International

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia set to ink MoUs worth $10 billion in February: Report

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are likely to sign memorandum of understanding for more than $10 billion Saudi investment in Pakistan this month, reported the Dawn.

Pakistan will also sign similar MoUs with China, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia over the next two months, the report added.

Finance Minister of Pakistan Asad Umar was quoted as saying that Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz would visit Pakistan next month and most of the MoUs were expected to be signed during his trip.

The report also quoted the Board of Investment (BoI) Chairman Haroon Sharif said Saudi Arabia was interested in Pakistan’s four sectors — oil refinery, petrochemicals, renewable energy and mining. “We are expecting $10bn plus Saudi investment and the MoUs to be signed in this regard will not be common or vague but concrete agreements,” he added.

The $10bn investment will be in addition to the $6bn bailout package given by Riyadh to Islamabad during Prime Minister Khan’s visit to Saudi Arabia in October last year. “According to a survey, 65 per cent of the investments will take place in the country’s commercial hub Karachi and 35pc in Lahore. Therefore, better law and order situation and ease-of-doing-business opportunities were prerequisite for foreign investment,” the BoI chairman added.

Earlier, Arab News reported that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of a multi-billion dollar Saudi Aramco oil refinery in Gwadar.

 

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