussed.

Madam Alia Dahroug visited many beautiful places in Pakistan and met friendly people.

Wife of the Egypt Ambassador to Pakistan expressed her love for Pakistani food.

Madam Alia Dahroug also expressed her views with CGSS team members about several important historical places of Egypt during the meeting.

CGSS team members enjoyed spending time with Madam Alia Dahroug, Wife of  Egypt Ambassador to Pakistan.

Madam Alia Dahroug thanked CGSS Team for arranging such an interesting and meaningful discussion.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The writer of this article is Editor-In-Chief of diplomaticnewspk.blog

He has good command over graphic designing as well.

---------------

ISLAMABAD, FEB 16: Pakistani student Zara Naeem has made her country proud after she topped the financial reporting exam given by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) students. 

Zara was declared a global prizewinner after she secured the highest marks in the exam conducted in December 2020.

Taking to Instagram, Zara thanked everyone for congratulating her on the achievement.

“Once again a HUGE Thanks to each and every person who’s congratulated me/ is happy for me on my achievement. Sending lots of love and prayers your way!” said Zara.

Zara was also lauded by Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz and the government on her achievement.

“Zara Naeem Dar has become pride of the nation by topping the ACCA exams across the world,” said the minister.

Zara, who was quoted by publication ProPakistani, said that she dreams of starting her own consultancy firm after she obtains her ACCA membership.

ACCA, a global professional accounting body founded in 1904, offers the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (ACCA).

ACCA’s headquarters are in London with principal administrative office in Glasgow. 

ACCA works through a network of over 104 offices and centres in 52 countries — with 323 Approved Learning Partners (ALP) and more than 7,300 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide employee development.

---------------------------------------------------

COURTESY whenwherehow

------------------

ABUJA, FEB 16: Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Monday became the first woman and first African to head the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The WTO’s 164 members unanimously decided to appoint the 66-year-old development economist to serve a four-year term as director general.

“A strong WTO is vital if we are to recover fully and rapidly from the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ngozi told WTO members after her election at a special meeting of the organization’s General Council in Geneva.

She later told journalists that the WTO needs to work to “accelerate supplies and vaccines to poor countries,” and look at export restrictions and prohibitions from members.

Ngozi, who is Nigeria’s former finance minister, said she looks forward to working with members to shape and implement the policy responses needed to get the global economy going again.

“Our organization faces a great many challenges but working together, we can collectively make the WTO stronger, more agile, and better adapted to the realities of today.”

Ngozi will take up her duties on March 1, and her renewable term will expire on Aug. 31, 2025.

Last October, most of the WTO members supported Ngozi. The US was the only nation to oppose her candidacy at that meeting, instead supporting South Korean candidate Yoo Myung-hee, who withdrew her bid last month.

It was the first time two women vied for the top job at the WTO, which has seen the US at loggerheads with China at many of its meetings in recent times, especially under the just-ended Donald Trump administration.

------------------------------------------------------------

COURTESY whenwherehow

---------------

LAHORE, FEB 16: The United Arab Emirates will soon open its visa centre in Lahore, according to a report.

UAE’s Ambassador Hamad Obaid Alzaabi said this in a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, the Al-Arabiya Urdu service reported.

The UAE diplomat expressed interest in bilateral cooperation in different sectors, particularly construction and health.

Alzaabi said the UAE government was ready to invest in special economic zones too.

CM Buzdar expressed his hopes that the UAE would invest in the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development and Walton Business Hub projects.

Ambassador Alzaabi later met with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar.

-------------------------------------------------------

COURTESY whenwherehow

----------------

ISLAMABAD, FEB 16: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), in collaboration with Huawei Technologies Pakistan Pvt Ltd, launch Smart Cloud Campus Solution for enterprise customers.

This solution includes the services of AI-Enabled WIFI-6 Campus, Software Defined LAN and Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) as a service. The infrastructure of these services employs PTCL’s industry-proven connectivity, capacity and Data Center infrastructure with Huawei’s next-generation autonomous driving network management and control system Cloud platform for enterprise networks.

This is a first-of-its-kind intelligent network automation Cloud platform that integrates management, control and analysis functions, along with providing complete life cycle automation of enterprise networks that implements intelligent fault closure through big data analytics.

Speaking on the occasion, Zarrar Hasham Khan, Chief Business Services Officer, PTCL, said, “PTCL Business Solutions is catering to the ever-growing business needs of our enterprise customers. As software-defined networks are key enabler for providing robust, scalable and secure architecture, it will surely help our enterprise customers to build more agile and reliable networks. Being a significant milestone, PTCL brings technological innovation to accelerate enterprises achieve digital transformation.”

