ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday he was on a day-long visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) not to seek loans but to explore opportunities for joint investment and collaboration that would pave the way for “mutual benefits” for both nations.
Sharif arrived in Abu Dhabi on Thursday with a high-level delegation amid a concerted push by Pakistan to seek foreign investment as it navigates a challenging path to economic recovery. Sharif is scheduled to meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi later today, Thursday.
The UAE is one of Pakistan’s closest allies and has frequently bailed out the South Asian country, joining Saudi Arabia and China in rolling over billions of dollars of loans to Pakistan last year to help it clinch a last-gasp deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and avoid a sovereign debt default.
The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner, after China and the United States. Policymakers in Pakistan consider the Gulf state an optimal export destination due to its geographical proximity, which minimizes transportation and freight costs while facilitating commercial transactions. The UAE is also home to more than a million Pakistani expatriates and the second-largest source of remittances to the South Asian country, after Saudi Arabia.
“Today I am here in this great country, this great brotherly country, not to seek loans but to seek joint collaboration, seek joint investments, which have mutual benefits … for the investor, and draw dividends through hard work, ingenuity, and by using modern tools and skills,” Sharif said at a roundtable conference where leading Pakistan and UAE businesses signed three agreements on information technology, energy and infotech.
Sharif said Pakistan, a country of 241 million people, offered great potential for investors, with a majority of its population comprising people aged between 15-30 years.
“We want to provide the highest quality vocational training and empower our youth with modern skills so that they can come to UAE, to Abu Dhabi, to Dubai, and by fulfilling legal formalities, open their offices here,” the PM said.
Sharif said his government wanted to support Pakistani small and medium enterprises so they could provide their services through a remote mechanism in the UAE.
“I call you great ambassadors of Pakistan, but this is not enough,” Sharif said, referring to Pakistani businesses. “You have to learn from now the expertise and experience of our Emirati brothers and sisters.”
Pakistan has seen a flurry of foreign visits in recent weeks, including by the now deceased Iranian president, the Saudi foreign minister, a delegation of top Saudi companies as well as officials from Qatar, China, Japan, Turkiye and Central Asian countries, among others.
Reeling from high inflation, low forex reserves, and an unstable currency, Sharif has vowed to steer Pakistan out of its prolonged economic crisis by enhancing bilateral trade with allies and attracting more international investments. Islamabad is also currently in talks with the IMF to secure a new, longer-term bailout package of at least $6 billion.