ISLAMABAD: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will be visiting Islamabad next month with multiple agreements expected to be signed between Islamabad and Riyadh during the course of the trip, Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson said on Thursday.

“His Royal Highness Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman will pay a visit to Pakistan next month,” Dr. Muhammad Faisal said, adding that the exact dates of the visit would be finalized soon.

“Both sides are actively pursuing to finalize different agreements and memorandums of understanding to be signed during the visit,” he said without elaborating the nature of agreements.

The crown prince will be visiting Pakistan on the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan who chose Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip after he assumed office in August last year.

A former Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, Dr. Ali S. Awadh Asseri, said on Wednesday that the visit reflected the importance of the South Asian country for the Kingdom.

Last week, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih made a brief visit to Pakistan and announced measures for a proposed oil refinery — worth more than $10 billion — in Balochistan’s port city of Gwadar within the next 18 months.

Experts say that the oil refinery and proposed petrochemical complex would help Pakistan overcome its dependency on expensive oil imports.

The Kingdom has already pledged $6billion in financial assistance to Islamabad to ease its economic pressures, besides expressing its willingness to invest in mutually beneficial projects that would increase employment opportunities and bring much-needed foreign direct investments to cash-strapped Pakistan.