ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday urged Saudi companies and entrepreneurs to capitalize on Pakistan’s strategic location and tap into its “huge investment potential,” particularly in the housing and construction sectors, the PM office said.
Khan is on an official visit to the kingdom on the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This is his second trip to the kingdom this year. He visited the kingdom last in May and signed several agreements.
On Monday, Khan addressed the Saudi-Pak Investment Forum organized in cooperation with the Saudi Ministry of Investment. Leading Saudi firms including SABIC, ACWA Power, Ma’aden, SALIC, Al-Zamil Group, Al-Bawani Group and Riyad Bank attended the Forum and affirmed their resolve to build deeper engagement with Pakistan. Key Pakistani business leaders, investors from the Pakistani diaspora, and stakeholders from Pakistan’s private sector based in the kingdom were also present, the PM office said.
Saudi Investment Minister Engr. Khalid Al-Falih, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin and Energy Minister Hammad Azhar all addressed the forum.
“The Prime Minister stressed the importance of engaging the private sector to fortify the economic relationship,” the PM office said. “He hoped that the private sectors of the two countries would take full advantage of close and cordial bilateral relations to realize the untapped potential in the fields of trade, business and investment.”
Khan said Pakistan offered the kingdom a strong and large consumer market of over 220 million, with an ever-expanding middle class.
“Highlighting the significance of Pakistan as a gateway to the Asian markets and beyond, the Prime Minister underlined that the geo-strategic position offered Pakistan distinctive opportunities to stimulate intra-region trade by building regional connectivity on modern lines,” the PM office said. “To realize that potential, the Prime Minister underscored the historic shift in Pakistan’s strategic focus from geo-politics to geo-economics.”
The participants of the forum were informed that all sectors of Pakistan’s economy were open for foreign investment without any restrictions on remitting capital, profits and dividends. The country had “tremendous opportunities” for foreign investors in the sectors of renewable energy, food and agriculture, infrastructure development, housing, health, and tourism sectors, the PM said.
“Pakistani and Saudi businessmen have expressed the confidence that Pakistan-Saudi Investment Forum being held in Riyadh will help investors exploit investment opportunities in each other’s countries,” Radio Pakistan said.
On Sunday, Azhar Ali Dahar, who oversees trade and investment affairs at the Embassy of Pakistan in Riyadh, told Arab News the visiting Pakistani delegation, with representation from the construction, chemicals, energy and food sectors, “will hold series of B2B (business-to-business) meetings with Saudi investors.”
Pakistani officials are also planning to hold the first physical meeting of the Saudi-Pakistan Joint Business Council, headed by Fahd Bin Mohammed Al-Bash. They expect the event would lead to the participants signing investment agreements in December this year.
“After the meeting, they will exchange documents and in December this year, we expect that when the Saudi investors will visit Pakistan, some memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) will be signed,” Dahar said.
Pakistani officials are also planning to invite Saudi investors to the country so that they can physically observe locations and investment opportunities.
During the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in 2019, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed investment deals worth $21 billion, including for an Aramco oil refinery project, a Saudi Fund for Pakistan, and food and agriculture projects.