Zulfi Bukhari says '2021 will mark a new beginning' of Pak-Japan relations

• Bukhari says that he will be making an important visit to Japan next year.

• Says that after the COVID-19 situation subsides, over 500 Japanese IT companies will come to Pakistan for investment.
  

• Says Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis is in close contact with South Korea, Romania, Germany, and Japan.
  

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari said that   2021 will mark a new beginning of Pak-Japan relations.

The federal minister met with the Japanese ambassador to Pakistan, Kininori Matsuda, to discuss the export of Pakistani IT Engineers in Japan, read the press release on Friday.

The meeting was followed by a video conference held with the Japanese IT Companies association.

Hoping that in 2021, the ministry will pave the way for Pakistani IT engineers to work in Japan, he said that Japanese IT companies would also be welcomed to set up training centres in Pakistan.

“I will be making an important visit to Japan next year,” he maintained.

The minister said that after the COVID-19 situation subsides, over 500 Japanese IT companies will come to Pakistan for investment.

Officials from the ministry of foreign affairs, the ministry of information technology, the Pakistan Software House association, and embassies of both countries participated in the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, the Japanese IT Association said that the shortage of IT engineers is intensifying in Japan. According to Japan’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, by 2030, Japan will face a shortage of 800,000 IT engineers.

The Ambassador of Pakistan in Japan apprised the the premier's aide about 100 Japanese companies who have contacted the embassy following the Pak-Japan Skilled Workforce agreement.

“Following the Pak-Japan Skilled Workforce Agreement, more than 100 major Japanese IT companies, including NEC Corporation, Mac, Sankyo, and Orix Japan, have approached the Pakistani Embassy in Japan," said the ambassador.

Bukhari said that under the new vision, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis is expanding its horizon of Pakistani manpower exports to countries other than GCC.

He further said that the ministry is in close contact with South Korea, Romania, Germany, and Japan and "sending manpower to Japan is our top priority” .