PM Shehbaz’s visit to Tajikistan and Kazakhstan was successful: Ata Tarar

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ataullah Tarar has said that Prime Minister's visit to Tajikistan and Kazakhstan was very successful. The people of Tajikistan and Pakistan can benefit from trade and investment as during the Prime Minister's visit Karachi Port was discussed in detail, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Addressing a press briefing, the Minister paid tribute to the Prime Minister for successfully culminating his visit to Astana for participation in the Leaders Forum under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and ardently pleading the case of innocent Palestinians.

Tarar said during the meetings with Tajikistan and Kazakhstan leaders, land and rail routes were also discussed. The increase in trade between the two countries and the provision of facilities to the business community were also discussed.

“The Prime Minister vehemently fought the case of Palestine and demanded that Israel should be held accountable for the genocide of innocent Palestinians as two million of them were displaced,” he added. Pakistan, he said, had a clear stance that free Palestine should be accepted from Pre-1967 its boundaries with Al Quds as its capital and ceasefire should be made as there was no other remedy to it.

Information Minister said the Prime Minister also met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Kazakhstan. Discussions were held with the Russian President on promoting cooperation and partnership in various fields. He hoped that this meeting would help increase bilateral trade between Russia and Pakistan. Tarar said during the visit, the Prime Minister also met with the Presidents of Belarus and Uzbekistan and held talks regarding the increase in trade and provision of facilities to the business classes. The PM said there are numerous opportunities to promote trade in various sectors.

Meanwhile, Ataullah Tarar said the newspapers of the country had received the maximum advertisements of Rs 9 billion whereas the new channels were given Rs 6 billion advertisements.

Responding to the question of Senator Sarmad Ali Khan pertaining to criteria for news channels and newspapers during the question hour session of the second meeting of the 340th session of the Senate of Pakistan, the Minister informed that the newspapers were facing financial crisis due to which the current government paid special attention to it.Ataullah Tarar said at present as per the 1997 Services Manual, advertisements were given to the news and media outlets. He added that a policy for advertisement was introduced in 2021 which was amended in 2022.

“There is no criteria to gauge electronic media’s eligibility for getting advertisements. However, our rates’ committee based on rating of news channels allows a limit or number of advertisements to be given to a particular channel,” he said.

The Minister underlined that at presented no advertisements for any news channel were halted by the current government. The criteria, he said for advertisement was to convey the intended message to maximum audience effectively, whereas the rating system for news channels helps achieve that ambition.

Moreover, the Audit Bureau of Circulation checks the circulation of the newspapers and then issues advertisements to the widely circulated newspapers, he added.

In the Budget 2024, he said 10 percent duty was imposed on the paper used for newspapers which was imported, but it was waived off and no new tax was imposed on newspapers due to the prevailing crisis.

He urged the House that the prevailing Policy needs to be improved and made effective under the guidance of the mover of the question and All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS).