ISLAMABAD, 17 September 2021, (TON): Prime Minister Imran Khan invited the business community of Tajikistan to invest in Pakistan, assuring them of facilitation by his government.

The premier is in Tajikistan on a two-day visit, during which he will attend the 20th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO's) Heads of State Summit in Dushanbe, according to a tweet by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

After arriving in Dushanbe, the prime minister inaugurated the maiden meeting of the Pakistan-Tajikistan Business Forum, for which a group of Pakistani businessmen have also travelled to Tajikistan.

The joint business forum will catalyse growing trade and investment relations and promote business-to-business contacts between the trading communities of both countries, Radio Pakistan reported.

PM Imran Khan was received by Tajik PM Kokhir Rasulzoda at Dushanbe airport on Thursday.

Addressing the forum, Prime Minister Imran stressed the need to increase bilateral trade between the two countries, regretting that presently it amounted to a "minuscule" $80 million and there was a lot of potential still.

He said Pakistan, with a population of 220m people, was a "huge market" for the Tajik business community and investors. Inviting them to Pakistan, he assured them of government facilitation to make business activity easier.

The premier said that both countries would benefit from more trade.

COLOMBO, 17 September 2021, (TON): The United Nations (UN) office in Sri Lanka says it condemns any ill-treatment of prisoners.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said that it is the duty of the State, as per the Mandela Rules, to protect the rights of prisoners.

Hanaa Singer-Hamdy tweeted “in our work on prison reform and drug rehabilitation UN Sri Lanka works to strengthen capacities to uphold the rights of all those in custody and condemns any ill treatment of prisoners.”

RIYADH, 17 September 2021, (TON): The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iraq met on the sidelines of a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting for foreign ministers in Riyadh on Thursday.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Fuad Hussein reviewed Saudi-Iraqi relations and ways to support and enhance them.

The GCC reaffirmed its support for Iraq during the meeting and Hussein said that opportunities for the council’s countries to support the Iraqi economy were discussed.

Iraq’s foreign minister added that his country will work with the GCC to enhance security in the region and is playing a role in bringing the views of Gulf states and Iran closer.

Hussein also condemned Houthi attacks targeting Saudi Arabia.

The meeting’s final communiqué called on all parties to work toward making elections in Iraq a success.

KATHMANDU, 17 September 2021, (TON): The fourth Joint Project Monitoring Committee on Strengthening of Road Infrastructure in Terai Area of Nepal was held Thursday via video-conferencing.

Anurag Srivastava, Joint Secretary (Northern Division) of the Ministry of External Affairs of India, and Keshab Kumar Sharma, Joint Secretary from Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport of Government of Nepal (GON), co-chaired the fourth Joint Project Monitoring Committee (JPMC) meetings.

Officials of Nepal and India attend the fourth Joint Project Monitoring Committee (JPMC) meeting virtually.

The JPMC meeting reviewed the overall implementation of the Government of India (GOI) funded Terai Roads project in Nepal and expressed satisfaction at the good progress achieved with the completion of 13 out of 14 road packages.

Both sides noted despite the challenges posed by Covid pandemic, the project made good progress and is in the final stages of completion.

ADDIS ABABA, 17 September 2021, (TON): The United Nations urged Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to return to AU-led talks aimed at resolving the impasse over the hydro power project Addis Ababa is building on the River Nile.

A security council statement called on the countries to reach a “binding agreement on the filling and operation of the [Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam] GERD.”

The last round of negotiations held in Kinshasa in April ended without an agreement.

Under construction since 2011, the GERD is projected to generate some 6,000 MW of power once completed. But it has upset downstream countries Egypt and Sudan who are concerned that their water supplies will be affected.

In July, Ethiopia announced that it had succesfully finished the second phase of filling the dam's reservoir, further raising tensions with Khartoum and Cairo.

Ethiopia says the facility is almost complete and due to start generating an initial 750 megawatts of electricity later this year.

