The Federal Cabinet has declared the infrastructure of the Federal Board of Revenue as critical under the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act 2016 to further protect the sensitive data of the FBR.

Approval to this effect was given by the Federal Cabinet, which met in Islamabad today with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair.

This step will further help protect the board’s sensitive data from cyber-attacks, including hacking or any kind of illegal intervention.

The Cabinet also extended the temporary operating permit for weekly frequencies of the international airline Fly Dubai’s flights from Lahore and Islamabad to Dubai and vice versa from the fourth of the current month to the third of the next month.

The meeting was briefed about public sector imports and exports of eleven ministries and divisions via Gwadar Port. Seeking comprehensive reports from all the ministries, Shehbaz Sharif directed to ensure sixty percent of all public sector imports and exports via Gwadar Port without any discrimination.

The Federal Cabinet was briefed that hundred percent enforcement of e-office in twenty-one ministries and divisions has been ensured. It was further stated that the use of paper has been discontinued in the communication among all federal ministries and divisions since the first of this month. E-office is being used for all file movements and communications. It was informed that the enforcement of e-office will not only save time, but also benefit the national exchequer in terms of stationery and petrol. With the implementation of e-office, the processing time of summaries in the Prime Minister’s Office has now been reduced to a maximum of three days.

Besides, the Federal Cabinet exempted the procurement of refurbished chrome books from Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Ordinance Section 21-A. However, the Prime Minister instructed to ensure a third-party audit in the procurement of chrome books.

The Cabinet consented the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Board of Investment and Shandong Ruyi Group of China for the establishment of textile parks. It also approved the signing of an MoU between the Diplomatic Academy of Serbia and the Foreign Service Academy of Pakistan.

The Cabinet allowed the current forty-six Private Hajj Operators to undertake arrangements for this year’s Hajj. However, it instructed to take all court cases regarding the Private Hajj Operators to their logical conclusion.