ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan will arrive in Pakistan on Monday on a two-day visit aimed at enhancing bilateral economic cooperation between the two countries, the Pakistani foreign office said.
The Saudi foreign minister’s visit comes a week after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion.
“The visit takes place essentially to expedite follow up on the understanding reached between Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and HRH Mohammad bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during their recent meeting in Makkah Al Mukarramah to enhance bilateral economic cooperation,” the foreign office said in a statement.
“This visit is aimed at lending positive impetus to enhanced bilateral cooperation and mutually rewarding economic partnership.”
The Saudi delegation comprises the foreign minister, minister of water and agriculture, minister of industry and mineral resources, deputy minister of investment, and senior officials from the Saudi energy ministry and the Saudi Fund for General Investments, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
The Saudi delegation is expected to hold meetings with the Pakistani president, the prime minister, the foreign minister and counterpart ministers, as well as the army chief and members of the apex committee of the Special Investment Facilitation Council, set up last year to oversee all foreign investments.
The Saudi government has not yet commented on the visit or its agenda.
Cash-strapped Pakistan desperately needs to shore up its foreign reserves and signal to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it can continue to meet requirements for foreign financing that has been a key demand in previous bailout packages.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.
Saudi Arabia has also often come to cash-strapped Pakistan’s aid by regularly providing it oil on deferred payment and offering direct financial support to help stabilize its economy and shore up its forex reserves.
On Sunday, Pakistani state media reported Saudi Arabia was likely to invest $1 billion in the Reko Diq copper and gold mine project in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province.
Saudi FM due in Pakistan on official visit today — foreign office
https://arab.news/rd24m
Saudi FM due in Pakistan on official visit today — foreign office
- Visit comes days after Pakistan, Saudi Arabia reaffirmed commitment to expedite $5 billion investment
- Pakistan state media on Sunday said Saudi Arabia would invest $1 billion in Reko Diq mining project
Pakistan plans broader privatization push, eyes power utilities this year
- Considerably high losses, inefficiencies and mounting subsidies in power sector have dented Pakistan’s public finances
- Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb says 26 state-owned entities have been handed over to Privatization Commission
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is widening a sweeping privatization program following the sale of its national airline last year, with power distributors next in line and more state companies to be handed to the Privatization Commission, the finance minister said on Monday.
Pakistan’s government successfully divested a 75 percent stake in the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in December last year. The move was part of Islamabad’s broader privatization program, which aims to reduce fiscal losses inflicted by loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by either privatizing or restructuring them.
Pakistani officials have said the Privatization Commission plans to divest the country’s electricity distribution companies in two batches. The first phase will include the Islamabad Electric Supply Company, Gujranwala Electric Power Company and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company, followed by Hyderabad Electric Supply Company and Sukkur Electric Power Company in the second batch. Considerably high losses, inefficiencies and mounting subsidies in the power sector have dented Pakistan’s public finances over the years, making it a central focus of Islamabad’s reform agenda.
Speaking at a news conference about Pakistan’s privatization program, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said there are five power distribution companies to be privatized this year, out of which the sell-side advisers for three are Alvarez & Marsel. He said the Turkish Investment Bank has been entrusted with the task of being the sell-side advisers for the other two companies.
“Overall, 26 SOEs have been handed over to the Privatization Commission,” Aurangzeb told reporters. “This decision is first made in the Cabinet Committee on SOEs, it then goes to the Cabinet Committee on Privatization, and then its overall approval is given by the prime minister and the cabinet.”
Aurangzeb vowed the government will take the privatization process forward with the same level of transparency as it had exhibited during the PIA sale last year.
“And this will be taken forward with a lot of speed because we will not stop at 26 SOEs,” the finance minister said. “We will also gradually hand over other state institutions to the Privatization Commission,” he added.
Speaking further about SOEs and their performances over the years, the minister said losses from the state entities decreased by about Rs74 billion [$264.6 million] over the last three years.
He said SOEs had reported losses of Rs905 billion [$3.24 billion] in 2023, Rs851 billion [$3.04 billion] in 2024 and Rs832 billion [$2.98 billion] in 2025.
Pakistan’s privatization push comes at the back of its efforts to ensure sustainable economic progress after a prolonged macroeconomic crisis that drained its foreign exchange reserves and triggered a balance of payments crisis.
