Daily Times

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday stressed upon adoption of new diplomatic approaches in the fast changing world and expressed the hope that the recently introduced change management reforms in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would bring further efficiency, accountability, agility and dynamism.

Addressing a ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the change management reforms initiatives taken during the last one year, the foreign minister said that a total of 51 reform works were carried out at the ministry, among which 19 were fully implemented, three were partially completed and 29 initiatives were on the track of completion in the areas of automation and digitization processes, improvement in the diplomatic, administration, finance and consular services abroad etc.

The foreign minister enumerated the significant achievements of the ministry at the global level under his stewardship, including Pakistan’s removal from the FATF grey list, successful hosting of COP27, effective role at the OIC Foreign Ministers Council, etc, besides endeavours to enhance the relationships and diplomatic outreach.

He said, “The world is changing at the lightening speed with technological advances shifting power dynamics while the interconnectedness has became the new norms on diplomatic fronts.”

To embrace the changes, after assuming the office, he said he embarked upon the reforms process to create a robust and agile ministry so that it could tackle any challenge that come their way.

Bilawal Bhutto said that they were now living in the fast paced and dynamic world, and emphasised the need of an adaptive approach to ensure evolving and to stay ahead of the muti-dimensional challenges.

It was crucial to embrace changes and management for their benefits, enabling them to navigate with agility, as living in the fast paced and interconnected world, the traditional management approaches were no longer relevant, he added.

The minister said they should be adoptive to the needs and requirements of the national and international realities and the needs of overseas Pakistanis, underlining a paradigm shift to conduct their diplomatic business with effectiveness. Change management reforms also catered to the well-being of the overseas Pakistanis, he added.

The foreign minister shared that they had realized to improve the morale of the diplomatic service as the bureaucracy was fraught with the red tape, old approach and outdated tools which were not suffice to tackle the issues head on. A transformative plan for the ministry was put in place and for the purpose, they sought inputs from all relevant quarters, receiving an overwhelming response and critical insight, he added.

He opined that they must embrace the significance of future knowledge based economy, global dynamics and must be willing to challenge the status quo. He said that they were launching a movement of change with the ongoing reforms process which was crucial for successes at the diplomatic landscape and transforming the ministry as a forward looking institution.