ISLAMABAD: A high level Saudi delegation will visit Pakistan very soon to explore investment opportunities in the tourism sector, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told Arab News on Thursday.

“During my current visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, I talked to the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud regarding Prime Minister Imran Khan’s request to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to send a delegation to explore tourism potential and investment opportunities in Pakistan. He [Prince Faisal] assured me that Saudi Arabia was going to send the delegation to Pakistan very soon,” Qureshi said.

The foreign minister informed that the prime minister had talked to the Saudi crown prince on phone last month and apprised him about the potential of tourism in Pakistan.

“The prime minister said that Pakistan had a lot of potential in tourism, and new international assessments have placed the South Asian state as the top tourism destination for 2020,” Qureshi said, adding that Khan had also sought help from the Saudi crown prince to secure investment in Pakistan’s tourism sector.

“PM Khan asked the Saudi crown prince to help promote tourism in Pakistan and requested him to send a high level delegation to assess the country’s tourism potential and identify investment opportunities in this economic sector,” he said.

Pakistan’s envoy to the Kingdom, Raja Ali Ejaz, told Arab News last month that Prime Minister Imran Khan had invited Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to visit Pakistan during the winter season to promote tourism.

“A formal letter of invitation has been forwarded to the Royal Court for further processing,” Riaz said. “The invitation has been extended because of the crown prince’s wish during his visit to Pakistan in February 2019 to visit the country’s picturesque northern regions.”

Many international publications, including Forbes and Traveler, have added Pakistan to their list of must-visit places in 2020. The Forbes has included the country’s northern areas to its “10 Best-Under-The-Radar Trips” for this year, calling it the “ultimate” location for adventure seekers.