RIYADH: Supply chain challenges, investment attraction, and modern technology were all discussed by Saudi Arabia’s industry minister and the heads of global aviation companies at the Future Aviation Forum 2024.

Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef held discussions with the president of the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, the president and CEO of Embraer Commercial, and the president of Boeing, at the Riyadh event, the Saudi Press Agency reported. 

Alkhorayef focused on bolstering cooperation across various segments of the aviation industry in the talks and the discussions highlighted the Kingdom’s opportunities, addressed global supply chain challenges, and explored avenues for investment attraction, technological advancement, and knowledge exchange. 

Meanwhile, the minister toured the pavilions of several global aviation companies, including Airbus, Boeing, and Riyadh Air, participating in the event organized by the General Authority of Civil Aviation at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center. 

Furthermore, he received updates on the latest technologies and recent advancements in the aviation industry and its related sectors. 

On May 20, Saudia Group signed a $19 billion order deal for 105 planes, marking the largest aircraft deal with Airbus in the Kingdom’s history. 

The agreement was made public in the presence of Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser and Benoît de Saint-Exupery, executive vice president of sales at Airbus. Saint-Exupery stated that the new aircraft will play a “vital role” in contributing to Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 plan. 

The forum, held under the patronage of King Salman from May 20 to 22, showcases investment opportunities exceeding $100 billion. It aims to achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, transforming the Kingdom into a leading logistics hub in the Middle East and meeting the objectives of the national aviation strategy. 

The event features participation from over 30 ministers, 77 leaders of civil aviation authorities, global airline executives, and 5,000 industry experts and leaders from more than 120 countries. 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economy grew 2.09% in the third quarter of the financial year 2023-2024, supported by higher growth in agriculture, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said in a press release on Tuesday.

The estimated provisional growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the financial year ending June 2024 is 2.38%, the bureau said in a statement. That compares with a revised 0.21% economic contraction in the 2023 year when political unrest, a combination of tax and gas tariff hikes, controlled imports, and a steep fall in the rupee currency rapidly pushed up inflation.

Last week in its half yearly report, Pakistan’s central bank projected real GDP growth of 2-3% for the fiscal year 2024.

There was no comparable year-ago third quarter GDP data as Pakistan only began releasing quarterly growth numbers from November. That was done in compliance with the structural benchmarks of the current $3 billion bailout program agreed with the International Monetary Fund and completed last month.

The bureau revised the first and second quarter GDP estimates for financial year 2023-2024 to 2.71% and 1.79% respectively, compared to earlier estimates of 2.5% and 1%.

The provisional 2024 financial year growth in agriculture was estimated at 6.25%, and 1.21% for both industry as well as services, it added.

“The healthy growth of agriculture is mainly due to double-digit growth in important crops,” the bureau said, adding that bumper crop of wheat, cotton, and rice contributed to the positive result.