Senior Pakistani diplomats and community leaders in Saudi Arabia sent messages of congratulations and good-will to Pakistan and its people through Arab News on the occasion of Pakistan’s 72nd Republic Day.
Raja Ali Ejaz, Pakistan's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said the two countries were focused on “improving their economic and trade ties.”
Referring to a “new era of friendship,” he said he could foresee Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the flagship $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as common platforms to expand trade relations between the two countries. Saudi Vision 2030 is a plan to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation and tourism.
“The two governments are steadily making efforts to bring about an enabling, secure and conducive environment for bilateral investments, the exchange of business delegations, trade facilitation and coordination,” Ejaz said.
Referring to the 2.5 million people of the Pakistani diaspora in Saudi Arabia, he said more Pakistani professionals and workers were expected to diversify the economy in the future and called them “strategic assets... to further cement our bonds of brotherhood.”
Shahryar Akbar Khan, Consul General of Pakistan in Jeddah, also congratulated Pakistanis on republic day, and said relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia encompassed “a wide range of common strategic, political and economic objectives.” He also acknowledged the “valuable contribution of the vibrant and dynamic Pakistani community in Saudi Arabia.”
Adnan Nasir, the principal of the Pakistan International School in Jeddah, said his advice to young Pakistanis was to “focus their untiring attention towards acquiring an education.” He expressed his gratitude to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for standing in solidarity with Pakistan “not only in moments of happiness but in the times of trial and tribulation as well.”
