ISLAMABAD, Jun 20 (APP): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Monday said it was an opportune time for Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to forge a roadmap for enhancing bilateral economic and trade ties.
He was speaking during a meeting here with a delegation of businessmen and investors from Saudi Arabia.
During the meeting, the PM discussed the available investment opportunities in Pakistan for Saudi Arabia’s business community, traders, and industrialists.
The PM instructed that measures should be taken on an emergent basis for resolving issues faced by the Saudi companies and traders in Pakistan.
The business community of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia could learn from each others’ experiences by increasing their cooperation in business, he added.
Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Trade Naveed Qamar, Minister for Industries and Production Syed Murtaza Mehmood, Minister for Investment Board Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Minister for Communication Maulana Asad Mehmood, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatmi, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Pakistan, commercial attache, businessmen, and officials from Pakistan attended the meeting.
While in a briefing, it was told that Pakistan was an emerging country in terms of investment potential and was offering many facilities to businesses. Pakistan had a suitable environment for making a secure investment.
Immense opportunities were available in Pakistan for investment and trade in sectors of information technology, agriculture, livestock, medical instruments, food processing, energy, tourism, minerals, textiles, leather, and other areas.
It was told that investment could be made in the oil refinery industry in Gwadar. The Saudi investors expressed their interest in the project.
It was agreed during the meeting that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia would speed up progress regarding trade and investment and the Pakistan Saudi Arabia Joint Working Group would be revitalized.
The prime minister said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had exemplary relations in the last 75 years and Saudi Arabia always supported Pakistan on the political, diplomatic and economic fronts and the two countries were like one soul and two hearts.
He said he was very pleased to meet the Saudi delegation.
Talking about his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, he said the visit was very fruitful and during it the Saudi leadership renewed its pledge that their country would continue to support Pakistan in every field.
“We had detailed discussions on different matters,” he said adding during his visit he talked about opportunities for Saudi Arabia to invest in Pakistan.
He said Saudi Arabia had agreed to make an investment of $ one billion in Pakistan. “We are thankful to the Saudi leadership for reposing its trust.”
The PM said Saudi Arabia had taken great strides in recent years and the country had adopted the path of modernization while maintaining its Islamic identity and culture.
The Saudi delegation expressed keen interest in the different economic sectors of Pakistan including industry, trade, mining and tourism.
