ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan Nawaf Saeed Al-Malkiy said that his country is keen to further strengthen trade relations with Pakistan as both countries have great potential to promote bilateral trade in many areas.
He said that Saudi Arabia considered Pakistan a very important brotherly country and will stand shoulder to shoulder with it in every critical situation.
He said that both the countries were facing some challenges and strong mutual cooperation was needed to cope with them. He added that Pakistani media should play a positive role in highlighting economic potential of their country.
Nawaf Saeed Al-Malkiy said this while addressing the business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Saudi Embassy Economic Affairs Director Abdullah Sabr was also present at the occasion.
The Saudi envoy said that business visa regime on both sides was a problem and he had already discussed this issue with the relevant authorities of both countries to liberalise it for businessmen. He added that Saudi Arabia was interested in CPEC and added that Pakistan should improve security, road infrastructure and facilities to attract foreign investment, including from Saudi Arabia.
He said that a lot of developmental projects were envisaged in Saudi Arabia under Vision 2030 and Pakistani investors should explore joint ventures and investment in his country. He added that after December 3, biometric verification for Pakistani umrah aspirants would be free for three months.
He also assured that his embassy would fully cooperate with Pakistani business community in visiting Saudi Arabia.
Speaking at the occasion, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Sheikh Amir Waheed said that cordial relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia should be translated into growing trade and economic relations as the bilateral trade of $2.5 billion was not reflective of their actual potential. He added that both the countries were doing trade in limited items and they should focus on diversification of trade to further enhance trade volume.
He said that many Pakistani products, including value-added textiles, surgical instruments, sports goods, organic foods, financial services, insurance and IT services and entertainment products could find a good market in Saudi Arabia and it should focus on importing these products from Pakistan. He said that given the manufacturing base of Pakistan, it has much more to offer to Saudi Arabia and efforts should be made to exploit the huge potential of bilateral trade lying unrealised between the two countries.
The chamber president also said that Pakistani manpower was playing a key role in the economic development of Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia should address all manpower related issues. He said Saudi investors should explore JVs and investment in CPEC.
ICCI Senior Vice President Muhammad Naveed and ICCI Vice President Nisar Mirza said that Pakistan was trying for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and hoped that signing of FTA would give a big boost to Pakistan’s trade with Saudi Arabia and the gulf. They added that Vision-2030 of Saudi Araba and CPEC also offered great potential for joint ventures and investment between the two countries.
They also highlighted that both countries should streamline business visas so that private sectors can fully exploit untapped business opportunities. They added that frequent exchange of trade delegations and organising exhibitions would help in improving trade relations.