By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday emphasized the need for further expanding bilateral ties with Vietnam in all areas of mutual interest including trade and economy.
He was talking to Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Vietnam, Ms. Samina Mehtab, who called on him here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. The President said that Pakistan highly valued its ties with Vietnam in all spheres of bilateral and multilateral interactions.
He asked the Ambassador-designate to work for promoting trade and commercial relations with Vietnam as Pakistan offered immense investment opportunities and Vietnamese business community needed to benefit from the country’s investment-friendly environment.
The President asked the Ambassador to also work for promoting the prestige and image of the country as well as highlight the tourism potential of Pakistan which was a good destination for the Vietnamese tourists with Buddhist Gandhara civilization.
He underscored the importance of bilateral political and cultural exchanges at the highest level and asked the Ambassador to explore the possibilities of such exchanges which greatly helped in further strengthening bilateral cooperation.
The President congratulated the Ambassador-designate over her appointment as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Vietnam and expressed the hope that she would work for further enhancing bilateral relations with Vietnam.
Earlier on Thursday, President Dr Arif Alvi instructed for prompt disbursement of Artists Welfare Fund to provide timely financial support to artists in dire need of financial assistance.
Chairing the 11th Meeting of the Steering Committee for Artists Welfare Fund at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the president underscored the need for improving the eligibility criteria for disbursement of fund among artists.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Federal Education, Professional Training, National Heritage and Culture Shafqat Mahmood, Secretary National Heritage and Culture Nausheen Javaid Amjad and Secretary Information and Broadcasting Shahera Shahid. While Dr. Ali Jan, Abaseen Yousafzai, Sultan Allana, Misbah Khalid, Khalid Anam, Adeel Hashmi and Roshan Khursheed Bharucha participated through video link.
The president emphasized that the artists, who were facing financial and health problems, deserved to be supported as they played important role in promoting the soft and positive image of the country. He advised that the meeting of steering committee should be convened on a quarterly basis so as to expeditiously address the problems being faced by the artists.
Moreover, President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday while calling for promoting traditional sports, emphasized better coaching and improved training facilities for the players to make them achieve successes at international sports competitions.
Talking to National Kabaddi team, which called on him at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the president congratulated Pakistan Kabaddi Federation and National Kabaddi team over winning the Kabaddi World Cup 2020 for the first time in the history of Kabaddi.
