By Habib Toumi
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have agreed to launch an Economic Cooperation Framework, based on the two countries’ shared economic interests.
In a joint statement that followed the meeting between Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of the ninth annual Future Investment Initiative (FII9) Conference, in Riyadh., the two countries also affirmed their mutual keenness to strengthen trade and investment to serve their common interests.
According to the statement, the framework is based on the two countries’ shared economic interests and reaffirms their mutual desire to strengthen trade and investment relations to serve their common interests.
As part of the framework, several strategic and high-impact projects will be discussed in the economic, trade, investment, and development fields that will contribute to strengthening cooperation between the two governments, enhancing the pivotal role of the private sector, and increasing trade exchange between the two countries, the statement said.
Priority sectors include energy, industry, mining, information technology, tourism, agriculture, and food security. Both sides are currently studying several joint economic projects, including signing a memorandum of understanding for the electricity interconnection project between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, in addition to signing a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of energy between the two nations.
“This framework represents an extension of both countries’ efforts to strengthen their fraternal relations and reaffirms their shared vision toward building a sustainable partnership across various economic, trade, and investment fields — in a manner that fulfils the aspirations of their leaderships and the brotherly peoples of both nations, and serves their mutual interests,” the statement said.