On the occasion, Gaoweijie, Managing Director, Huawei Technologies Pakistan Pvt Ltd, said, “We are glad to collaborate with PTCL, national carrier of Pakistan that has strong corporate presence in the country. With this solution, enterprises will be empowered to run critical applications with complete security and ensure data privacy. Not only that, enhanced performance would be delivered with higher capacity bandwidth, network visibility, and a seamless on-ramp to the cloud with significant application performance.”

Smart Cloud Campus Solution has innovative features that help enterprises reduce OPEX and O&M costs to achieve automation with a more intelligent network operations management.

------------------------------------------------------------

COURTESY whenwherehow

------------------

ISLAMABAD, FEB 16: The Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will undertake a three-day visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt from February 16-18 2021 on the invitation of his Egyptian Counterpart Sameh Hassan Shoukry.

His visit is taking place in the backdrop of the meetings between Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi; first on the sidelines of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Makkah Summit in 2019, and then on the sidelines of the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2019.

During these meetings, the two leaders agreed to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation and enhance high-level exchanges. Last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan also had a telephone conversation with the Egyptian President regarding his ‘Global Initiative on Debt Relief’ for developing countries, which was supported by Egypt.

Pakistan and Egypt enjoy close fraternal relations firmly anchored on common faith, culture, and values.

The two Countries have similar perceptions on a range of regional and global issues. Their bilateral cooperation is advanced through strong institutional mechanisms including the Joint Ministerial Commission, Annual Bilateral Consultations, and Joint Business Council.

More than 40 agreements signed between the two sides in diverse fields provide a firm basis for enhanced cooperation.

Pakistan and Egypt also work closely in the multilateral arena, in particular the United Nations, OIC, and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

During the visit, the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will hold detailed consultations with his Egyptian Counterpart and call on other dignitaries. He will also interact with leading Egyptian businessmen and members of the Pakistani Community.

His visit is expected to further strengthen and diversify Pakistan’s bilateral ties with brotherly Egypt.

Egypt is an important Country in the Middle East and Africa. It plays a key role in the Middle East while its deep linkages with the African Continent make it a gateway to Africa.

In line with Pakistan’s desire to forge stronger ties with the Islamic world, as well as the government’s ‘Engage Africa” initiative, Pakistan accords high importance to its partnership with Egypt.

----------------------------------------------------

COURTESY dndnews

---------------------

Munaza Kazmi

Swat a valley as green as the emeralds that lie beneath the mountains. Cold and clear streams and rivers flowing from the snow-capped peaks of the Hindu Kush. A brilliant blue sky - it's hard to describe the Swat valley without getting carried away.It feels like one of the most beautiful and enchanted places on earth.

Many know Swat Valley for its tranquility and natural beauty. But the valley houses several archaeological and heritage sites, thatmarked it as a desired destination among the tourist.

Swat Serena Hotel, a magnificent heritage hotel, managed and operated by Tourism Promotion Services Pakistan (Owner and Operator of Serena Hotels), lies in the footstep of the Hindukush Mountains in an absolutely secure location in the capital city of Saidu Sharif, within walking distance of the colorfulbustling marketsselling brightly embroidered shawls, folk jewelry and locally produced honeyand ancient Buddhist sites of Mingora.Moreover, it’s easily accessible from Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and other major cities due to the recently constructed Motorway.

The beautiful historic building, surrounded by the lush green neatly tended gardens, with centuries old tress telling the tales of history, the calming voice of water from the ever-flowing fountains, the welcoming serene blue pool, the classySuvastu restaurant offering a variety of food, the immaculate modern rooms decorated with hint of Swati tradition, and on top the most hospitable staff reflects the true Pakistani culture.

The Hoteltoday is a heritage property, every stone of it tells fascinating tales of the rich past. The Hotel was in-fact a Prime Minister House, till today named as Wazir House, constructed in1935 by then king Badshah ShahibMiangul Abdul Wadud, the Wali of Swat and a descendant of the Akhund of Swat, for his Prime Minister. After Badshah Shahib death, his descendant MiangulJahanzebtook charge and in 1949 removed the Prime Minister from the Wazir House. Later in 1969, when the princely state of Swat merged with Pakistan, Jahazeb handed over the Wazir House to the government of Pakistan, that transformed it in to the guest house. From the year 1969-1984 onwards, it was with PIA as a guest house.

Reasoning the poor maintenance and care, the House was losing its splendor. Fortunately, in 1984 government of Pakistan leased it to Tourism Promotion Services Pakistan (Owner and Operator of Serena Hotels) for a better change. Serena Hotels that come under the umbrella of Tourism Promotion Services, renovated the hotel and Wazir House with much diligence and converted into a luxury setting, the project was completed with the assistance of Aga Khan Trust and Culture, which resulted in adding up of another luxury hotel of Pakistan and promoting the element of tourism.

