All eyes are on the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Pakistan. He will arrive with a 40-member delegation and a contingent of royal guards in his first state visit to the country since he became Crown Prince in 2017.
According to the Foreign Office, the visit will see Pakistan and Saudi Arabia sign a number of agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in diverse sectors.
The two countries will also discuss ways to develop a robust follow-up mechanism to ensure effective implementation and quick progress on tangible areas of cooperation during the visit that is expected to significantly enhance bilateral ties in all spheres.
TRADE-OFFS
According to reports, a $20 billion worth of investment will be made in Pakistan during the visit of MBS, as he is popularly known. Three government-to-government MoUs worth billions of dollars will be signed. Those agreements will include areas such as oil refining, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and mineral development. In addition, eight multibillion-dollar MoUs will also be signed in the fields of water, power, investment, finance, renewable energy, internal security, media, culture and sports.
A preferential trade agreement and easing of procedures for business visas for Pakistanis will be proposed to Saudi Arabia as part of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision for carrying out economic reforms.
A Joint Coordination Council headed by Imran and MBS will also devise a mechanism to implement bilateral agreements, and the duo will co-chair meetings on various joint working groups on trade and investment.
CROWN PRINCE’S AGENDA
On MBS’s agenda are meetings with President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Saudi ministers will hold bilateral talks with their Pakistani counterparts in their respective fields.
Top Saudi businessmen, including the CEO of Aramco, will also meet local businessmen and industrialists to discuss collaboration in the private sector.
The crown prince will leave the country on Sunday afternoon for India, China, Malaysia and Indonesia and hold similar meetings there to further strengthen the Saudi plan to enhance collaboration in different fields that is likely to transform the Middle Eastern.
ROYAL DAZZLE
As part of the preparation to welcome the Saudi Royal and his delegation, 750 rooms in eight hotels have been booked while seven BMW 7s, a Land Cruiser and eight containers have arrived in Pakistan from Saudi Arabia.
The luxury vehicles were carried to the Noor Khan Airbase by two C-130 planes. The Crown Prince will be flown to the PM House from the airbase on a chopper. His personal belongings such as furniture and gym equipment have already been flown in and transported to PM House where he will stay.
Pakistan has reserved 300 Land Cruisers for the Saudi delegation as well. A five-tier VVIP security plan has been devised for the delegation. Over 2,000 police and Rangers personnel have been deployed as part of the security arrangements.
Drones, if spotted, will be shot down immediately after coming into sight in the capital. The Red Zone and its adjoining areas will be sealed.
According to reports, some 123 Saudi Royal Guards will be on duty for the security of MBS during his visit to the federal capital. A red carpet will be rolled out in the PM Office, where the Crown Prince will receive a guard of honour.
A MODERNISER
Seen as a leader who snapped Saudi Arabia’s conservative roots, MBS has won plaudits from global leaders for some of the reforms he has overseen, including lifting the ban on women driving and seeking to diversify the Saudi economy.
Besides being the youngest defence minister in the world and the first in line to the throne, MBS is also Saudi Arabia’s deputy prime minister. Since assuming the role of Crown Prince, he has been working for the Kingdom’s socioeconomic transformation.
He is the architect of a wide-ranging plan for social and economic reforms known as Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to diversify the economy of the Kingdom and reduce its reliance on oil.
Among the reforms envisaged in the Vision 2030 plan are the reopening of cinemas and allowing women to attend concerts and other entertainment events. The Crown Prince’s Vision 2030 reform plan also seeks to elevate women to nearly one-third of the workforce, up from the current 22 per cent.
The Kingdom has witnessed several unprecedented developments since MBS began implementing his reform plans. In a bid to ensure transparency in the financial system to promote international investments, Saudi Arabia launched a drive to root out corruption from society without discrimination.
Moreover, MBS’s history of philanthropic initiatives has earned him many accolades. In 2011, he established the Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Foundation (MiSK), which enables young Saudis to learn, develop and progress in the fields of business, literature, culture, science and technology, and sociology.
In 2013, he received the Personality of the Year from Forbes Middle East for his role as Chairman of the MiSK Foundation in recognition of his support for Saudi youth and their development. He was also named as World’s Most Powerful People by Forbes in 2018.
In recent years, the crown prince has become the government’s face of reform, modernisation and change. In a country where about 60 per cent of the population is under 30 years of age, the young crown prince is widely seen as an icon in the push toward socioeconomic reforms.
