ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interim foreign minister, Jalil Abbas Jilani, held a meeting with the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, Hamad Obaid Alzaabi, in Islamabad on Wednesday and discussed trade and investment connections, Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement.
Pakistan has strong diplomatic and economic ties with the UAE. In July this year, the Gulf state played a pivotal role in helping Pakistan avert default by depositing $1 billion into the country’s central bank. During the same month, the two countries signed a deal to establish a bulk and general cargo terminal at Karachi port which is anticipated to attract an investment of $220 million in Pakistan over the initial decade. The UAE is also the second largest source, after Saudi Arabia, of remittances to Pakistan.
“UAE Ambassador [Hamad Obaid Alzaabi] called on Pakistan’s FM [Jalil Abbas Jilani] today,” Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs announced on the X platform. “They discussed bilateral, regional as well as multilateral issues of mutual interest and the potential of enhancing trade and investment ties [between] the two countries.”
The UAE is home to over 1.6 million Pakistani expatriates working in various public and private sectors who yearly contribute remittances exceeding $4 billion to Pakistan.
According to official figures, the Pakistani diaspora in the UAE remitted a staggering $5.10 billion in 2022, the second-highest amount after remittances from Saudi Arabia.
