PM Shehbaz vows blanket support to Saudi investment in Pakistan

• It is not govt’s job to do businesses, says PM Shehbaz.
• Saudi investors could earn profits from various projects: PM.
• "KSA always stood with Pakistan through thick and thin." 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has assured his government’s blanket support to the Saudi investment, enabling the investors and businessmen to accomplish their future projects in Pakistan expeditiously with joint ventures and replicate them within a short time for the mutual benefit of the people of both countries.

Addressing a dinner gathering hosted in the honour of a visiting delegation of Saudi Arabia on Monday, the premier said that time waited for none and stressed that they should overcome the challenges if they really wanted to make use of this opportunity as the Saudi leadership and their leading investors and business people wanted to help Pakistan.

PM Shehbaz reiterated that it was not the government’s job to do business but it had to offer policy frameworks, act as catalyst and remove all the hurdles for the speedy achievement of economic targets.

He said that the government had resolved and was committed to removing all the bureaucratic hurdles and red tape in the way of foreign investment.

Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, federal ministers, Saudi ambassador in Pakistan, members of the delegation and senior officials were present during the event.

The prime minister said that the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was a very robust and all-encompassing vehicle to attain all those projects in the interest of the people of Pakistan and the Saudi investors, leading to further strengthening of mutual cooperation and partnership.

The SIFC is a model acceptable to the Saudi delegation and they are fully satisfied with the existing opportunities, he observed.

The prime minister said that from diverse projects, the Saudi investors could earn profits and if they provided them a mechanism free of troubles, bureaucratic hurdles and red tape, then the sky would be the limit.

PM Shehbaz expressed his satisfaction with the solid and tangible progress achieved during the delegation’s interaction with the Pakistani counterparts.

He said that shortly, they would witness solid agreements worth billions of dollars in investment.

Recalling his visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during Ramadan, the prime minister termed his meeting Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman as “a wonderful interaction and he was extremely encouraged and deeply impressed with his forward-looking vision that transformed KSA in many ways to come, whether it was in agriculture, education, IT, communication and infrastructure, youth empowerment and all inclusive-policies”.

The crown prince’s dynamic and visionary leadership placed KSA among the most progressive societies in the world, the fastest growing economy with the latest infrastructure, transport facilities, provision of jobs and progress in every sphere of life which was phenomenal, he added.

The prime minister also said that the Saudi delegation interacted with the Pakistani counterparts which would further enhance the bonds of brotherhood and friendship and transform into new heights.

“The KSA always stood with Pakistan through thick and thin and in different times. If we thank them, we can’t for their generosity for the last seven decades,” he added.

Saudi Assistant Minister for Investment Ibrahim Al Mubarak, on the occasion, thanked the prime minister for warmly hosting them.

He said that their visit was a testimony to their deep friendship and "strategic partnership which is very important", adding under their leadership’s directives, they moved swiftly to explore partnership with Pakistan.

He also lauded the response of the private sector that interacted with them, adding that the relationship between the "two brotherly countries is very strong" and both countries could achieve shared economic objectives together.