PM orders best hospitality for Saudi business delegates

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Friday directed all the relevant authorities to ensure maximum hospitality for the Saudi business delegation due tomorrow (Sunday) for business-to-business (B2B) result-oriented talks for more trade and investment in shape of joint ventures.

He said this while reviewing the progress on various projects and JVs for investments expected from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The premier also said he was extremely grateful for the initiatives being taken by KSA for further investment in Pakistan.

He said both the countries enjoyed friendly ties with the latter one of those countries which stood with Pakistan through thick and thin.

The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is very keen to invest in Pakistan.

The participants of the meeting also informed the premier about the expected investment in various projects or sectors from the KSA delegation.

In the meeting, relevant ministers and secretaries informed the prime minister about the endeavors and preparation for the upcoming visit of business delegates.

The owners and CEOs of 30 major Saudi companies will arrive Islamabad by a charter flight.

In addition, relevant Saudi officials headed by an assistant minister for investment would also accompany the Saudi business delegates, said a senior official of the secretariat that has been set up under the petroleum minister to facilitate the talks.

Earlier, the Saudi business delegation was scheduled to stay on 6-7 May but under the new scenario for reasons known to the authorities, it will now stay only for May 6.

The thirty companies of KSA dealing with various sectors include information technology (IT), construction, agriculture, food, rice, energy, services, minerals and environment, logistics and, human resources. In some of the sectors like energy and agriculture, the talks would be held under G2B and G2G modes.

“We have almost completed our spade work and lined up the Pakistani entrepreneurs who will hold B2B talks with the Saudi business delegates.”

Pakistan’s top leadership wants maximum interaction between entrepreneurs of both countries so that the bilateral trade could be enhanced to a reasonable level which currently stands at $4.753 billion with a heavy tilt towards KSA in 2022-23.

The main products exported from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia are rice ($86.2 million), bovine meat ($32.7 million), and spices (25.3 million).

During the first half of the current fiscal 2023-24, bilateral trade stayed at $2.482 billion during July-December period 2023-24 as the imports stood at $262.58 million and imports from the KSA remained at $2.219 billion showing a deficit in trade of $1.957 billion.

The major export products from Pakistan are rice, meat of bovine animals, fruit and vegetables tents and camping. However, major imports from KSA are POL products, polymers of propylene and polymers of ethylene.” Pakistan is facing a huge deficit in trade with the KSA -- the biggest economy in the Gulf countries and would try to increase export from Pakistan to KSA through B2B trade on a big scale.