KINGDOM of Saudi Arabia has always proved to be a dependable and trustworthy partner for Pakistan.
It is indeed a friend which has always stood by us in difficult times. From the chapters of history one may quote many instances where the KSA withstood with Pakistan in the hour of trial and vice versa.
This indicates the relationship is deep rooted in the hearts of the peoples of the two countries
The latest direction by Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammad Bin Salman to the Saudi Development Fund to study increasing the investment portfolio for Pakistan to ten billion dollars as well as foreign exchange deposits with its central bank to five billion dollars has come a day after his meeting with Chief of Army Staff Syed Asim Munir.
This is once again a clear manifestation of the empathy and love that the Saudi leadership has for Pakistan.
The people of Pakistan also accord respect to them for being custodian of two holy mosques and their relentless support to us during the difficult hour.
Mohammad Bin Salman has really proved himself a true friend of Pakistani people as his latest announcement has come at a very critical juncture when Pakistan is faced with serious financial crunch and its foreign exchange reserves have dwindled below five billion dollars which are not sufficient to meet the imports of one month.
The Saudi announcement will help our authorities to convince the IMF to complete its ninth review without tough conditions which will also open inflows of dollars from other financial institutions as well such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
This will help us pay back the foreign external liabilities and avert the threat of default in the short term.
The Saudi investment portfolio will help the country to stabilize the economy. Certainly there is immense potential of cooperation between the two countries in multiple sectors including petrochemical, mining, agriculture and so on and these can be exploited for mutual benefit.
Maximum facilitation should be extended to the Saudi authorities for the realization of the investment portfolio at the earliest.
This will prove to be a pull factor and encourage more investment from the Gulf and other regions.
Promoting investment is the way through which can address most of our economic woes and can generate economic activity which is important to provide jobs to the youth.
