Chief minister woos Saudi investment

Meets Saudi envoy and Adviser to PM on commerce, textiles

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan has said the provincial government is ready to facilitate foreign companies seeking business opportunities here with a one-window operation.

“We have functionalised Balochistan Board of Investment and Trade and its office is going to be opened in the federal capital,” the chief minister said in a meeting with Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf Bin Saidal Maliki at Balochistan House in Islamabad on Monday.

During the meeting, Saudi investment plan in Balochistan and mutual cooperation was discussed, according to an official handout.

Kamal informed about the investment opportunities in Balochistan’s mining, fisheries, and tourism departments.

The CM said the province has gained international attention due to development projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It has increased the importance of the entire region, he added.



Kamal said: “Gwadar port has been called the backbone of CPEC… the deep sea port would play an integral part in China’s Belt and Road Initiative”.
Expressing his government’s investment plans in Gwadar, the envoy said the Saudi government would inform its investors regarding business opportunities in the port city and other cities of Balochistan.

“Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have deep relations spanning over many decades while both the nations have supported each other in difficult circumstances,” Maliki said, adding the economic ties between the two governments have strengthened.

During the day, the CM, his provincial cabinet ministers and members of the provincial assembly had a meeting with Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textiles and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood at the Balochistan House.

The adviser said the federal government would assist the government of Balochistan in developing agriculture and livestock sectors.
“We want to evolve a special policy for the development in agriculture, livestock, and fisheries for value addition in these sectors,” Dawood said.



He said that Balochistan had huge potential in cotton production and the government was committed to providing facilities.

He also agreed to establish cold storages in Balochistan for the preservation of fruits including apple, grapes, and vegetable, adding that the surplus items would be exported to generate revenue.
Razak said the government wanted to facilitate the provincial government through exports development fund for providing competitiveness through value addition.

The chief minister said the province has huge potential in agriculture and livestock but it needed support from the federal government to increase production.

He said that low water level also affected the agriculture production in the province where the government needs to evolve a strategy for modernising the irrigation system.

Kamal said in Balochistan, “we also need to enhance the tunnel farming facility for the farmers to increase the per-acre yield of cotton and other crops”.

He said that “Vietnam and other countries are negotiating with the Balochistan government to enhance cooperation in fisheries to introduce cage fishing in the province”. He demanded of the Ministry of Commerce for enhancing the support to the provincial government in the development of agriculture and livestock sectors.
He also stressed the need for regulation of trade with Iran to protect the agriculture items in the province.

[WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP]