Islamabad:
After the recent Historical Defense Agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the Federal Government has constituted a high -level committee of 18 members to give a new impulse and direction to the bilateral economic relationship.
According to an official notification, the Committee will lead the economic negotiations between the two countries under the framework of the Economic Association of Arabia of Pakistan-Saudita. The decision was announced after a high -level review meeting held on October 3.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved the training of the Committee, which will supervise dialogue and coordination under the economic framework of Pakistan-Saudi.
The agency includes federal ministers, as well as superior representatives of the Bolsa and Securities Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Federal Income Board (FBR) and the Pakistan Embassy in Riyat.
The Committee will be co -chaired by the Federal Minister for Climate Change Musadik Malik and the National Coordinator of the National Council for Special Investment Facilitation (SIFC) LT Gen (RETD) Sarfraz Ahmad.
Other members include the Minister of Economic Affairs Ahad Chema, Minister of Commerce Jam Kamal, Minister of Energy Awais Leghari, Minister of Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister of Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister of Communications Abdul Aleem Khan, president of SECP AKIF SAEED, deputy Bank of the State Dr inyayat Hussain.
According to the notification, co -chants will form central negotiation teams to interact with their Saudi counterparts. Committee members must guarantee their availability as of October 6, so that the dialogue process can start quickly.
The formation of the committee reflects the expanding scope of the cooperation of Pakistan -Saudi, which now extends beyond defense and energy to include climate change and environmental sustainability.
The prime minister’s office has instructed the committee to accelerate negotiations with Saudi Arabia and ensure that all members remain available from October 6 onwards. He has also ordered that travel approvals related to Saudi Arabia are processed within an hour of submitting the application.
The notification also establishes that the SFC will send the travel and logistics recommendations for the members of the committee to the Prime Minister’s office, which will approve them within the same day, preferably within an hour.
The Committee is also empowered to co -opt additional members as necessary, while the SIFC will provide secretariat support. According to the notification, the Committee will present a performance report to Prime Minister every 15 days.
The sources said that Pakistan is expected to renew their proposal for repurchased investments of Saudi Arabia in the oil and agriculture sectors during the next conversations. Islamabad will also seek to improve Pakistani exports to the kingdom, since the current commercial deficit of around $ 3 billion remains in favor of Saudi Arabia.
Discussions are also expected to include the delayed oil refinery project for a long time, which has remained stagnant for almost a decade. The sources added that it is likely that Shehbaz Sharif will make an official visit to Saudi Arabia at the end of this month, where several key economic agreements are expected to end.
On September 17, the Saudi heir prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed a historical pact of security and defense: the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA).
According to this agreement, both countries promised to treat any act of aggression against one as an act against both, a pact that some people described as mini-ootan of this region.
