ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed to launch an Economic Cooperation Framework to strengthen trade and investment ties, according to an official statement released in Islamabad on Tuesday, as both sides move to expand their decades-old partnership following the signing of a defense pact last month.
The development comes a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh.
Last month, the two countries signed a security agreement pledging that aggression against one would be treated as an attack on both. The move was widely viewed as formalizing longstanding military cooperation into a binding commitment aimed at bolstering joint deterrence.
“Prince Mohammed bin Salman ... and Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, agreed during their meeting held in Riyadh on Monday to launch an Economic Cooperation Framework between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the Pakistani prime minister’s Office said in an official statement.
“This framework is based on the two countries’ shared economic interests and reaffirms their mutual desire to strengthen trade and investment relations to serve their common interests,” it added.
According to the statement, several strategic and high-impact projects will be discussed under the framework across economic, trade, investment, and development fields, adding both sides will focus on priority sectors including energy, industry, mining, information technology, tourism, agriculture and food security.
The two countries are also studying joint projects, including two new memorandums of understanding on electricity interconnection and energy cooperation.
The framework, Islamabad said, reflects the two nations’ shared vision to build a sustainable partnership across key economic and investment sectors.
The leaders also expressed hope that the next meeting of the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council, the highest forum for giving strategic direction to bilateral relations, would be convened soon to advance the agenda.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long enjoyed close ties but have sought to broaden cooperation in recent years.
Last year, the two countries signed 34 memorandums of understanding worth $2.8 billion across multiple sectors.
The two nations share longstanding ties rooted in faith, mutual respect and strategic cooperation, with Riyadh remaining a key political and economic partner of Islamabad.
The Kingdom also hosts more than 2.5 million Pakistani expatriates, the largest source of remittances for Pakistan’s $407 billion economy.
