ISLAMABAD (Agencies): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah to supervise the investigation and formulate necessary legislative proposals regarding complete prevention of human trafficking. He also directed the investigation committee regarding the Greece shipwreck incident to finalize its proceedings and present its report as soon as possible.
A highly level meeting with respect to the Greece boat incident was held here under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Expressing anger over the incident, the prime minister questioned why the criminal activities of human smuggling could not be timely stopped. He asked why concrete preventive measures were not taken despite repeatedly happenings of such kind of incidents.
The prime minister directed the relevant authorities to bring all those responsible for human smuggling to justice as soon as possible. Federal Ministers Rana Sanaullah, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatimi, DG FIA, Chief Secretary Azad Jammu and Kashmir and other relevant high officials were present in the meeting. On June 14, a boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Greece, in which 104 people have been rescued alive, out of which 12 are from Pakistan.
So far, a total of 79 bodies have been recovered from the sea. The meeting was told that the coordination cell established in the Ministry of Interior was working 24 hours, where families of the missing persons can contact anytime. The meeting was informed that after the incident, a total of 10 FIRs had been registered while 15 people had been arrested, including the main accused of the incident. It was told that an organized network from different countries is involved in human trafficking.
The Prime Minister directed the FIA to promptly complete the detailed investigation of the matter and to take effective measures to prevent it. The Prime Minister also directed the Commissioner Gujranwala to identify the agents involved in the heinous act of human trafficking in Gujranwala district and bring them to justice immediately. The prime minister directed the relevant institutions to remain in constant contact with the families of the victims. He also directed the Pakistani embassy in Greece to stay in touch with the Greek authorities regarding the incident.
PM for increasing FDI to $5b through SIFC: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said with the help of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), the immediate task was to increase the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country up to $5 billion He said he had fervently advocated a unified approach to steer the country out of the economic challenges on a path to sustainable growth.
“Employing a whole-of-the-the-government approach, the coalition government has decided to set up a Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) with a mandate to frame economic policies that ensure policy predictability, continuity and effective implementation to revive the economy”, the prime minister said in a tweet. He said by virtue of its composition, the SIFC will serve as a top decision-making forum to push through fundamental reforms in the structure of the economy. To begin with, he said the forum will focus on leveraging key sectors such as IT, agriculture, energy, minerals and mining, and defence production.
“Attracting investment from friendly countries remains one of the key goals of the SIFC,” he added. Shehbaz Sharif said the need for a representative forum like the SIFC has long been felt, given the scale of the economic challenges caused by internal and external factors. He said the textbook approach to deal with a unique set of problems is not workable anymore. Hence all the more reason to leverage collective wisdom to kick-start the economy to make it self-reliant, export-driven, and robust, capable of withstanding external shocks and upheavals. “Creative ideas offer the solution to our economic problems,” he added.
PM leaves for France to participate in New Global Financing Pact Summit: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday left for a two-day official visit to France at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.
During his visit, he will participate in the New Global Financing Pact Summit being held in Paris. The Summit will prove to be an opportunity for the leaders to discuss the contours of a new global architecture capable of meeting the challenges of financing sustainable development, environment, energy transition and climate change agenda. The Prime Minister will address the Summit as leading stakeholder of G-77 and head of the one of the largest developing countries most affected by climate change. He will present Pakistan’s perspective and proposals for reform of International Financial Institutions, climate finance, green infrastructure, attainment of the SDGs and solutions related to debt. He will also hold bilateral meetings with other world leaders on the sidelines of the Summit.
PM directs for ensuring complete prevention of human trafficking
