The Pakistan People Party (PPP) on Friday ended the boycott of the Parliament and attended the National Assembly session, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Meanwhile, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhary said the government is taking concrete measures to attract investment in the country.
He told the National Assembly during question hour today that the foreign direct investment increased by 27.2 percent, reaching 4026.6 million dollars in the last fiscal year. He mentioned that there has also been record increase in remittances in recent months.
The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs said a regulatory framework has been established to oversee cryptocurrency in Pakistan. He also alluded to the establishment of Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority and Pakistan Crypto Council.
Minister of State for Planning Chaudhry Armaghan Subhani informed the house that projects have been started to alleviate poverty and uplift the backward districts. He said a project worth forty billion rupees is aimed at uplifting twenty poorest districts of the country.
Providing an update on the privatization of various entities, Parliamentary Secretary for Privatization Aasia Ishaque Siddiqui informed the House that the pre-bidding process for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been completed, and the bidding is expected to take place by the end of November. She said that bids have been received for First Woman Bank, and the sale and purchase agreement is scheduled for 17th of this month. She said the sale and purchase agreement for the House Building Finance Corporation is expected to be finalized before December this year.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced on Friday that the digitisation process has been initiated to establish an e-Parliament, aimed at modernising the legislative system.
Speaking at the start of the National Assembly session, the Speaker said the digitisation work had almost been completed in the Secretariat, while the system would soon be extended to the Parliament Lodges for the facilitation of members.
He said that under the new system, members would receive the Order of the Day, a copy of the Constitution, the Rules of Business, and other legislative documents digitally instead of in paper form.
“A help desk has been set up at Gate where members can configure their passwords and collect their iPads,” he added.
The Speaker urged members to inform colleagues who were not present in the House to collect their iPads as well. “Once members start using the new digital system, the practice of placing paper documents on their desks will be discontinued,” he said.
Ayaz Sadiq further said that in case any member forgets to bring their iPad, a limited number of paper copies or spare devices would be available as a backup.
He added that the new system would enable members to conveniently access the Order of the Day, the Constitution, and the Rules of Business from anywhere, making their parliamentary work more efficient.
Reporter Rozina Ali