Saudi trade delegation arrives to discuss investment avenues

50-member delegation led by Deputy Investment Minister to hold B2B meetings

ISLAMABAD:

A 50-member high-level Saudi trade delegation led by the Deputy Investment Minister Ibrahim Almubarak arrived in Pakistan on Sunday with the aim of exploring various avenues of trade and investment to further strengthen and promote bilateral relations.

Upon their arrival at Noor Khan Air Base, the Saudi dignitaries were welcomed by Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan and Petroleum Minister Musadik Masood Malik, according to a press release issued by the commerce ministry.

The press release highlighted that the three-day visit of the Saudi delegation was geared towards enhancing trade relations between investors from both countries and identifying trade and investment opportunities across various sectors of Pakistan’s economy.

The Saudi delegation comprised some 30 companies, representing different economic sectors, including information technology, telecoms, energy, aviation, construction, mining exploration, agriculture and human resource development.

A two-day Pakistan-Saudi Arabia investment conference is planned for Monday and Tuesday to promote bilateral trade and investment, besides fostering a new era of growth and prosperity for the people of both the countries.

For the visit, the ministry had selected numerous Pakistani companies in relevant sectors for Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings with their Saudi counterparts. The press release said that leading Pakistani companies would collaborate with 30 Saudi companies across different sectors.

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The B2B meetings will specifically target sectors such as agriculture, mining, human resources, energy, chemicals and maritime. Moreover, discussions would extend to investment prospects in other sectors including refinery, information technology, telecom, aviation, water and power generation.

“The objective of these discussions is to identify investment opportunities that will generate employment, and boost exports between the two countries,” Jam Kamal said. He added that local companies would present their business and investment proposals to their Saudi counterparts.

The minister expressed optimism that several companies would be able to finalise business and investment deals during the B2B sessions, fostering greater economic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

A commerce ministry official told APP on Sunday that Saudi Arabia was undergoing a transformation to reduce its dependence on oil and diversify its income sources and enhance competitiveness under the country’s “Vision 2030” raod map.

The official said that during the first half of the current financial year, the trade between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia was recorded at $2,482.37 million, with Pakistan’s exports of $262.58 million and Saudi exports of $2.219 billion.