1 (39Th Session) NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT
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1 (39th Session) NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT ———— “QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWERS AND THEIR REPLIES” to be asked at a sitting of the National Assembly to be held on Friday, the 27th January, 2017 50. *Ms. Khalida Mansoor: (Deferred during 36th Session) Will the Minister for Foreign Affairs be pleased to refer to the Starred Question No.189 replied on 05-09-2016 and to state whether barbed wires have been installed and gate has been constructed on Pak-Iran borders? Transferred to Interior Division for answer on Next Rota Day. 52. *Ms. Aisha Syed: (Deferred during 36th Session) Will the Minister for Foreign Affairs be pleased to state whether there is any proposal under consideration of the Government to seal 2600 kilometers Pak-Afghan Road; if so, the date of implementation thereof? Transferred to Interior Division for answer on Next Rota Day. 1. *Mrs. Shahida Rehmani: (Deferred during 38th Session) Will the Minister for Commerce be pleased to state: (a) the details of items exported to India during the last five years; and 2 (b) the details of items imported from India during the year 2011- 12, 2012-13 and 2013-14? Minister for Commerce (Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan): (a) Pakistan’s exports to India during the last five years are as follows:— Million US$ —————————————————————————————— Years Exports —————————————————————————————— 2011-12 338.517 2012-13 332.690 2013-14 406.963 2014-15 358.082 2015-16 303.581 —————————————————————————————— Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics The details of item-wise exports to India during last five years are placed as Annex-I. (b) The total volume of imports from India during the years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 are as follows:- Million US$ —————————————————————————————— Years Imports —————————————————————————————— 2011-12 1507.328 2012-13 1809.867 2013-14 2040.376 —————————————————————————————— Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics The details of item-wise imports from India during the years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 are placed as Annex-II. (Annexures have been placed in the National Assembly Library) 3 2. *Shaikh Rohale Asghar: (Deferred during 38th Session) Will the Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development be pleased to refer to the Starred Question No.71 replied on 15-04-2016 and to state: (a) the total number of Pakistani labourers working in Qatar at present; and (b) the steps being taken by the Government for their welfare? Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (Pir Syed Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi): (a) The total number of Pakistani labourers working in Qatar at present is 60,000. (b) Following steps are being taken by the Government for the welfare of Pakistani workers in Qatar: The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis & Human resource Development has established 01 office of the Community Welfare Attache in the State of Qatar to resolve issues/ problems of Pakistani expatiates. Overseas Pakistanis Foundation is providing multiple services to Overseas Pakistanis which include, education, health, housing, vocational training, economic rehabilitation of disabled returning Overseas Pakistanis, free transportation of dead bodies of deceased overseas Pakistanis, etc. An online complaint management system has been devised in this Ministry and OPF to deal with different nature of complaints/ grievances of Overseas Pakistanis. On the request of Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis & Human Resource Development. all the provincial Chief Secretaries and IGPs including AJK, FATA and Gilgit—Baltistan have nominated their focal persons from Revenue and Police Departments at district level for dealing with the complaints of Overseas Pakistanis promptly. 4 A Grievance Commissioner Cell is working in Wafaqi Mohatisib’s Secretariat since December, 2014. They are coordinating with all the relevant Ministries/Organizations and are monitoring the resolution of complaints of Overseas Pakistanis. One widow facilitation desks have been established at 07 Pakistani International Airports to address the problems of Overseas Pakistanis. The Government of Punjab has set up an office of Overseas Pakistanis Commission, Punjab with the mandate to resolve the complaints of Overseas Pakistanis regarding their problems in Punjab. Federal investigation agency (FIA) has also setup a separate complaint cell for Overseas Pakistanis. The Government of- Azad Jammu and Kashmir has established a complaint cell to resolve complaints of Overseas Pakistanis of Kashmir origin. The welfare steps being taken by the Pak Mission at Doha, Qatar specifically for labour category of workers are as under: ¾ Arrangement of free medical camps. ¾ On spot finalization of death certificates, visa protector Police Clearance Certificates and Remittance Forms, etc. ¾ One window operation facility along with provision or Token system of NADRA and MRP. ¾ Complaint handling by the Community Welfare Attache related to various issues of labours through open door policy. 