ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed short-, mid- and long-term investment agreements worth $21 billion during the visit to Islamabad of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Pakistani government said on Monday.
The crown prince is on a two-day visit to Pakistan as part of a rare tour of Asia which includes trips to India and China.
“Pakistan and Saudi Arabia today are entering into a new economic partnership which will lead to shared prosperity, regional stability and mutual respect based on long term investment, strategic and social ties,” the government of Pakistan said in a tweet from its official Twitter account.
The government also provided a breakdown of the seven memorenda of understanding (MoUs) signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Sunday night.
Short-term projects include two Re-Gasified Liquefied Natural Gas plants for $4 billion, a $2 billion investment by Saudi power producing company ACWA Power in Pakistan’s renewable energy sector and a $1 billion Saudi Fund for Pakistan.
Mid-term projects include $1 billion each for petrochemical and food and agricultural projects. The long-term investments are $10 billion for the construction of the multi-billion-dollar Saudi Aramco oil refinery in Gwadar and $2 billion for the minerals sector.
The total investment comes to $21 billion, according to government figures.
“These agreements will lay the foundation for enhanced economic cooperation between Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement shortly after the signing of the agreements in the presence of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Saudi crown prince on Sunday night.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are historically close allies, and Riyadh’s investment comes at a time when Islamabad is facing a balance-of-payments crisis and a widening current account and fiscal deficit. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have already extended $6 billion ($3 billion each) in cash assistance to Islamabad to stave off its economic meltdown.
In a press conference last week, Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Saudi Arabia would give Pakistan a total of $9.6 billion in loans and oil on deferred payments in the next three years.
Announcing the Saudi investment in Pakistan, the crown prince said on Sunday night: “It’s big for phase one, and definitely it will grow every month and every year, and it will be beneficial to both countries.”
“I want to thank you for the way you helped us when we were in bad situation,” PM Khan said.
Senior economist Muzamil Aslam said the Saudi investments were “good news for all Pakistanis” and would help stabilize the country’s economy and create job opportunities for skilled and unskilled youth.
“Saudi investment in different sectors will help Pakistan lure businessmen from other countries as well,” he told Arab News. “More Middle Eastern countries, especially the U.A.E., will invest in Pakistan in the coming months and years following the Kingdom.”
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan sign seven investment MoUs worth $21 billion
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan sign seven investment MoUs worth $21 billion
- Short-term projects include $4 billion RLNG plants, $2 billion investment in renewable energy, $1 billion Saudi Fund for Pakistan
- Package also includes $1 billion each for petrochemical and food, agricultural projects, $10 billion oil refinery in Gwadar, $2 billion for minerals sector Aamir Shah
Pakistan condemns Sudan attack that killed Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers, calls it war crime
- Six peacekeepers were killed in a drone strike in Kadugli as fighting between Sudan’s army and the RSF grinds on
- Pakistan, a major troop contributor to the UN, says perpetrators of the attack must be identified, brought to justice
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday extended condolences to the government and people of Bangladesh after six United Nations peacekeepers from the country were killed in a drone strike in southern Sudan, condemning the attack and describing it as a war crime.
The attack took place amid a full-scale internal conflict that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful paramilitary group, following a power struggle after the collapse of Sudan’s post-Bashir political transition.
Omar Al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for nearly three decades, was ousted by the military in 2019 after months of mass protests, but efforts to transition to civilian rule later faltered, plunging the country back into violence that has since spread nationwide.
The drone strike hit a logistics base of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state, on Saturday, killing the Bangladeshi peacekeepers. Sudan’s army blamed the RSF for the attack, though there was no immediate public claim of responsibility.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the attack on @UNISFA in Kadugli, resulting in the tragic loss of 6 Bangladeshi peacekeepers & injuries to several others,” the country’s permanent mission to the UN said in a social media message. “We honor their supreme sacrifice in the service of peace, and express our deepest condolences to the government and people of #Bangladesh.”
“Such heinous attacks on UN peacekeepers amount to war crimes,” it added. “Perpetrators of this horrific attack must be identified and brought to justice. As a major troop-contributing country, we stand in complete solidarity with all Blue Helmets serving the cause of peace in the perilous conditions worldwide.”
According to Pakistan’s UN mission in July, the country has deployed more than 235,000 peacekeepers to 48 UN missions across four continents over the past eight decades.
Pakistan also hosts one of the UN’s oldest peacekeeping operations, the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), and is a founding member of the UN Peacebuilding Commission.
More than 180 Pakistani peacekeepers have lost their lives while serving under the UN flag.
Pakistan and Bangladesh have also been working in recent months to ease decades of strained ties rooted in the events of 1971, when Bangladesh — formerly part of Pakistan — became independent following a bloody war.
Relations have begun to shift following the ouster of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina last year amid mass protests.
Hasina later fled to India, Pakistan’s neighbor and arch-rival, creating space for Islamabad and Dhaka to rebuild their relationship.
