Pakistan says work has begun on Saudi investment projects worth ‘billions of dollars’

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said this week that work on several Saudi projects worth billions of dollars in Pakistan has already begun, saying that it would help improve the country’s economy and provide job opportunities for many. 

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in October worth $2.8 billion. Sharif’s office said on Monday that seven out of the 34 MoUs signed with Saudi Arabia had been actualized into agreements worth $560 million. 

Tarar was briefing the media about Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia in which he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the One Water Summit in Riyadh. During the visit, Sharif also met French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss investment opportunities in the energy sector and climate adaptation. 

“The evidence of the billions of dollars they [Saudi Arabia] are about to invest in Pakistan, a lot of these projects have started on the ground,” Tarar said at a news conference on Wednesday. 

“Like you saw Aramco has opened its [fuel] pumps here in Pakistan and did a grand inauguration. Discussions are also ongoing about their fast-food chain, Al-Baik, and other major projects are being discussed as well,” he added. 

Tarar said Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia was a short but significant one, noting that it featured the fifth meeting between the Pakistani premier and the Saudi crown prince in the last six months. 

“In such a short period, I believe Pak-Saudi relations have improved a lot and ties have strengthened a lot,” he said. 

Sharif’s government has sought closer economic cooperation between both countries since assuming the office of the prime minister this year. He has publicly stated several times his desire for Pakistan to collaborate with the Kingdom in several areas such as trade, defense, economy, agriculture, tourism and others. 

Saudi Arabia has bailed Pakistan frequently out of its economic crisis in the past and provided oil to the South Asian country on deferred payments. 

In April, the Kingdom pledged to expedite a $5 billion investment portfolio for Islamabad, further brightening foreign investment prospects in the country. 

It also serves as the largest source of workers’ remittances for Pakistan, where over two million Pakistanis live and work.