Saudi FM arrives on two-day visit

Celina Ali

Islamabad: Foreign Minister of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, leading a high-level delegation, on Monday, arrived here on a two-day visit.

Upon arrival at the airport, the Saudi Foreign Minister was received by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and other senior officials.

The Saudi Foreign Minister is heading a high-level delegation comprising Saudi Minister of Water and Agriculture Eng Abdul Rahman Abdul Mohsen Al-Fadley, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Ibrahim AlKhorayef, Deputy Minister of Investment Badr AlBadr, Head of Saudi Special Committee Mohammad Mazyed Al Towaijri, and senior officials from Ministry of Energy and Saudi Fund for General Investments.

“The visit takes place essentially to expedite follow up on the understanding reached between Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Mohammad bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during their recent meeting in Makkah Al Mukarramah to enhance bilateral economic cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” Foreign Office, in a press release said.

The Saudi delegation is expected to hold meetings with the President, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and counterpart ministers, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and apex committee of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

“This visit is aimed at lending positive impetus to enhanced bilateral cooperation and mutually rewarding economic partnership,” it was further added.

During the recent visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Arabia had announced an initial investment of US$5 billion.

The Saudi delegation will consult on the next steps and implementation issues of the $5 billion investment.

Saudi Arabia also plans to invest $25 billion in Pakistan for which Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir played an important role, the foreign office added.

Saudi Arabia is interested to invest in Pakistan’s agriculture, trade, energy, minerals, IT, transport and other sectors.

During the visit of Saudi delegation, issues related to Saudi investment in the Reko Diq project will also be considered.

Pakistan’s export capacity will also be increased, joint ventures will be launched and new opportunities will be created consequent to the visit.

The arrival of the high-level delegation from Saudi Arabia will not only advance the achievement of Special Investment Facilitation Center (SIFC)’s objectives, but will also bring more pace and confidence to Pakistan’s already improving economic situation.

The timing of the arrival of the Saudi delegation is very important. The two countries have always had very close cooperation and common ground at the global and regional levels.

The views of both countries on Palestine and Occupied Jammu and Kashmir have also been playing a key role in the common voice of the Organization of International Cooperation (OIC) platform.

This visit is also very important in the current global and regional context and the diplomatic isolation that Pakistan suffered in the last few years (2018-2022) has ended.

A new intimacy, innovation and warmth is being seen in Pakistan’s relations with its always reliable and brotherly countries, especially Saudi Arabia.

In addition to Saudi Arabia, the arrival of the president of Iran and delegations from Qatar is also expected in near future.

It is also worth mentioning that Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir recently visited Saudi Arabia and is playing an important role in Pakistan-Saudi relations.