Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday hailed Saudi Arabia’s plans to invest over $2 billion in Pakistan, as the two countries inked several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to boost bilateral trade and investment.
The prime minister and Pakistan Army chief Gen. Asim Munir witnessed the signing ceremony of the MoUs on behalf of Islamabad, while Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Falih represented Riyadh.
“The visit of Saudi delegation, headed by investment minister, is important,” said Sharif. “Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has a special interest in the development of Pakistan,” he added.
Hailing the investment, the prime minister said bilateral cooperation between both countries would strengthen with time and vowed to ensure the undertaking of measures required to implement the agreements. “Economic relation and cooperation between the two countries will further increase in the future. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have decades of brotherly relations,” he added.
Appreciating the Gulf kingdom for supporting Pakistan through thick and thin, Sharif said the Saudi minister’s visit was an important milestone for strengthening investment and economic relations between the two countries. He said the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was playing an important role in accelerating foreign investment and apprised the visiting delegation of the government’s ongoing privatization drive, stressing he was determined to remove all obstacles in investment agreements between the two countries.
Among the MoUs inked are agreements for a $70 million investment in the agriculture sector; establishment of advanced semiconductor chip manufacturing in Saudi Arabia; establishment of a textile industry; and a white oil pipeline project. Additionally, an MoU was inked for exploring investment opportunities; a hybrid power project; development of transformer manufacturing facilities in both countries; cyber-security measures for customers and businesses; and the export of spices and vegetables from Pakistan.
The agreements also call for the establishment of a manufacturing facility for surgical and dental equipment and collaboration on the federal government’s E-Taaleem and digitization programs.
Referring to the $7 billion bailout inked between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the prime minister thanked the Saudi leadership for their support in helping Islamabad secure the program. “Finally this program is through, but we hope that this will be the last program as we have already—through wonderful teamwork—managed to improve our economic indicators, [brought] inflation down from 32% to 6.9% this month, [while] our policy rate has come down from 23% to 17.5%, exports are increasing, foreign remittances are also increasing,” he said.