Pakistan, Saudi Arabia investors launch fund to boost trade, investment
A joint council of Saudi Arabian and Pakistani investors launched a private equity fund on Monday as part of the countries’ wider push to deepen two-way private sector trade and investment.
The Saudi-Pakistan Joint Business Council, formed by the governments of both countries, said the fund’s initial size is “multi-hundred million”, which is expected to expand based on opportunities across sectors.
Three-fourths of the fund will be invested in Pakistan, while the rest will be invested in Saudi Arabian projects, the council said in a statement.
The launch of the fund comes at a time when Islamabad and Riyadh are deepening longstanding ties, especially in defence, amid few signs of a breakthrough in the months-long US-Iran conflict.
The development follows a series of high-level engagements between the two countries aimed at expanding economic cooperation.
In October, Saudi-Pakistan Joint Business Council Chairman Prince Mansour bin Mohammad Al Saud visited Pakistan with a high-level business delegation. The delegation met political leaders, senior government officials, chambers of commerce and business groups to explore opportunities for expanding bilateral trade and investment.
Earlier, in August, Prince Mansour met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister’s House, where the two sides discussed avenues for expanding economic cooperation.
During the meeting, the Saudi delegation expressed interest in investment opportunities in Pakistan’s agriculture, ports, highways, airport outsourcing, real estate, energy, power distribution and information technology sectors.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also agreed in August to increase Pakistani agricultural and food exports to the kingdom to $3 billion.
Earlier in June, Pakistan invited Saudi investors to participate in the construction of the long-delayed Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) and two other major highway projects. The M-6 is expected to provide uninterrupted motorway connectivity between Karachi Port and Peshawar, with the network extending towards Gilgit.