Ambassador of Pakistan to the Czech Republic, Embassy of Pakistan
H.E. Athar Mahmood joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1976. Since then he held various positions and diplomatic assignments in Pakistani missions abroad, including Ankara, Colombo, New York, and Rome. He also served as High Commissioner of Pakistan to Mauritius.
Mr. Mahmood attended numerous International and Regional Conferences; took part in Workshop on Anti-Dumping and World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Remedy Issues organized by KOICA in Seoul, South Korea; led the Pakistan delegation to the First Hearing for Asia and Pacific on Global Commission for International Migration held in Manila, Philippine; and represented Pakistan at several meetings of other Regional Organizations such as Economic Coordination Organization (ECO), South Asian Association of Regional Countries (SAARC) and Commonwealth.
In 2006, he was appointed an Ambassador of Pakistan to the Czech Republic.
Questions and Answers
has 5 years of project management experience in Ukraine, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Czech Republic. Excellent educational background from United States, Ukraine, Finland, Denmark, Slovenia and Hungary.
Area of expertise - Internet / Media - marketing and promotion using social media and print, online video, online communities creation, web site and blog development. Ivan has successfully managed multiple international projects from Prague, Czech Republic that lead towards an improvement in an organization's performance and market share growth. Speaker and active networker in expat-czech communties. Ivan works in English and Russian and can be reached at ivan.vlasyuk@morkva.biz.
Ivan put together some questions from YPF members below:
Pakistan is one of the fast growing emerging economies of the world, with a large population of approximately 170 million, it is a gateway to Central Asia, the Gulf and the Far East.
Pakistan has adopted a liberal investor friendly policy, broad features of which include, proactive facilitation and guarantees of equal treatment of both local and foreign investors, easy tariff structures and a liberal regime on repatriation of profits.
The financial sector of Pakistan is regarded as one of the best performing sectors in our region. The banking sector has shown robust performance and so have the stock markets. The contribution of service sector in the growth of the economy has been almost 60% over the last few years. The financial sector has also attracted significant attention from the foreign investors in the recent past and holds sufficient potential. Power sector is one of the top priorities for investment today. Other sectors include horticulture, dairy, construction, infrastructure development and manufacturing which can be highly profitable for any prospective investor.
Despite the challenges that we confront Pakistan’s economy remains resilient. We are consistently taking measures to safeguard the interests of foreign investors in Pakistan.
There is no restriction on taking public photographs in Pakistan. Photographers can take pictures on the streets though it would be better if a photographer prior to taking photos of people would take permission from the people (no formal written permission but merely as a gesture of courtesy). Pakistanis are very warm and friendly people, they are engaging with foreigners and like to have spontaneous conversations with everyone. Women are shown in advertising and in marketing campaigns. Please visit google and enter Pakistani newspapers and magazines to educate yourself on this topic. There is no formal law that prohibits outdoor marketing campaign but as stated earlier, it is better to, as a gesture of courtesy to ask permission before photographing people and/or property.
For your information, some popular publications from Pakistan are:
• Dawn
• Daily Times
• She
• Good Times
Please note that when you are attempting a google search for the aforementioned publications, mention the publication and then Pakistan so that you can be certain that you are browsing the intended publication.