ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said that owing to their
complementarities in the socioeconomic fundamentals, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030
provided opportunities to Pakistan to engage with Saudi Arabia in realizing Naya
Pakistan’s ambitious plan.
“I must say that there are significant complementarities in the socio-economic
fundamentals of the “Naya Pakistan” and the Saudi Vision 2030. Both lay
emphasis on economic opportunity and diversity, domestic growth, modernization
and development, and trade linkages and connectivity,” the prime minister said in
an interview with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Riyadh newspaper published Sunday.
The prime minister said Pakistan could contribute manpower; both skilled and
semi-skilled besides sharing its expertise in other sectors like IT, infrastructure
development, and agriculture.
He said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had historically enjoyed long-standing fraternal
ties, rooted deep in common faith, shared history and mutual support. Both
countries have stood by each other, through thick and thin, regardless of the change
in leadership.
“We never had the reason to reposition our relations with Saudi Arabia in the wake
of regional or international developments – in the past as well in as contemporary
times. Relations between the two countries have withstood the test of time,” he
remarked.
Imran Khan said both the countries had a special bond for seven decades now.
“It is now our earnest desire to transform this relationship into a deep, diverse and
mutually beneficial strategic partnership. We are now working to consolidate
historical gains by exploring new and non-conventional areas of cooperation. We
want our trade relations and investment cooperation to be commensurate with
excellent political relations,” he said.
He said during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, he had the opportunity to attend the
first Saudi-Pakistan Investment Forum wherein he stressed the importance of
engaging the private and corporate sectors of the two countries to realize the
untapped potential in the fields of trade, business and investment.
“I am confident that the Investment Forum would usher in a new dynamism in our
investment cooperation.”
To a question, he commended the Saudi leadership for introducing reforms in
various sectors under Vision 2030.
During the recent visit, he said the two countries had discussed ways to strengthen
and enhance economic and trade relations by exploring areas of investment and
opportunities available under Vision 2030 and Pakistan’s development priorities
emanating from a shift from geopolitics to geo-economics.
Regarding the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit on Climate Change, he
said it clearly demonstrated the commitment of the Saudi leadership to take
tangible steps for effectively tackling the challenge of Climate Change.
