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Embassy of Pakistan
Paris

Press Section

Press Release

Pakistan and France to strengthen their culture, sports and educational ties

Paris, 3rd January, 2017. Ambassador of Pakistan to France Moin ul Haque has said that people to people contacts will improve as Pakistan and France work for strengthening their cooperation in the area of culture, sports and education.

The Ambassador said this during his meeting with Mrs. Hauteserre, Mayor of Paris 8, in Paris, today. He emphasized that greater understanding and respect for each other could be achieved through increased contacts between scholars, artists, researchers and exchange of students and cultural troupes.

The Ambassador further apprised the mayor of various events which have been planned by the Embassy to introduce Pakistan’s rich social, cultural, historical and archaeological heritage to the French people.

Conveying Christmas and New Year greetings to the Mayor and people of France on behalf of the people of Pakistan. Ambassador expressed the hope that year 2017 would witness an intensification of relations between Pakistan and France.

While acknowledging the importance of people to people contacts, the Mayor of Paris-8 extended her full cooperation to the Embassy of Pakistan in its effort to introduce Pakistan’s social and cultural heritage to the people of France.

The district of Paris-8 is the main business hub in the heart of Paris. The major touristic attractions such as Champs-Elysees, the Arc of Triomphe, the Place of the Concorde, Elysee Palace and as well as Embassy of Pakistan are located in Paris-8.
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Qamar Bashir
Counsellor (Press)
Embassy of Pakistan, Paris
0770123323(mobile)
01 45 61 48 98 (office)
01 45 61 10 17 (fax)
E-mail: presssectionparis@gmail.com
press_paris@yahoo.com
Address: 18 Rue Lord Byron
Paris 75008, France

Embassy of Pakistan

Paris

Press Release

Pak seeks France’s Cooperation in Higher Education Sector

Paris 4th January, 2017. Bilateral cooperation between the higher education sectors of France and Pakistan especially for the Master and Doctorate degree programs in the engineering, management and research fields would help provide high quality human resources to Pakistan’s growing and expanding industrial and manufacturing sectors.

This was stated by the Ambassador of Pakistan to France Moin ul Haque while talking to Mr. Philippe Jamet, President of Institute Mines-Telecom (IMT) during his visit to IMT’s headquarters in Paris, today.

The Ambassador said that Pakistan is on a positive growth trajectory since last three years with enhanced investments by foreign and local investors. Pakistan would seek to launch industrial-based research projects with France in order to meet the requirements of the growing industrial and communication infrastructure in the country.

Ambassador briefed them about government’s focus and increased budgetary allocation for the higher education and sought IMT’s collaboration to set up campuses by the French top Universities in Pakistan. Ambassador invited IMT’s delegation to visit Pakistan to hold meetings with Higher Education Commission and management of top universities of Pakistan and research institutions of Pakistan.   

President, Mr. Jamet said the engineering and management schools under IMT umbrella are known for their innovative tools for producing leaders in engineering and digital transition, while innovation providing state of the art research laboratories to the scientists to pursue their research work. The institute also provides higher education in the fields of energy, environment, future technologies, economic, management and cross disciplinary education like health and wellbeing and smart and sustainable cities.

Ms. Frédérique Vincent, Executive Vice President, International Affairs and Mr. Christian Roux, Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation were also present during the meeting.

More than 600 Pakistani students and pursuing their Master, PHD and post doctorate degrees in various higher educationinstitutions of France.

IMT is an umbrella supervisory setup of the Ministry of Economy of France which have over ten top engineering and business schools under its fold with over 14000 students across France.

No passport processing facility on Saturday , 07 January 2017 and Saturday, 07 January 2017.

Directorate General of Immigration and Passport has informed that they are shifting their main passport servers/database to a new facility over the next two weekends i.e on Saturday , 07 January 2017 and Saturday, 14 January 2017. Therefore, processing of Machine Readable Passport in the Embassy of Pakistan, Paris will remain suspended for these two dates. However, collection of passport and all other Consular services will continue to remain available without any interruption.

