ISLAMABAD:A virtual meeting between the Parliamentary Development Unit (PDU) team members and the Head of the Parliamentary Directorate General, Bundesrat, and team members was held on “Discussing Roadmap on Areas of Cooperation” on Tuesday.
In line with the vision of the Chairman Senate regarding “Mutual Collaboration for Improving Parliamentary Performance”, the purpose of the meeting was to deliberate and devise ways and means to design a future roadmap of collaboration and partnership, a news release said.
Director General, Coordination, Mir Shai Mazar Baloch welcomed the participants, gave an overview of the working of the PDU, and emphasized strengthening parliamentary relations between the two sides in terms of taking initiatives on parliamentary cooperation.
On the directions of the Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, a special invitation to the German Bundesrat in connection to the Golden Jubilee celebrations has been extended.
Head of the Parliamentary Directorate General, Bundesrat, Claus Koggel thanked and gave an overview of the working of the Directorate and continued parliamentary cooperation between the Bundesrat and the Senate of Pakistan.
He emphasized that the Secretariat of Bundesrat was interested in mutually beneficial activities and happy to progress in partnering with the Senate Secretariat in agreed areas of cooperation. He appreciated the invitation and informed the progress made on that.
Mir Shai Mazar Baloch proposed that federalism, digitalization, assistance in establishing of Parliamentary Budget Office (POB), technical support to strengthen the parliamentary committee system, and any other priority areas may be worked out for collaboration and exchange of technical assistance.
Moreover, an invitation to the leadership, Members, and staff of the Secretariat of the Bundesrat has been extended to visit the Senate of Pakistan.
Claus Koggel, appreciated the invitation and would forward and consult the leadership in the Bundesrat. He also invited the delegation of the members of the Senate of Pakistan along with the staff members of the Senate Secretariat to visit Bundesrat to understand the role and functioning of the Bundesrat.
Regarding proposals and mutual technical assistance, he appreciated the aforementioned areas and proposed the following: a) both sides to have virtual meetings for technical knowledge exchange followed by physical visits subject to ease in COVID-19 related restrictions; b) engagement/exchange between the Secretariat staff members.
Dr. Sandra Michel, Head of the Unit for Parliamentary Relations, added that at this stage we may have a program comprising different components such as seminars on different topics, expert exchange, and any other mutually agreed activities concerning priority areas.
Akif Naeem, Assistant Director, PDU added that we may have mutually agreed on areas of cooperation as a first step and may organize some virtual meetings on mutually agreed topics.
Both sides appreciated this initiative and committed to working together for improving parliamentary development and performance. It was also agreed to have a list of priority areas and a follow-up virtual meeting to move forward toward a concrete plan of action.