Reaffirms commitment to strengthening bilateral economic ties on the sidelines of IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington DC
Senator Mohammad Aurangzeb, Minister of Finance, during an interview with VOA. SCREENSHOT
Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to foster a deeper economic partnership with Saudi Arabia, briefing his Saudi counterpart on the ongoing privatization of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and major airports.
Aurangzeb was meeting Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington DC. The finance minister sought Saudi support for infrastructure development projects as the two sides reviewed growing trade and investment ties.
He reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to pursue economic reforms under the IMF program to ensure long-term macroeconomic stability.
The IMF announced a staff-level agreement for the release of the next loan tranches of $1.2 billion after Islamabad, for now, accepted the old pre-flood fiscal targets and released the governance report ahead of the board meeting.
Read: Dispute over KE resolved paves way for Saudi takeover
Both ministers agreed that institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) could play a vital role in mobilizing and de-risking private sector investments in Pakistan.
Aurangzeb briefed his Saudi counterpart on the ongoing privatization process of PIA and major airports, emphasizing Islamabad’s determination to attract strategic investments through transparency and efficiency.
During a meeting with the CEO of the American International Development Finance Corporation in Washington DC, the Finance Minister highlighted significant investment opportunities in the oil and gas, mining and minerals, agriculture, IT and pharmaceutical sectors in Pakistan.
Learn more: Sialkot will have a new industrial zone
Aurangzeb highlighted consensus at the leadership level to strengthen trade and investment ties. He welcomed the DFC’s interest in facilitating private sector financing of projects in Pakistan.
Cementing links
In a major boost to Saudi-Pakistani investment relations, Prince Mansour Bin Mohammed Al Saud last week signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chishti for the acquisition of a majority stake in KES Power Ltd, the parent company which owns 66.4% of K-Electric.
In an interview with Express News In New York, Defense Minister Khwaja Asif said the decades-long partnership between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia was now formalized and expanded to include military and commercial investments.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif recently granted in-principle approval to establish a new industrial zone in Sialkot. Chairing a meeting to review issues relating to industrial zones across the province, she accepted a proposal to develop the zone on 400 acres of land near the Sialkot International Airport.
It also agreed to offer four industrial zones to foreign investors in addition to those in Bhalwal, Vehari and Bahawalpur envisaged for Saudi investments. In an important move, she decided to allocate the Chunian industrial zone to the fisheries department.
