ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that Pakistan has a “big potential” in terms of skilled labor export to Saudi Arabia to support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 framework.
The statement came on the sidelines of a two-day Emerging Market Economies Conference in Saudi Arabia’s AlUla city, where he will be taking part in discussions around sustainable economic growth amid global uncertainties.
Saudi Arabia is consolidating its economy on modern lines under the Vision 2030, which is a strategic development framework that intends to cut the Kingdom’s reliance on oil.
The program is aimed at developing public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation and tourism, and the Kingdom has initiated several groundbreaking projects that are expected to significantly impact the Pakistani labor market.
“We do think there is big potential in terms of exports from Pakistan, especially with respect to skilled labor, in terms of everything that Saudi Arabia requires in terms of executing Vision 2030,” Aurangzeb told Arab News on the sidelines of the AlUla summit.
(From left to right) Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb joins the head table luncheon with Bahrain Finance and National Economy Minister Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan and Vice Minister Abdulmuhsen Alkhalaf at the Emerging Markets Conference 2025 in Alula, Saudi Arabia on February 16, 2025. (Photo courtesy: Pakistan Finance Ministry)
“So, there are a number of opportunities for the two countries to work together.”
Pakistanis constitute one of the largest migrant communities in Saudi Arabia, with more than 2 million working in the Kingdom and making it the largest source of remittances to Pakistan. While a significant majority of these Pakistanis comprises blue-collar workers, there is still a growing demand for skilled labor in the Kingdom as it seeks to modernize its economy.
Rana Mujtaba, a spokesperson of the Pakistani Education and Professional Training Ministry, told Arab News in April last year that Islamabad was working on a new education policy to impart different technical skills to at least a million youth per annum to export trained human resource to Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has also proposed a partnership with the Pakistani government to offer training programs for young Pakistanis and impart “modern and relevant skills” to meet labor market demands in Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said this month.
