May 01, 2022 (MLN): Saudi Arabia affirmed its continuous support to Pakistan and its economy including the discussion of augmenting a $3 billion deposit with the central bank through term extension or otherwise, and exploring options to further enhance the financing of petroleum products and supporting the economic structural reforms for the benefit of Pakistan, a joint statement issued on Sunday said.
To note, last year, Saudi Arabia deposited $3 billion in the State Bank of Pakistan (SB) to help support its foreign reserves.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani side welcomed the Kingdom’s decision to extend the agreement to finance exports of crude oil products and oil derivatives.
The two countries agreed to explore ways of joint cooperation in a number of fields, including innovative uses of hydrocarbons, electricity, clean technologies for hydrocarbon resources, energy efficiency, localization of the energy sector products & supplying the chains associated with it, working on the renewable energy projects & developing such projects through various sources such as solar and wind energy, in addition to considering partnership opportunities in these sectors.
In the bilateral context, the two sides stressed the importance of strengthening work through the Saudi-Pakistani Supreme Coordination Council, diversifying trade exchange between the two brotherly countries and intensifying communication between the private sector in the two countries in order to discuss trade and investment opportunities and turn them into tangible partnerships.
They also agreed to join efforts to develop the investment environment in the two countries and support a number of investment sectors of common interest. The two sides stressed the importance of strengthening and developing cooperation in the industrial and mining sectors to serve their strategic interests in accordance with the vision of the leadership of the two countries which aims at further enhancing the cooperation between both countries.
The statement came after a visit by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia, where he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
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