ISLAMABAD, July 12: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has said that special concessions and privileges will be granted to overseas Pakistanis, who can substantially invest in Pakistan.

He directed the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) to intensify its efforts for the welfare of the overseas Pakis-tani community and to pro-vide them with adequate facilities during their visit to Pakistan.

The prime minister gave these instructions during a surprise visit to the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation head office here on Saturday.

He said that the expatriate Pakistani community was a valuable asset, which needed to be looked after and facilitated for their contribution to the country‘s economic growth.

The prime minister said that by virtue of the government‘s pragmatic policies, the foreign remittances this year had touched an all time high mark of &4.5billion.

It was encouraging to note that many Pakistanis living abroad were using legal channels for remitting their money to their relatives in Pakistan, he said.

He disclosed that in addition to “gold” and “silver” card schemes earlier announced for overseas Pakistanis earlier, further incentives would be given to them on a case to case basis for remitting higher amounts of foreign exchange.

Earlier, the prime minister was given a briefing on the role and functions of the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation by its managing director Habibur Rehman.

He informed the prime minister that out of a total number of 44,500 claims of Pakistanis affected by the Gulf war the claims of 43,900 had been accepted.

The Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, Abdul Sattar Lalika and Secretary Khawaja Ijaz Sarwar also informed the prime minister about the policies and initiatives taken by the ministry of labour manpower and overseas Pakistanis for the betterment of the Pakistanis living abroad.