Any inconvenience to the members of the community is regretted.

Paris, 17^th December, 2016. The Embassy of Pakistan in France hosted a Christmas dinner in Paris, today.

A large number of members of faith leaders, Pakistani French Christian community and as well as Parliamentarians, officials of French government, faith leaders, civil society representatives and media attended the event.

The speakers on the occasion recalled the teachings of Jesus Christ, who was sent to this world as a symbol of peace, brotherhood and respect for the entire humanity. He not only healed the ailing humanity but preached the divine values of tolerance, love and compassion.

[textblock style=”2″]Mr. Francois Pupponi, the President of France-Pakistan Friendship Group in the National Assembly of France who was the chief guest on the occasion appreciated the role of the Pakistani community as responsible citizens of France.[/textblock]

Mr. Francois Pupponi, the President of France-Pakistan Friendship Group in the National Assembly of France who was the chief guest on the occasion appreciated the role of the Pakistani community as responsible citizens of France. He also spoke about strong bilateral relations between France and Pakistan and expressed his confidence that they will continue to grow further in coming days.

The Ambassador of Pakistan to France Moin ul Haque conveyed felicitations and good wishes to the participants and their families on the festive occasion.

[textblock style=”2″]Pakistan is fully committed to safeguarding the rights and privileges enjoyed by all minorities[/textblock]

He said that Pakistan is fully committed to safeguarding the rights and privileges enjoyed by all minorities. He noted that the Christian community in Pakistan is playing its due role in the national development, progress and prosperity as equal citizens. He underlined the importance Islam gives to respecting all faiths and emphasized the need for mutual respect, understanding and dialogue in these challenging times.

The leaders of Pakistani Christian community in their speeches said that Christmas is a time for celebration and rejoicing for Christians all lover the world. They appreciated and expressed their gratitude to the Embassy for holding this event.

A special Christmas cake was cut on the occasion. A group of young children also presented a cultural performance at the event.

The Embassy of Pakistan held a Naat Khawani to celebrated Eid Milad Al Nabi in Paris, today .

Members of Pakistani community and officials of the Embassy attended the Eid Milad Celebrations.

The Ambassador of Pakistan to France Moin ul Haque in his concluding remarks said that the life and teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him), were beacon of light for the entire humanity.

He said that Prophet Muhammed’s (peace be upon him) message revealed to the humankind through Quran and his own life was about peace, tolerance and moderation and peaceful co-existence with followers of other religions.

He urged the Pakistani community in France to lead an exemplary life by practicing teachings of the Prophet as better human being and a better Muslim.

At the end of the Milad, special prayers were offered for the continuous peace, progress and prosperity of Pakistan and the world.

Paris 7^th December, 2016. Pakistan has joined the rank of 70 member countries of Open Government Partnership (OGP).

This was announced by Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs at the opening ceremony of the 3-day 4^th OGP Summit held in Paris, today.

He handed Pakistan’s Letter of Intent to join OGP to the President of French Republic in the inaugural ceremony of the Summit which was chaired by the French President. Few other countries including Luxembourg, Morocco, Burkina Faso and Jamaica also announced their decision to join OGP. 

During his announcement speech, Finance Minister reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to the four key principles of OGP including fiscal transparency, access to information, asset disclosures and citizen engagement. He further added that Government of Pakistan has pledged to work against corruption and fiscal fraud and is prepared to make further high level commitments to fully achieving and sustaining the Principles of OGP. 

The Summit aimed at promotion of transparency, accountability and citizen participation was attended by a large number of Heads of State and Governments, Ministers and civil society representatives to push forward the open government agenda in light of the global challenges.

Later Finance Federal Minister Dar attended a Reception hosted by French Foreign Minister Mr. Jean Marc Ayrault.

OGP was launched in 2011 to provide an international platform for domestic reformers committed to making their governments more open, accountable and responsive to citizens. Since then, OGP has grown from 8 countries to the 70 participating countries including USA, UK, France Canada, Indonesia, Turkey and Sri Lanka.

9^th November, 2016. Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs met with Mr. Remy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer of French Development Agency (AFD) in Paris yesterday. The CEO of AFD appreciated the progress that Pakistan has made in stabilizing economy and taking it to a higher trajectory of growth.

During the meeting, Finance Minister said that Pakistan values the financial assistance provided by AFD to Pakistan in important sectors including energy, water and sanitation. He added that Pakistan government appreciates AFD’s support for GoP initiatives for improving the transmission efficiency and water and sanitation in Pakistan. 

AFD announced that for the year 2016, it has approved a portfolio of Euros 265 million as soft loans for Rehabilitation of Mangla Hydropower plant, augmenting NTDC transmission capacity and budget support for energy sector reforms. AFD has joined ADB and JICA in the 5 year budget support program initiated in 2014 for improving the management of tariff opening the market and strengthening accountability and transparency in the energy sector. AFD also evinced interest in working in the sectors of heritage and culture.

AFD has been operating in Pakistan since 2007. It is promoting green and inclusive growth and has been focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

Mr. Sanjay Pradhan, Chief Executive Officer, Open government Partnership (OGP) called on the Finance Minister in the Embassy of Pakistan and congratulated Pakistan on joining the elite group of members of OGP. He invited Pakistan to participate in the meetings of various OGP Working Groups and Steering Committees and offered help in developing Pakistan’s National Action Plan for OGP. The Finance Minister said that Pakistan’s decision to join OGP demonstrates government’s commitment to a transparent and accountable governance. He reiterated government’s pledge to work against corruption and fiscal fraud and further high level commitments to fully achieving and sustaining the principles of OGP.

Mr. Bernard Cambier, Head of Middle East Division of Renault, the French largest car manufacturing company also met with the Finance Minister.  They reaffirmed Renault’s decision for setting up their car manufacturing facility in Pakistan by 2018. Finance Minister appreciated Renault’s decision for choosing Pakistan for establishing their car facility and assured full support for Renault’s operations in Pakistan.

Finance Minister also interacted with French and Pakistani media and briefed them on the outcome of his visit.

The meetings were also attended by Mr. Tariq Bajwa, Secretary Economic Affairs Division, Pakistan, Ambassador of Pakistan to France Moin ul Haque and the Embassy team.

Paris, 10.12.2016. Concluding his official visit to Paris, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister met with French Finance Minister Michel Sapin yesterday. This was his second meeting with French counterpart in the last three months.

Minister Sapin congratulated the Finance Minister on joining the Open Government Partnership process. He also appreciated the ratification by Pakistan of the OECD Convention on Mutual Assistance on Tax Matters. The Finance Minister apprised him of the importance Pakistan attached to transparency in public matters and his intention to make Pakistan a member of OECD Convention against Bribery in due course.

The Finance Minister briefed Minister Sapin on the turnaround of Pakistan’s economy in the last three years, macroeconomic stability, and improvement of energy and security situation in the country, which has provided a conducive atmosphere for foreign direct investment. Mr. Sapin acknowledged Pakistan’s economic achievements and expressed hope that the journey towards further progress and development would continue.     

Both the Ministers also discussed trade, economic and investment relations between the two countries. While expressing satisfaction over the upward trajectory of bilateral relations, including decision by French automobile company Renault to start manufacturing vehicles in Pakistan, they emphasized the need to further strengthen ties through the institutional mechanism of Administrative, Economic and Trade Committee (AETC). They agreed, in principle, to upgrade AETC to Ministerial level. The Finance Minister invited Mr. Sapin to visit Pakistan to co-chair the next meeting of AETC. Prior to that, both sides would meet early next year at Secretary level to prepare the ground for the Ministerial meeting.

Secretary Economic Affairs Division and Ambassador of Pakistan to France were also present at the meeting.