Plans to bring Saudi investment to Pakistan are obviously on the fast track. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has visited the kingdom twice in the last month, visiting the crown prince on both occasions, while the Saudi foreign minister visited Islamabad in April with other high-ranking officials. The most recent in this series of high-level exchanges was a two-day investment conference hosted in the federal capital, which concluded on Tuesday. The Saudi side was represented by the assistant minister for investment, who brought along a 50-person group representing 30 Saudi enterprises. Speaking at a reception for Arab tourists on Monday, Mr Sharif stated that bilateral economic transactions “worth billions of dollars” were nearing completion. When he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in early April, it was rumoured that Riyadh planned to invest $5 billion in Pakistan. During the recently finished conference, the Saudi assistant minister stated that his country saw Pakistan as a “high-priority economic investment and business opportunity”.
While $5 billion in Saudi money would not turn around Pakistan’s economy, such investments will send a message to the world that the country is open for business. For far too long, we have relied on foreign and multilateral loans and financial aid to keep the ship afloat, despite the fact that attracting foreign investment and increasing exports is a far more sustainable strategy for economic growth. Saudi Arabia appears to be an obvious candidate to lead this effort to attract foreign finance. Bilateral ties are long and strong, having withstood volatility. For decades, Pakistan has outsourced manpower to the kingdom while benefiting from the foreign exchange these workers send home. Furthermore, the House of Sharif has a tight ties with the House of Saud, which can be used to the benefit of both states. However, as previously stated in these columns, investment from Riyadh or any other foreign partner will be most beneficial to Pakistan when there is internal political concord and policy transparency. According to some rumours, the Saudi crown prince is expected to come in Pakistan over the next few days. The state should use the visit to cement previously agreed agreements so that work on the projects may begin in earnest.