ISLAMABAD: Saudi oil giant Aramco said on Wednesday it would launch its first branded retail gas station in Pakistan by the end of the year, having already completed the acquisition of a 40 percent stake in Gas & Oil Pakistan Ltd. (GO) in May.

Aramco is a global integrated energy and chemicals company that produces approximately one in every eight barrels of the world’s oil supply. GO, one of Pakistan’s largest retail and storage companies, is involved in the procurement, storage, sale and marketing of petroleum products and lubricants.

“We are working to launch our first Aramco-branded gas station in Pakistan by the end of the year,” the Saudi oil company’s media department told Arab News in an emailed statement. “Will share more information when the site is commissioned.”

A Pakistan Board of Investment (BOI) official said Aramco’s acquisition of GO represented the oil giant’s first downstream retail investment in Pakistan and signaled the company’s growing retail presence in high-value markets. 

In March, Aramco also acquired a 100 percent equity stake in Esmax Distribución SpA, a leading diversified downstream fuels and lubricants retailer in Chile.

“Our global retail expansion is gaining pace and this acquisition [of GO] is an important next step on our journey,” Yasser Mufti, Aramco Executive Vice President of Products & Customers, said in a statement in May when the GO deal was completed. 

“Through our strategic partnership with GO, we look forward to supplying Aramco’s high-quality products and services to valued customers in Pakistan. We are also delighted to welcome another high-caliber addition to Aramco’s growing network of global partners, and look forward to combining our resources and expertise to unlock new opportunities and further grow the Aramco brand overseas.”

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian nation.

In February 2019, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia inked investment deals totaling $21 billion during a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Islamabad. The agreements included about $10 billion for an Aramco oil refinery and $1 billion for a petrochemical complex at the strategic Gwadar Port in Balochistan.

Both countries have been working in recent months to increase bilateral trade and investment, and the Kingdom in April this year reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion for Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: A high-level delegation of Chinese companies is in Islamabad this week, state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Wednesday, as Pakistan pushes for foreign investment in a bid to shore up its $350 billion economy as it navigates a tough reforms agenda mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Islamabad and Beijing signed 32 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to promote trade and investment in June during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to China with a team of 100 businessmen. The agreements covered fields like IT, textiles, leather and footwear, minerals, pharmaceuticals and agriculture and food processing. 

Chinese investment and financial support for Pakistan since 2013 have been a boon for the South Asian nation’s struggling economy, including the rolling over of loans so that Islamabad is able to meet external financing needs at a time foreign reserves are critically low. Beijing has over $65 billion in investments in road, infrastructure and development projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is a part of the Belt and Road scheme.

The Chinese delegation currently in Islamabad includes four main business groups, Radio Pakistan reported, who on Tuesday visited the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) set up by Pakistan in July last year to serve as a “one window operation” to attract foreign investments. 

“Chinese business delegation has evinced keen interest for investment in major sectors of Pakistan’s economy and relocating Chinese industries here,” Radio Pakistan said. 

“The delegation was apprised of potential investment opportunities in priority sectors including agriculture, livestock, Information Technology, energy, minerals, tourism and industry.”

The Chinese companies were also briefed about policy-level measures undertaken by the SIFC to improve the country’s overall business environment as well as on “salient features of industrial development in Pakistan.”

There was no comment from the Chinese side about the meetings in Islamabad. 

The CPEC framework is central to Beijing’s initiative to rebuild a new “Silk Road” through land routes and sea lanes to connect with markets in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. But the undertaking has been hit by Pakistan struggling to keep up its financial obligations as well as militant attacks on Chinese nationals in Pakistan.

In recent months, China has publicly raised with Pakistan the issue of the security of its workers and interests, especially since a March suicide attack in which five Chinese workers and their local driver were killed in Pakistan’s northwest.

Pakistan has also initiated difficult talks on reprofiling power sector debt owed to China as well as negotiations on structural reforms, but progress has been slow.