ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has said memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed with Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Arab Emirates and China were being implemented to promote economic cooperation and attract investment, state-run media reported on Sunday.
Pakistan has recently inked a series of agreements aimed at boosting trade, economic cooperation and bilateral investment with China, the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the Central Asian republics as the country seeks to stabilize an economy weakened by a prolonged balance of payments crisis.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia last year signed 34 MoUs worth $2.8 billion, seven of which have since been converted into agreements valued at $560 million. The UAE, Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the US, has also pledged $10 billion in future investments in priority sectors. Islamabad and Washington also recently finalized a trade agreement under which a 19 percent tariff was imposed on a wide range of Pakistani goods, the lowest rate in the South Asian region.
“Various Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) are being implemented with the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and China, which will promote economic cooperation and investment,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported, quoting Munir as saying while speaking to members of the Pakistani community in the United States during an official visit.
Munir arrived in the US last week to attend the retirement ceremony of the outgoing US Central Command chief and meet senior American political and military leaders.
This is the army chief’s second visit to the US in two months. During his last visit in June, he had an unprecedented lunch meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.
Munir described his latest trip as marking “a new dimension” in US ties. “He said the aim of these visits is to take the relations on a constructive, sustainable and positive trajectory,” Radio Pakistan said.
Pakistan was “extremely grateful” to Trump, whose “strategic leadership not only stopped the India-Pakistan war but also prevented many wars in the world,” Munir added, referring to its latest conflict with New Delhi in May.
The army chief also commented on the conflict in the Middle East, calling the situation in Gaza “a worst human tragedy that has serious implications at both the global and regional levels,” according to the state broadcaster.
