ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Raja Ali Ejaz has said work on a $10 billion oil refinery project to be set up by Saudi Arabia in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province would start “very soon.”
During a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to Islamabad last year, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed short-, mid- and long-term investment agreements worth $21 billion. Among the deals was a $10 billion oil refinery in Gwadar and an attached one billion dollar petrochemical complex.
“The Saudi investment minister has informed me that the Kingdom is very serious about this mega project and will start work on it very soon,” Ejaz, who met M. Khalid Al-Falih, the Saudi minister of investment in Riyadh on Wednesday, told Arab News in a phone interview on Thursday. 
He said work on the project had slowed down due to the pandemic and a dip in oil prices, which had put pressure on the Saudi economy. Oil prices have gone down from almost $80 per barrel to around $30 per barrel in recent months. 
“He [Saudi investment minister] expressed his hope that the work on [the oil refinery] project will start as soon as the global situation will improve as it’s a mega project which required around $10 billion investment,” Ejaz said. 
He said he and Al-Falih discussed a range of economic and investment issues of common interest to the two nations as well as “ways and means to strengthen bilateral economic ties.”
“I took the lead from the last year visit of Saudi Crown Prince to Pakistan in which many agreements were signed between the two countries in the field of petrochemicals, energy and minerals,” Ejaz said.
A $2 billion deal for the minerals sector was also signed during the crown prince’s visit, and Ejaz said two Saudi companies had already shown interest in investing in exploration.
“A Saudi delegation visited Pakistan for exploring opportunities for investment in mineral exploration in September last year,” he said. “Two Saudi companies Ma’adin and ACWA power have shown their interest to invest in mineral resources in Pakistan.”
Sectors of interest for mining were Zinc, Iron, Copper and Gold, the envoy said, adding: “Our mission has shared required information regarding this with these companies as well as Saudi government. We discussed how to proceed on it and expedite the process, so that these companies can come to Pakistan at the earliest.”
Ejaz also said the Kingdom would receive full “technical support” from Pakistan to fulfill Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030, a grand plan by the Saudi government to diversify its economy beyond oil.
“As it included many infrastructure and other development projects, so I asked to the minister to consider utilizing Pakistani technical experts and general manpower in these projects,” Ejaz said. 
He said the Saudi minister’s response was “very positive” and he assured his full support.
International relations expert Khalid Rehman, who is the director general of the Institute of Policy Studies, said direct interactions between Saudi and Pakistani leaders were “necessary.”
“It is a positive thing that both countries have increased direct interaction,” Rehman said. “To avoid any misunderstanding direct interactions between the two countries are very necessary.”
Seven memorandum of understanding were signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia during the visit of the crown prince. 
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 Pakistan government figures.