ISLAMABAD: Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Maliki, ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan, called on the Pakistani minister for energy, Omar Ayub Khan, on Wednesday and discussed joint ventures in the petroleum and energy sectors, and separately met the Pakistani aviation minister.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum, Nadeem Babar, and Power Division Secretary, Ali Raza Bhutta, were also present at the meeting with Omar Ayub Khan.

“Both sides deliberated upon joint ventures by Pakistan & the Kingdom in the petroleum and energy sector,” a statement from the ministry of energy said. “The Minister apprised the envoy about the progress of various energy projects ... said the diversified market of energy sector is one of the prime investment destinations to boost the economic growth of the country.”

Khan told Al-Maliki about the government’s pivot toward renewable energy “to harness local resources for power generation and revival of exploration and production activities in the oil and gas sector would attract investment in the country.”

The ambassador acknowledged efforts made by Khan and his team to enhance Pak-Saudi projects in the energy sector.

“He stressed that the kingdom would continue to work with Pakistan for strengthening bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries,” the statement said.

During the envoy’s meeting with Pakistani aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, the two sides discussed taking additional measures to enhance aviation ties between the nations. They also discussed starting two new flights from Pakistan to the Saudi city of Abha and Pakistan assured the ambassador that Umrah flights to the kingdom would restart as soon as the coronavirus situation was under control.