3. *Ms. Khalida Mansoor: (Deferred during 38th Session) Will the Minister for Foreign Affairs be pleased to state the total number of violations of the Line of Control carried out by India since 01-11-2016? Transferred to Defence Division for answer on Next Rota Day. 5 9. *Ms. Saman Sultana Jaffri: (Deferred during 38th Session) Will the Minister for Commerce be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that the Free Trade Agreements with other countries are not able to increase the country’s exports; if so, the details alongwith the reasons therefor; and (b) the steps being taken by the Government in this regard? Minister for Commerce (Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan): (a) It is not a fact that Free Trade Agreements are not able to increase the Pakistan’s exports. Pakistan’s exports to all FTA partner countries have increased significantly after their implementation. Pakistan has Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the following countries:— —————————————————————————————— FTA Date of Implementation —————————————————————————————— Pak-Sri Lanka 12th June, 2005 South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) 1st July, 2006 Pak-China 1st July, 2007 Pak-Malaysia Close Economic 1st January, 2008 Partnership Agreement —————————————————————————————— The following table shows increase in exports of Pakistan to the FTA partner countries. Million US$ —————————————————————————————— FTA Pre FTA Pre FTA Post FTA %Growth Partner Exports FY Exports FY —————————————————————————————— Sri Lanka 2005-06 159.212 247.11 55.21 SAFTA 2005-06 1790.01 2,690 33.46 China 2006-07 575.91 2015-16 1,669.59 189.90 Malaysia 2008-09 124.38 187.77 50.96 —————————————————————————————— 6 (b) In order to further increase Pakistan’s exports to FTA partner countries, following steps are being taken; Trade promotional activities — participation in trade fairs, exhibitions and exchange of business delegations. Deepening of concessions through further negotiations and undertaking review of FTA by invoking review mechanism imbedded in all FTAs. Joint Trade Committee meetings to remove non-tariff barriers. 10. *Mr. Muhammad Jamal Ud Din: (Deferred during 38th Session) Will the Minister for States and Frontier Regions be pleased to state: (a) the total number of Cadet Colleges in FATA at present; and (b) whether it is a fact that there is a dissimilarity/nonconformity in the salaries of the employees of said Cadet Colleges and other Cadet Colleges of the country? Minister for States and Frontier Regions [Lt. General (Retd.) Abdul Qadir Baloch): (a) There are the following three (3) Cadet Colleges in FATA. 1. Cadet College Razmak, NWA 2. Cadet College Wana, SWA 3. Cadet College Spinkai, SWA (b) Cadet College Razmak NWA employees get their salaries from regular budget as other Cadet colleges of the country. Cadet College Wana SWA and Cadet College Spinkai SWA, being on development sector, are on the analogy of Cadet College Razmak, NWA. So, there is no variation in the pay (salaries) of the employees of FATA Cadet Colleges as compared to the salaries of employees of other cadet colleges of the country. 7 12. *Sahibzada Muhammad Yaqub: (Deferred during 38th Session) Will the Minister for Foreign Affairs be pleased to state: (a) the total number of persons hailing from Malakand Division imprisoned in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States at present alongwith the nature of allegations thereof; and (b) the steps taken by the present Government for their release? Minister for Foreign Affairs: (a) It may be noted the detainees are identified on the basis of their nationalities rather than domicile. Hence, no such list is available with our Embassies. (b) Our Missions take the following steps for the release of Pakistani prisoners: Undertake regular consular visits to the jails to meet Pakistani prisoners detained in different cases and help them for redressing their legitimate needs. Provide legal support to the prisoners. Address issues related to health, hygiene, change of barracks etc. Those convicted for various crimes by the court are required to serve their sentences. Without completing their jail terms, the prisoners are not released. The host Governments, on some occasions, announce remission in sentences for certain categories of prisoners. Thus their jail term is accordingly reduced. The Missions also provide air tickets to destitute Pakistani prisoners for their repatriation to Pakistan on completion of their jail term. 20. *Dr. Nafisa Shah: (Deferred during 38th Session) Will the Minister for Commerce be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that the Government is planning to make