New Pakistan envoy takes charge

Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand and Lady Satyanand with Syed Ibne Abbas and (from left) First Secretary Asima Rabbani, Syed Muhammad Ali Abbas, Sadaf Abbas and Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy at the Government House Vogel in Lower Hutt where he

Pakistan’s new High Commissioner Syed Ibne Abbas is keen to foster bilateral relations with New Zealand and explore new areas of engagement.

Greeting Indian Newslink readers, he said he looked forward to strengthening contacts with the Pakistani and other communities and promote mutually beneficial ties and relationships.

Mr Abbas is the second envoy of his country to be appointed to head the High Commission in Wellington. His predecessor Munawar Saeed Bhatti, with whom he worked briefly at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi (when the latter was the Deputy High Commissioner) returned to his home country a few months ago after completing a three-year tour of duty.

Mr Abbas presented his credentials to Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand at the Government House Vogel in Lower Hutt on February 25.

The ceremony included the Haka and the Hongi.

A career diplomat, Mr Abbas has been an officer of the Pakistan Foreign Service (PFS) since 1983 and has served at his country’s Foreign Ministry in Islamabad and Diplomatic Missions in various parts of the world.

He was previously Consul General in Los Angeles, US.

He has done tours of duty at the Pakistani capital as Director General (Asia) and Deputy Secretary (Prime Minister’s Secretariat) and in different capacities in the country’s missions in Berne, Geneva (Switzerland), Canberra (Australia) and New Delhi (India).

Mr Abbas has represented Pakistan at several important meetings including the UN General Assembly, an International Conference on Disarmament, The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and Organisation of Islamic Conference.

Married to Sadaf, the couple has three sons, who are studying in Wellington.

New Zealand is the home for about 4000 people of Pakistani origin. In addition, about 200 Pakistani students are enrolled in major Universities around the country, pursuing postgraduate and research studies.

Two-way trade between New Zealand and Pakistan (about $145 million, of which exports are $85 million) is small but growing.

New Zealand provides a small bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme through the Head of Mission Fund, This has included funding for water pumps in remote villages, medical equipment, micro-credit funding and schools.

New Zealand has also contributed emergency relief to Pakistan, including $500,000 to UNHCR in July 2007 following severe floods, and $2.25million to various agencies following the 2005 earthquake. In addition, the New Zealand Government contributed over $900,000 to NGO programmes in Pakistan since 2004.

Potential areas of cooperation include Agriculture, Dairy Products, Education, Energy, Science, Technology and Water Resource Management.