‘Strong deal worth billions of dollars’ with Saudi Arabia to be signed soon – Pakistan Prime Minister
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will soon sign a “firm agreement worth billions of dollars”, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday at a meeting held to commemorate a high-level business delegation of Saudi companies visiting Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. I said this at a dinner party.
A 50-member delegation led by Saudi Deputy Investment Minister Ibrahim Al Mubarak arrived in Pakistan on Sunday, accompanied by representatives of about 30 Saudi companies in the fields of IT, communications, energy, aviation, construction, mining exploration and agriculture. did. and human resource development.
At the dinner, Sharif expressed satisfaction with what he called “tangible progress” made at the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Investment Conference held in Islamabad earlier in the day.
“Today, B2B (business-to-business) interactions are the most productive,” he said. “That time is coming very quickly and, God willing, we will witness solid agreements worth billions of dollars. Then the ball will start rolling.”
Sharif said the government is determined to remove obstacles to quickly achieve the goal.
“And I want to assure you that we have full determination and determination in that regard,” the prime minister said, adding that the Saudi side is working with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), which was set up last year to monitor Pakistan. He added that he expressed confidence in the work of the government. All foreign investments in the country.
Saudi Arabia’s assistant minister for investments said at the dinner that Pakistan is a “strategic” partner and friend.
“The private sector has been working very quickly. We spoke to them and just a few days after we spoke, they all expressed interest,” he added. “Our relationship with Pakistan has always been strong and we expect it to become even stronger and together we can achieve great things. We can achieve the aspirations and visions of both countries. I am sure.”
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have worked closely together in recent weeks to expand bilateral trade and investment agreements, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month announcing Saudi Arabia’s commitment to facilitate a $5 billion investment plan. I reconfirmed it.
The Saudi business delegation’s visit follows Prime Minister Sharif’s visit to Riyadh from April 27 to 30 to attend a two-day special meeting of the World Economic Forum.
On the sidelines of the WEF meeting, the Pakistani Prime Minister met with the Crown Prince and the Saudi Ministers of Finance, Industry, Investment, Energy, Climate, Economy and Planning, and Saudi-Pakistani advisors to discuss bilateral investments and economic partnership. Supreme Coordination Council and the Governors of the Saudi Central Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
It was the second meeting between Sharif and the crown prince in the past month. Before that, we met during a trip to Saudi Arabia from April 6th to 8th. The Saudi foreign minister also visited Pakistan last month, during which Pakistan pitched at least $20 billion worth of projects to Riyadh, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have strong trade, defense and cultural ties. Saudi Arabia is home to more than 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and is the biggest source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.
investment conference
At an investment conference on Monday morning, Al Mubarak said this is his second visit to Pakistan in two weeks and that many influential leaders from world-renowned Saudi companies are part of his delegation. said.
“Pakistan is seen as a top economic investment and business opportunity for the Saudi government and Saudi companies,” Al-Mubarak said.
“Today we want to connect with you.” [Pakistan] “Saudi Arabia’s ambitions do not stop at its borders and we want to see Pakistan as one of our key international partners,” the Saudi official added.
“So this gathering is a great opportunity for them.” [Saudi companies] Gain a better understanding of the exciting opportunities available for investing in Pakistan and learn about the associated regulations, requirements, and incentives. ”
At a press conference in Islamabad, Petroleum Minister Musaddiq Malik said 125 Pakistani companies were negotiating with Saudi companies visiting Islamabad.
“First, there was an agreement between the governments during the visit of the Saudi foreign minister. [last month] And now there will be contracts between companies,” he said.
“To facilitate visits by Saudi companies, Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce has sent one representative to each Saudi company.”
Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan said that senior officials from more than 32 Saudi companies are in Pakistan.
“Pakistani companies are present here in the energy sector, food sector, construction sector, renewable energy sector, ports and shipping sector, IT services and general services,” Khan told reporters.
He said the visit by the Saudi delegation was “just the beginning” and that a Pakistani delegation would visit the kingdom in the future “to move towards the implementation phase”.
