Pakistan pushes to forge strategic, economic partnership with KSA Saudis offered PIA, airports, joint ventures to build five-star hotels
ISLAMABAD, (NNI): Pakistani top leaders, including the prime minister, president and foreign minister, said on Tuesday the ongoing visit of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to Islamabad would help transform a longstanding friendship between the two nations into a strategic and commercial partnership.
Prince Faisal arrived in Pakistan on Monday on a two-day visit aimed at enhancing bilateral economic cooperation and pushing forward previously agreed investment deals. His trip comes a little over a week after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Makkah and reaffirmed the Kingdom's commitment to expedite investments worth $5 billion.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.
Pakistan has offered the visiting high-level Saudi delegation privatization of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and airports along with joint ventures to build two five-star hotels in Islamabad.
The offers were placed before the Saudi delegation led by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud during the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) meeting held in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The visiting Saudi delegation consists of Saudi Minister of Water and Agriculture, Eng. Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen AlFadley; Minister of Industry and
Mineral Resources, Bandar Ibrahim Alkhorayef; Assistant Minister of Investment, Ibrahim bin Yousef Al-Mubarak; Head of Saudi Special Committee, Mohammed Maziad Al-Tuwaijri; and senior officials from Ministry of Energy and Saudi Public Investment Fund.
"We aim to transform our traditionally fraternal ties into a strategic and economic partnership," Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said as he addressed a Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Investment Conference in Islamabad, held under the umbrella of Pakistan's Special Investment Facilitation Council, set up last year to oversee all foreign investments.
"Your investments are not just financial commitments but are crucial in nurturing a deeply valued partnership," Dar told the visiting dignitary.
"It is through the SIFC platform that we intend to streamline investment processes while ensuring rapid decision making and efficient handling of investments … The SIFC has a central role in augmenting our infrastructure and streamlining our regulatory frameworks to set the stage for a flourishing investment friendly economic environment."
Dar said SIFC would ensure that investments were "swift and mutually beneficial, embodying our commitment to facilitating foreign direct investment in Pakistan."
Pakistan was blessed with fertile agricultural lands, minerals and a large and dynamic population, complemented by a flourishing IT sector and abundant prospects for renewable energy creation, the foreign minister added.