KSA, Pakistan forge closer economic ties

A 20-member Pakistan government and business delegation met here on Tuesday with Saudi officials to forge ties in energy, agriculture, banking and finance, science and technology, and human resources.
Khurram Dastgir Khan, Pakistani minister of trade and commerce, who is leading the delegation, also met with Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense.
The two sides are meeting for the 10th session of the two-day Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC). The ninth session was held in 2012.
Waseem Hayat Bajwa, commercial attaché at the Pakistan Embassy, told Arab News: "It was a very positive meeting exploring new areas of co-operation between the two countries, and to bolster our bilateral relations."
Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Saudi minister of commerce and industry, and Pakistan Ambassador Muhammad Naeem Khan attended the meeting.
Bajwa said the minister also met Abdullatif Al-Othman, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA). Khayyam Akbar, deputy head of the Pakistan embassy, also attended the meeting.
He said the JMC would conclude on Wednesday with concrete ways to boost bilateral trade. The areas of discussion include banking and finance, export of workers, the energy sector, agriculture, livestock, information technology, education, and small and medium enterprise development
Bajwa said the first day included discussions on oil and natural gas. However, he refused to comment on whether Pakistan is seeking a long-term credit facility for oil purchases from the Kingdom, which would help save foreign currency.
According to reports in the Pakistani media, the JMC is expected to discuss the possibility of forming joint ventures for oil and gas exploration, to boost energy production in Pakistan.
Pakistan consumes 22 million tons of oil, of which about 13 million tons are imported. Apart from this, oil refineries import 9 million tons of crude oil per annum to meet their processing needs.
Earlier, Al-Rabiah met his Pakistani counterpart, and provided assurances that Saudi Arabia would provide Pakistan access to its markets.
Recently, a high-level delegation from the Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) visited Pakistan to consider possible investments in the country's rice and meat sectors.
Another team of technical experts from the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture also visited Pakistan recently to study health and veterinary standards of the poultry, livestock and dairy sectors.