ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi said Pakistan highly valued its relations with Saudi Arabia and was committed to enhancing bilateral economic, investment and defence ties.

Talking to visiting Chief of General Staff of Saudi Armed Forces General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, who led delegation here at Aiwan-e-Sadr, he said Pakistan was looking for investment from Saudi Arabia and other countries in diverse fields.

President Alvi mentioned that Pakistan had huge potential in four key sectors including agriculture, information technology, energy and mining. In this regard, Special Investment Facilitation Council has been set up to serve as one-window platform to fast-track decision-making and facilitate foreign direct investment.

Expressing satisfaction at existing level of Pak-Saudi bilateral cooperation, President said that high-level exchanges of military leadership of two countries would further boost defence cooperation.

Alvi said he was highly impressed by vision of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman that led to normalisation of relations between Kingdom and Iran, which he said, was essential to bring peace and prosperity to region.

He said Saudi Arabia always supported Pakistan at difficult times and emphasised that brotherly countries enjoyed excellent relations in various fields and had commonality of views on various regional and international issues.

He thanked Saudi leadership for providing financial support to Pakistan to help it deal with its economic challenges. He asked General Fayyadh bin Hamed to convey his warm regards to Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoyed close ties in various fields since beginning and called for further improvement in their bilateral ties. He said Kingdom's vision 2030 would bring prosperity to neighbouring countries and to Islamic world. Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf Bin Saeed Al-Malki attended meeting.

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 23 2023

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.