ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s commerce minister Jam Kamal Khan on Friday described Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to the United Arab Emirates as “historic,” as the Gulf state committed to invest $10 billion in multiple economic sectors of the South Asian country.
Sharif met UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a daylong trip to Abu Dhabi. He took a high-level delegation with him amid a concerted push by Pakistan to seek foreign investment as it navigates a challenging path to economic recovery.
“The UAE visit was historic yesterday,” Kamal said while addressing a joint press conference with information minister Ata Tarar in Islamabad.
“I don’t think this has ever happened before that the President expresses confidence in a first go on a normal visit and that they announce a $10 billion commitment in the first go,” he added.
Addressing Pakistan’s efforts to put its economy back on track, Kamal said the government had taken several initiatives to deal with the circular debt, set revenue collections targets for the Federal Board of Revenue and increase remittance inflows.
He maintained reforming socio-economic structures, identifying weak areas and improving the overall business environment were uphill tasks carried out by the government.
He said the country’s commerce, energy and maritime ministries were already engaged with the UAE, adding the government was working on projects that would create greater employment opportunities.
The commerce minister informed the UAE government had left it to the Pakistani authorities to identify and highlight areas where it wanted to utilize its investment.
The UAE is one of Pakistan’s closest allies and has frequently bailed out the South Asian country, joining Saudi Arabia and China in rolling over billions of dollars of loans to Pakistan last year to help it clinch a last-gasp deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and avoid a sovereign debt default.
It is also Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner, after China and the United States. Policymakers in Pakistan consider the Gulf state an optimal export destination due to its geographical proximity, which minimizes transportation and freight costs while facilitating commercial transactions.
The UAE is also home to more than a million Pakistani expatriates and the second-largest source of remittances to the South Asian country, after Saudi Arabia.