Saudi signs $20b deal with Pakistan
Cooperation between two sides includes energy projects, tourism and other areas
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud visited Pakistan and signed investment agreements with the country during the past weekend, a move considered to benefit more than just both ends in the future.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed seven agreements and memorandums of understanding for investment cooperation worth $20 billion on Sunday, according to Dawn, Pakistan’s leading English-language newspaper.
“Pakistan is a dear country to the Saudi people and we will be partners as we have always been,” Al Arabiya news channel quoted the Saudi crown prince as saying.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed the Saudi delegation, and said the two countries were taking the relationship to a new level, where the investment agreement would be mutually beneficial for both sides.
The cooperation will revolve mostly around energy projects, of which include a $10 billion Saudi Arabia’s Aramco-run refinery and petrochemicals complex in the Pakistani coastal city of Gwadar.
It will also include tourism, agriculture, food processing and other areas, Khan said.
Tang Mengsheng, director of the Center for Pakistan Studies at Peking University, said the investment can to some extend relieve the economic difficulties Pakistan is facing.
“It’s not a surprise for Saudi Arabia to visit and invest Pakistan as the two countries have had a longtime friendly relationship, sharing the same religion and similar history,” he said.
The crown prince said Pakistan is a “dear country” to all Saudis and that the two countries “have walked together in tough and good times”.
“We believe that Pakistan is going to be a very, very important country in the coming future and we want to be sure we are part of that,” he said.
On the other hand, Tang said, the investment will also be a good news for the construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to strengthen the exchanges and cooperation in the fields of transportation, energy and ocean economy between China and Pakistan.
“The corridor has been encouraging investment from the third parties,” he said, “while the investment to the Gwadar port will actively promote the construction of the Chinainvolved project.”
The visit to Pakistan is part of the Saudi crown prince’s Asian tour, which started on Sunday.
As for the tour, Tang said it was also Saudi Arabia’s try to shift its strategic focus to Asia as well as its economic structure from a single oil economy to a more complex system with investment and other areas.
“It could be an attempt to get rid of its diplomatic difficulties, but more importantly, I think Saudi Arabia is trying to diversify its economy, by for example the Belt and Road Initiative,” Tang said, adding that the sign could be seen from Saudi king’s visit to Asia in 2017, which included Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and China.
Tang said Pakistan, India and China are Asian countries with relatively good economic development momentum.
The Saudi crown prince will travel to India after his Pakistan visit, where he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
He is expected to finish the trip with a visit to China on Thursday and Friday.