ISLAMABAD: Pakistani planning minister Ahsan Iqbal has said he hoped Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would visit Pakistan soon and give “new impetus” to economic ties between Riyadh and Islamabad.
During a visit to Pakistan in 2019, the crown prince pledged to invest $20 billion, a figure he said represented only the start of an economic tie-up that would bring the historic Muslim allies even closer.
“I hope the crown prince will visit Pakistan soon and on his visit, we should have a new impetus to economic cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” Iqbal said in an interview with Arab News earlier this week.
“Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have very close brotherly relations and these relations are all encompassing in political area, in economic area, in social area, in cultural area and [we have] strong religious connections. So, therefore, we hope that we will have more economic cooperation.”
The minister said Pakistan wanted to bolster its politically and diplomatically strong ties with Riyadh by strengthening economic partnerships along the same model as China, which has pledged to invest over $60 billion in energy, infrastructure and agriculture projects in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) scheme.
“Before CPEC we had very strong political relations with China but our economic relationship was relatively weak, but CPEC has transformed that relationship,” Iqbal said.
“Similarly I would also think that we can start a similar initiative with Saudi Arabia that will transform Pakistan and Saudi Arabia relationship into a strong partnership in economic areas. Both countries have great potential to contribute toward each other’s economic development.”