ISLAMABAD: A high-level Saudi business delegation, led by the Kingdom’s Assistant Minister of Investment Ibrahim Al-Mubarak, arrived in Pakistan on Sunday to explore investment opportunities in various economic sectors, the Pakistani commerce ministry said.
Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan and Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik received the 50-member Saudi delegation at the Nur Khan air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
The three-day visit of the delegation is aimed at promoting trade relations between investors of the two countries with regard to various business opportunities in Pakistan, according to Khan.
The Pakistani commerce ministry has selected a large number of Pakistani companies in relevant sectors for business-to-business (B2B) meetings with their Saudi counterparts.
“Top Pakistani companies will tie up with 30 Saudi companies in various sectors,” the Pakistani commerce ministry quoted him as saying. “Business-to-business (B2B) meetings will focus on sectors such as agriculture, mining, human resources, energy, chemicals and maritime.”
Pakistani minister Jam Kamal (left) speaks with Saudi Assistant Investment Minister Ibrahim Al-Mubarak (second, left) as a high-level Saudi business delegation arrives at Noor Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi on May 5, 2024. (Photo courtesy: Pakistan’s commerce ministry)
The two sides will also discuss opportunities in information technology (IT), religious tourism, telecommunication, aviation, construction, water and power sectors.
“Both Saudi and Pakistani companies and investors will look for investment opportunities, which will be aimed at creating jobs and promoting export opportunities in both countries,” the minister said.
Khan hoped that a number of firms would be able to make business and investment deals at B2B engagements during the visit.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong ties rooted in shared culture, religion and economic cooperation, and have witnessed a flurry of official visits in recent weeks.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan traveled to Islamabad in April before Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s two-day visit to the Kingdom to attend a World Economic Forum meeting where he met top Saudi officials.
Speaking to media on Saturday, Pakistani Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik, who is also the focal person for Saudi-Pak bilateral collaboration, said Pakistan had always cherished cordial ties with the Kingdom, though it had not managed to turn this “relationship of friendship into a relationship of stability and progress.”
He said Pakistan mostly discussed its financial concerns with the Saudi authorities and requested their support, however, the present government wanted to change that by focusing its bilateral conversations on mutually beneficial progress and development, not aid and assistance.
Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have lately been working to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion.
Malik said the bilateral collaboration would primarily benefit small businesses, particularly the technology companies established by young students, who were likely to get a significant amount of investment from Saudi entrepreneurs.
