Visit to deliver ‘significant benefits’ in upcoming months: Saudi FM

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Tuesday said that his visit to Pakistan would deliver “significant benefits” in the upcoming months by realising the potential of untapped economic development.

The Saudi diplomat was addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar after a meeting between the two at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Saudi foreign minister is leading a high powered delegation on an official visit to Pakistan. The delegation had arrived in Pakistan on Monday.

The visit comes days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Makkah, where the two sides agreed to expedite the first tranche of a $5 billion Saudi investment package for Pakistan. Overall, Saudi Arabia has committed to investing $25bn in Pakistan over the next five years, focusing on energy, IT, minerals, defence, and agriculture sectors under the Special Investment Facilitation Council.

Addressing the press conference, the Saudi diplomat said he had a “productive series” of meetings with Pakistani officials during which he had stressed the “importance and strategic depth” of bilateral relations between the two countries, as well as the kingdom’s commitment to deepening that relationship through new avenues.

“We are extremely impressed by the very proactive attitude that we saw in our meetings especially with the [Special] Investment [Facilitation] Council (SIFC) and a very strong business-focused approach on addressing challenges and opportunities and highlighting the work we can do together.

“I feel very confident that the results of this visit and the results of the work being done between the two respective teams with this attitude, with this approach of focus on results [and] overcoming hurdles will deliver significant benefits for both of our countries [and] will significantly accelerate the process of achieving those investments that we’re looking at together. I can say that there is significant opportunity to increase the level of investment that is already on the table,” the Saudi foreign minister said.

Terming the visit so far to be a “very positive” one, the Saudi diplomat said that the engagement so far laid the groundwork for “significant and important work to be done in the next few months in order to achieve all of the potential that exists”.

He said the kingdom was a strong believer in Pakistan’s untapped potential, particularly in terms of economic development which was “clear to everyone”.

“Working together, we will do what we can with our colleagues in the Government of Pakistan to make that happen,” he said and thanked Pakistani officials for their insights into the “excellent opportunities” regarding investment that could be potentially realised.