Pakistanis in UAE likely to be allowed duty-free import of cars

Dubai - Expats urged the government to take the proposal to a logical conclusion.

Pakistan government will reward overseas Pakistanis who will use legal channels to send remittances, a senior official said.
Syed Zulfi Bukhari, special assistant to the prime minister for overseas Pakistanis and human resources development, said the Prime Minister's office and the Ministry for Overseas Pakistanis is in process of devising a manual of privileges for overseas Pakistanis. Hence, all the relevant stakeholders have been requested to furnish their inputs and proposed privileges to be extended by their organisations and departments to overseas Pakistanis.
"In recognition of our overseas Pakistanis who use banking channels to send money back home, my ministry has proposed to reward them for their contribution to the national exchequer. I will be backing this initiative with full force so in time we can kill the menace of hundi/havala," Bukhari said in a tweet.
He said the Commerce Division of the government has been asked to provide input on the proposal of allowing duty-free import of one hybrid car up to (3,000 cc) to Foreign Exchange Remittance Card (FERC) holders, who remit $100,000 over a period of 2 years through banking channels.
It is estimated that remittances from 8 million overseas Pakistan will rise 5 per cent to a record $23 billion during the ongoing fiscal year.  According to the latest data from the State Bank of Pakistan, remittances fell 1 per cent to $5.48 billion during July-September quarter compared to $5.56 billion in the same period last year.

Pakistanis residing in the UAE have welcomed this step by the ministry but urged the government to take this proposal to a logical conclusion, unlike previous governments who made tall claims but practically didn't offer anything to overseas Pakistanis for using legal channels to remit funds.

-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Pakistan