The flag hoisting ceremony was held at the residence of the Consul General of Pakistan. The flag hoisting ceremony was attended by a large number of Pakistanis including men, women, school children and officers and officials of the consulate and representatives of the defense forces. The flag hoisting was performed by the Consul General of Pakistan Mr. Shehryar Akbar Khan. National Anthem was played while the flag was being elevated. All the people stood in respect of the National Anthem, says a press release received here today from Jeddah.
The Consul General of Pakistan while addressing the audience, at the ceremony, said that the Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy very close and cordial relations. These strategic ties are seasoned and both the countries have stood with each other in testing times. He expressed satisfaction that the relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are firmly based on the pillars of mutual trust, respect and desire to further promote friendship.
The Consul General while discussing the economic progress of Pakistan told that Pakistan’s economy has shown positive results which has been acknowledged by the world economic forums like IMF. He added that GDP growth has been 4.7% in 2015-16 and is expected to reach 5.2% in 2017-18 which is a great achievement of the present government. He praised the role of the Pakistani expatriates in Pakistan’s economy and told that the remittances by Pakistanis living abroad has played a major role in achieving all-time high, US $ 24 billion, foreign reserves. He termed CPEC as a game changer project and said that it will transform the economic condition of Pakistan.
Mr Shehryar Akbar Khan explained the new facilities which have been initiated by the Consulate for providing better services to the community. He told that the online procedures for the passports will diminish the community’s frequent visit to Consulate and they will be able to
The Consul General also appreciated the Saudi government amnesty scheme for the expatriates. He asked the community that all the Pakistanis whose stay is irregular or illegal, should get advantage of the scheme and go back to their country.
The Consul General also cut the Pakistan Day Cake amid applause of the audience. He especially invited the younger children to the cake cutting who were overjoyed by joining him. Earlier Mr. Saeed Sarwar, Head of Chancery and Mr. Shaiq Bhutto, Consul read out the messages of the President of Pakistan and Prime Minister of Pakistan respectively. Later the school children sung national songs and received ovation from the audience.
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