NOC restrictions lifted for foreigners touring Pakistan: Fawad Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Fawad Chaudhry, on Sunday announced that the government has lifted the restriction of possessing no-objection certificate (NOC) for foreigners travelling into Pakistan, ARY News reported.

Fawad Chaudhry, in his latest Twitter message, said that the foreigners who were touring Pakistan will not be needed a no-objection certificate (NOC) in future.

He said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government has achieved another landmark to facilitate foreigners by ending NOC regime followed by a new visa regime.

The information minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan gave the vision to make Pakistan heaven for tourists. He termed it a significant move, by removing NOC restrictions for tourists from foreign countries, under the PM’s vision.

A notification has been released after cabinet’s approval, which stated that “Free movement of foreigners shall be allowed in Open Cantonments except prohibited and restricted areas with visible signboards. The Border Crossings will be open and non-restricted.”

Another landmark acheived NOC regime for foreigners come to an end, ⁦@ImranKhanPTI⁩ vision is to make Pak a heaven for tourists and following new Visa regime this important policy decision of ending NOC requirements is a leap forward #DiscoverPakistan pic.twitter.com/LEjU0QcQk5

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) March 26, 2019

In a bid to revive the tourism sector in the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan had approved National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB) and working groups on March 13.

According to a notification issued, PM’s Special Assistant on overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari was appointed as acting chairman of the NTCB.

The board was tasked to coordinate with the national and international organization to boost the tourism sector in the country. The board would also work for promotion and marketing of tourism spots and would provide a platform to devise a comprehensive strategy on tourism. NTCB would also provide technical assistance to the provinces in the field of the tourism sector.

The board is comprised of chairman Board of Investment, secretary Inter-provincial Coordination, joint secretaries of Civil Aviation Authority, Foreign Office, Interior Ministry and Information Ministry.

Kamran Lashari, Ali Asghar, Sirajul Malik, Samina Baig, Behram Avari and others are included in the board as private members.

On March 14, Prime Minister Imran Khan had inaugurated Pakistan’s online visa regime for foreign nationals to promote tourism and investments into the country.

He had stated that issuing of online visa was a significant step towards bringing real change as it would open the country to the outside world. Prime Minister Khan said it also would show that Pakistan is a peaceful and stable country and open to the world for business and tourism.