ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia should enhance trade and investment, a former envoy of the kingdom to Islamabad said on Friday, adding that such economic measures would help the two sides harness more productive potential.
Pakistan enjoys a multifaceted relationship with Saudi Arabia which has allowed significant collaboration between them in the fields of defense, trade, economy and other sectors. The kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistanis who constitute the single largest source of remittances for the cash-strapped economy of their home country.
The kingdom has also financially assisted Pakistan on numerous occasions in the last 75 years. Last month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered a study to increase investment in Pakistan to $10 billion as officials in Islamabad grappled with a major economic turmoil.
The former Saudi envoy, Dr. Ali Awadh Asseri, also described the bilateral relationship as “unique, progressive and durable” while delivering addressing an audience at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI).
“Investment and trade are two fora that need to be tapped,” the Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted him as saying.
The former ambassador also urged various chambers of commerce and industries to come up with proper homework to harness more productive cooperation between the two countries.
He also underscored the strides made by the two countries in geopolitical coordination and mentioned the “special understanding” they enjoy at the regional and international levels.
He expressed hope that Pakistan would play a greater role in regional security while observing that Kashmir and Palestine, as well as Islamophobia, were issues that bound the two sides together.
Dr. Asseri also talked about two million-plus Pakistani diaspora in Saudi Arabia while pointing out that skilled and educated strata had more avenues to flourish in the kingdom.
