ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. Asim Munir on Monday reaffirmed the military’s support to the caretaker government of Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar to revive the economy, particularly through projects under the newly established Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

The SIF is a hybrid civil-military forum aimed to fasttrack economic development by attracting investment from foreign nations, particularly Gulf countries. 

A notification dated June 17 from then Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Office said SIFC would seek investments in the energy, IT, minerals, defense and agriculture sectors from GCC countries. The body, which has the army chief and other military leaders in key roles, aims to take a “unified approach” to steer the country out of economic crisis.

“COAS reaffirmed Pakistan Army’s all out support to Caretaker Government for continuity of policies in a bid to revive country’s economy and steer Pakistan toward progress and prosperity,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement after the fourth Apex Committee Meeting of SIFC was held on Monday, the first one under PM Kakar.

“Prime Minister appreciated the efficient functioning of SIFC through a collaborative “Whole of Government Approach” for achieving horizontal and vertical synergy,” PMO said.

“The Apex Committee appreciated SIFC’s outreach strategy to achieve global traction and ongoing engagements with brotherly / friendly countries including productive visits of high-level delegations from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Islamic Organization for Food Security.”

Earlier this month, a delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Pakistan to explore investment opportunities in the mining sector, aiming to tap into Pakistan’s $6 trillion estimated worth of mineral deposits. The Saudi delegation attended Pakistan’s first dedicated summit on minerals in Islamabad, organized under the umbrella of the SIFC.

In July, Pakistan established a Land Information and Management System, Center of Excellence ((LIMS-CoE) to modernize its agricultural sector, with Saudi Arabia providing an initial $500 million investment to set up the facility.

Continued economic and investment support from Saudi Arabia and other allies is key for Pakistan, as economic stabilization is a major challenge for PM Kakar, who took oath this month, with the $350 billion economy on a narrow recovery path after an ongoing $3 billion International Monetary Fund bailout averted a sovereign debt default. Economic reforms have already fueled historic inflation and interest rates.