Today the Wazir House regained its glory and known worldwide as Swat Serena Hotel-chain of Serena Hotels. Serena Hotels known fortheir luxury hotels, resorts, palaces, and fortswith its remarkable hospitality, enjoy history of promoting tourism, culture and empowering the communities. Many stories can be related mainly, in the times of unrest in Swat and recent pandemic of COVID-19, despite the empty rooms all of the uniformed staff have been kept on by the management of Serena Hotels.

However, recently the government of Pakistan had shown some ambiguity regarding the managing termsand leasing agreement of Swat property with Serena Hotels. During my stay at Swat Serena Hotel, which would become a memory of lifetime reasoning the luxury, comfort and unending hospitality, I have seen the hint of concern in the eyes of staff about their association of three decades of services with Serena, where they feel as family. Moreover, they felt the fear of losing the bread and butter of their family.

Contemporary government of all favorite Prime MinisterImran Khan, that seems keen to promote the tourism industry, must see this matter personally, since not only Pakistan would end up in losing one of its luxury hotels,but also the professional institution who maintained wellbeing of community, product and services. Moreover, it would be a question mark to the tourism industry, that is forecasted as to become blood circulation of the Pakistaneconomy.

On recent visit to Hassanabdal while speaking at the inauguration of renovated Railway Station on 6^th November 2020, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan quoted, we have to consider Tourism as a backbone of Pakistan economy and livelihood “If we improve tourism, there would be no need for taking debt from IMF or any other country. The opportunities are there we just need to take the first step to cash that”.

---------------------------------------------------------------

More than 26 million U.S. dollars were allocated to maintain Turkmenistan’s embassies and consulates abroad in 2020. These figures are given in documents from Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs which are in turkmen.news’ possession.

ASHGABAT, FEB 15:  Of this sum, $18,408,286 were allocated to the upkeep of diplomatic missions in the CIS countries, Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iran, India, Pakistan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, and the USA. Embassies in Europe were allocated 5,100,686 euros ($6.1 million), and 1,267,856 pound sterling ($1.7 million) went to the embassy in London. We give a more detailed breakdown by country below.

Most expensive was the embassy in Moscow, which received almost $1,768,464 in 2020. The consulates in the Russian cities of Kazan and Astrakhan received $399,640 and $267,056 respectively.

Turkmenistan’s permanent mission to the UN in New York received $1,372,208. The permanent mission to the UN in Geneva received 931,874 euros ($1.1 million).

Over $1.1 million were allocated to the General Consulate in Dubai and the embassy in Tokyo respectively. Turkmenistan’s embassy in the USA received more than $1 million, as did the embassy in Germany more or less — 886,024 euros. Slightly less was spent on maintaining the embassies in Belgium (768,200 euros) and France (629,500 euros).

According to documents of Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs which are in the possession of turkmen.news

One of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s sons-in-law is the current consul general in Dubai, and another son-in-law is counselor at the embassy in London. The counselor in London, Dovlet Atabayev, and his wife, embassy first secretary Oguljahan Atabayeva, were caught on camera in autumn 2019 breaking traffic regulations in the British capital. The consul general in Dubai, Ykhlasgeldy Amanov, is married to the president’s youngest daughter – Guljahan.

Diplomats in Turkey, which is the most popular destination for Turkmen labor migrants, manage with more modest funds. A total of $637,248 was allocated to the embassy in Ankara in 2020 and almost $531,000 to the consulate in Istanbul.

The lowest sum of all went to the general consulate in the Iranian city of Mashad ($238,000) and the embassy in Bishkek (almost $279,000). Two consulates in Afghanistan (in Herat and Mazar-i Sharif) received $226,000 and $212,000 respectively. The consulate in the Kazakh city of Aktau can also be included in the “poor” list as it received $265,000. But the Turkmen embassy in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan received a larger sum — almost $499,000.

According to documents of Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs which are in the possession of turkmen.news

The documents also reveal that $2.5 million was allocated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cover fees to international organizations and expenditure on relations with the foreign media. In 2020, $15,800 was spent on cooperation with the Russia Today TV channel, $11,700 on the Russian Interfax agency, $5,000 on ITAR-TASS, and $4,800 on both the Factiva analytical agency (which gathers news from 157 countries in 23 languages) and Azerbaijani agency Trend.

It’s worth mentioning that Turkmenistan’s citizens frequently complain about the unsatisfactory work of diplomats. Embassies and consulates do not replace citizens’ expired passports, which turns them into undocumented migrants (they have good reason to think that if they return to Turkmenistan to renew their passports they will not be allowed to leave the country again). The evacuation of citizens stranded abroad because of the COVID-19 pandemic is badly organized. There are very few evacuation flights, and money is sometimes extorted from travelers for a seat. Turkmen citizens who get into difficulties abroad cannot usually rely on help from diplomats. Moreover, embassy staff work with the special services, helping them to follow and persecute migrants who criticize the ruling regime.

-----------------------------------------------------

COURTESY en.turkmen.news

--------------------