ISLAMABAD: Only two overseas Pakistanis have been appointed to the post of commercial counsellors in Pakistani missions abroad, it was learnt on Friday.
According to sources, Ahmad Mukhtar would be posted to Brussels, Belgium, and Sakina Hussain to Toronto, Canada.
For the first time, the incumbent government had allocated 20pc quota of trade attaché posts for overseas Pakistanis so that it could get their expertise on increasing the country’s exports to around 45 destinations.
As per the approved postings of nine BPS-20 officers, Muhammad Ashraf has been appointed and posted to Sydney, Bilal Ahmed Butt to Hong Kong, Hussain Haider to Shanghai, Azmat Mahmood Khan to Washington, Fouzia Perveen Chaudhry to Jakarta, Azhar Ali Dahar to Riyadh, Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh to New Delhi and Munir Sadiq to Addis Ababa respectively.
The premier has also approved the appointment and posting of 29 officers of BPS-19 at various stations. These included posting of Arif Aziz to Los Angeles, Shafiq Ahmed Shehzad to London, Talat Mehmood to New York, Rizwanul Haq to the Hague, Khalid Hanif to Rome, Ahmed Affan to Madrid, Majeed Mohsin Panhwar to Geneva, Muhammad Zahid to Warsaw, Azhar Hussain to Tehran, Tahir Habib Cheema to Tokyo, Zahid Hussain Abbasi to Tehran, Ghulam Mustafa to Stockholm, Muhammad Farrukh Sharif to Bangkok, Syed Abdul Waheed Shah Jeddha, Muhammad Iran at Guangzhou, Shafqat Ali Khan to Kuala Lumpur, Imran Razzaq to Seoul, Muhammad Farooque to Almaty, Yousaf Ali Magsi to Beunos Aires, Junaid Ahmed Memon at Casablanca, Addem Khan at Dubai, Waqas Alam to Sau Paulo, Ahabana Aziz to Mexico City, Liaqat Daraz to Nairobi, Muhammad Qazafi Rind to Algeria, and Masood Ahmed to Khartoum.
Under the BS-18, the government has appointed and posted nine officers at various stations. These included the appointment and posting of Shaista Bunyad to Houston, Muhammad Akhtar to Manchester, Humaira Israr to Johannesburg, Asmma Kamal to Colombo, Sidra Haque to Cairo, Ali Qayyum Raja to Hanoi, Khadim Ali to Amman, Muhammad Shoaib Anwar to Dakar and Muhammad Owais Khan to Lagos.
The government had introduced the concept of a waiting list. Those officers who would not join their stations will be replaced by those who are on top of the merit list.
These officers were appointed through a written test conducted by IBA and followed by a comprehensive interview.
The annual cost of these postings is estimated at approximately Rs2 billion.
