Karachi, January 22, 2018 (PPI-OT):A five member delegation headed by the Austrian Ambassador Dr. Brigitta Blaha called on the Sindh Minister for Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Syed Sardar Ali Shah at his office in Sindh Archives here on today. They discussed in detail about the possible cooperation and collaboration in various projects and areas of the mutual interest, and principally agreed to devise initial feasible reports and working plans on selected areas of culture, tourism and archaeology.
The delegation included Mr. Babar Tajammul, Honorary Consul General of Austria in Karachi, Cdre (Retd) Imran Akram, and Ms. Anita D’ Cruz, while from the culture department, the Secretary Culture Ghulam Akbar Laghari, DG Antiquities Manzoor Kanasiro, DG Gorakh Hills Authority Nasir Abbas Soomro, Director Culture and Archives Abdul Aleem Lashari, MD Sindh Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) Roshan Kanasiro, Director Pakistan Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (PITHM) Niaz Malkani, Muhammad Qasim Soomro Member STDC Board and other concerned officers attended the meeting.
The Minister Culture Syed Sardar Ali Shah, after formally welcoming the Austrian delegation, said that the Sindh government warmly welcomes the foreign investment opportunities in the different fields, and said that he would also appreciate the investment or collaboration opportunities from the Austrian investors for the promotion, preservation and conservation of culture, tourism and archaeology of the province.
He told the Austrian delegation that Sindh is the seat of ancient Indus Valley Civilization and has its rich intangible and tangible cultural heritage. He told them that there are many investment opportunities in the Tourism sector and that his department would assist and support the foreign investment for the promotion of tourism and conservation of archaeology of the province.
The Minister Culture briefed them about the overall initiatives of his department and possible areas of collaboration with other countries including Austria. The Austrian Ambassador Dr. Brigitta Blaha thanked the Minister culture for his warm welcome, and she said that the Austrian government is looking for the investment opportunities in Sindh province in different fields, and was keen to work with the culture and tourism department.
Both the sides discussed briefly on the possible areas of cooperation, and they principally agreed to work out the feasible strategies for the mutual cooperation in cultural exchange programs, tourism promotion and trainings of the archaeologists of the department. The exchange programs in hospitality industry was also discussed briefly. The Minister Culture Syed Ali Shah presented the Austrian delegation with the traditional gifts of Ajrak, Lungi and the recently published books of culture department that the delegation liked the most.
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Information and Archives Department
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Government of Sindh
95-Sindh Secretariat 4-B, Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-99204423, +92-21-99204401
Email: pressinformationzubair@gmail.com
Website: http://sindhinformation.gos.pk