RIYADH, 17 September 2021, (TON): Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the UK, and the US expressed concern about Yemen’s deteriorating economy.

The concerns stemmed from the depreciation of the Yemeni rial, the rise in food prices, and the severe impact of this on the economy and the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country.

The countries praised Saudi Arabia’s charitable donations to Yemen including oil derivatives.

They also called on the Yemeni government to take all necessary steps to start achieving economic stability, and stressed their commitment to providing economic support to the Yemeni government.

A statement issued after the Saudi, Emirati and British ambassadors to Yemen and the chargé d'affaires for the US Embassy to Yemen met, also highlighted the importance of implementing the Riyadh Agreement.

The four countries stressed the need for the Yemeni government to return to Aden, noting its effective role in overseeing future international support for economic recovery, and their commitment to a comprehensive political solution to the conflict in Yemen.

NEW DELHI, 17 September 2021, (TON): India has appointed Shri Munu Mahawar as the next Indian High Commissioner to Maldives, as the term of current High Commissioner Sunjay Sudhir draws to a close.

The announcement was made by the Indian External Affairs Ministry in a statement last Wednesday.

Mahawar was born in Dhamtari, Chattisgarh. 

He did his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT, Delhi. He speaks Hindi, English and Russian languages. 

Mahawar joined Indian Foreign Service in 1996.

MALE, 17 September 2021, (TON): A Hungarian consulate has been opened in the Maldives. The Consulate was opened by Foreign Secretary Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, Hungarian Ambassador to the Maldives, András László Király and Maldives' Horonary Consul to Hungary, Mohamed Ali Janah at a special ceremony held Thursday.

The consulate is located at H. Seaside on the outer ring road of capital, Male' City.

Ambassador András László Király presented his credentials to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

MALE, 17 September 2021, (TON): The proposals were penned down in the Ministry’s ‘Medium Term Fiscal Strategy 2022-2024’ which has been submitted to the Parliament.

They are changing the Airport Service Charge and Airport Development Fee rates: The bill on this has been passed by the Parliament and has also been ratified by the President. It will be implemented starting from January 1, 2022.

Real estate tourism/development of new resorts: Dividends would be received from tourism real estate. MVR 100 million is expected to be received from resort development in 2021; MVR 350 million in 2022; MVR 550 million in 2023.

Expatriate quota fee: Estimated to receive revenue from January 2022 onwards

Increasing resident permit fee: Estimated to receive revenue from January 2022 onwards

Sale of land: In planning stages. MVR 150 million is expected to be received in 2021; MVR 525 million in 2022; MVR 825 million in 2023.

Spectrum change: A study to be conducted on spectrum auction with the help of USAID. MVR 60 million is estimated to be received in 2022.

Congestion charge/parking fee: At planning stage – but expected to be implemented by this year. MVR 9 million is estimated to be received in 2021; MVR 73.2 million in 2022.

As per the report, the Ministry is estimating a budget of MVR 37 billion for next year. The medium-term baseline budget includes the projected expenditure on existing recurrent programs and activities, and the expenditure on ongoing projects.

BERLIN, 17 September 2021, (TON): German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed concern about the increased, in his opinion, Russian military activity on the eastern borders of NATO.

Steinmeier said “how much we need NATO as a strong alliance, we see every day in the Baltic Sea region. I am concerned that military activity on the EU’s borders is on the rise again.”

The FRG president said “not a day goes by without Russian military aircraft taking off into the skies over the Baltic Sea. More and more often they violate the airspace of your countries [the Baltic States],”

In his opinion, the security situation and the threat of incidents “have not been as serious for a long time” as after the annexation of Crimea to Russia and the aggravation of the situation in Donbass.

Steinmeier assured the heads of the Baltic states that they are not alone in this situation. “Whoever threatens the Baltic states, he also threatens the whole of NATO, threatens Germany. Therefore, the Bundeswehr leads the NATO forces in Lithuania, therefore the German Air Force is guarding the airspace in the Baltic Sea region,” Steinmeier argued.