Senior officials from Pakistan and Portugal met in Islamabad to deepen cooperation on youth employment, labour mobility, skills development and trade. Chairman Prime Minister’s Youth Programme Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan held talks with H E Manuel Frederico Pinheiro da Silva, Ambassador of Portugal to Pakistan, at the Embassy of Portugal to explore practical steps for creating safe, legal and sustainable opportunities for young Pakistanis.<\/p>\n
Discussions centred on strengthening bilateral collaboration for productive employment and overseas workforce engagement through structured labour mobility frameworks. Both sides exchanged views on facilitating mutually beneficial employment pathways, skills recognition and workforce development initiatives designed to meet evolving market demands and boost youth employment.<\/p>\n
Chairman Rana Mashhood underlined the Government of Pakistan’s commitment to deepening relations with Portugal at both bilateral and EU levels, and both delegations agreed to continue constructive engagement at multilateral forums in support of peace, prosperity and stability.<\/p>\n
The meeting recalled more than 75 years of friendly ties since diplomatic relations were established in 1949 and noted steady progress in engagement across multiple sectors. On trade and investment, officials highlighted bilateral trade of USD 221 million in 2024 and agreed there is significant untapped potential, with special emphasis on information technology cooperation where Pakistani and Portuguese firms can achieve mutual gains.<\/p>\n
Pakistan highlighted a population of 241 million with nearly 60 percent under 30 and a growing pool of skilled IT professionals, including strong female participation. Labour mobility and human resource development were identified as priority areas, and Pakistan stressed the importance of concluding an Agreement on Labour Mobility Partnership to create a legal and institutional framework for structured cooperation, recalling a draft agreement proposed in June 2022 and expressing hope for an early response.<\/p>\n
Overseas employment was discussed as a vital avenue for Pakistani youth to gain international exposure, higher incomes and advanced skills, with both sides emphasising joint efforts to safeguard the rights and welfare of Pakistani workers abroad and to ensure mutually beneficial terms for host employers and migrant workers.<\/p>\n
Chairman Rana Mashhood briefed the ambassador on flagship initiatives under the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, including the Prime Minister’s Youth Skill Programme, the Youth Laptop Scheme, youth business and agriculture loan support, the National Innovation Award, the National Volunteer Corps, the Digital Youth Hub, youth talent and sports programmes and the Green Youth Movement. He also highlighted the National Employment Policy as a landmark step to create sustainable jobs, empower youth and women and align skills with market needs with a target to raise female labour force participation to 35 percent.<\/p>\n
Officials acknowledged the growing Pakistani community in Portugal, estimated at approximately 54,318 people, as an important bridge for people to people ties. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to expand Pakistan Portugal cooperation, enhance youth employment opportunities and pursue collaborative initiatives that unlock new opportunities for young Pakistanis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan and Portugal advance youth employment and labour mobility with talks on skills, trade and a Labour Mobility Partnership to create safe overseas jobs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":15486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}