ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday met with the Chairman of Azerbaijan’s State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations (SAPSSI), Ulvi Mehdiyev, and announced the establishment of an “Asaan Khidmat Markaz” in Islamabad in collaboration with the Azerbaijani agency.

The centre, modeled on Azerbaijan’s “ASAN Service” initiative that the prime minister visited in Baku during his official trip, will provide citizens with multiple government services under one roof. The prime minister described it as a “revolutionary step” in improving citizen facilitation and a “new milestone” in the friendship between Pakistan and Azerbaijan.

Shehbaz said the project would not only help bring various public services together but would also support the government’s cashless economy policy. He directed that appointments for the centre be made transparently and strictly on merit. He also instructed officials to work on merging the Business Facilitation Centre with the Asaan Khidmat Markaz to streamline services.

The prime minister expressed gratitude to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the government of Azerbaijan for extending expertise, technical advice, and supervision for the project. He added that the completion of the initiative would further strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries.

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The agreement for the establishment of the Asaan Khidmat Markaz in Islamabad was formally signed between SAPSSI and Pakistan’s Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications, with the prime minister witnessing the signing ceremony.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, Minister for Housing Riaz Pirzada, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Minister for Information Technology and Telecom Shaza Fatima, and other senior officials were also present.