President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday 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 the Saudi Armed Forces General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, who led a delegation, at the 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, a Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has been set up to serve as a one-window platform to fast-track decision-making and facilitate foreign direct investment. Expressing satisfaction at the current level of Pak-Saudi bilateral cooperation, the president said that the high-level exchanges of military leadership of the two countries, would further boost defence cooperation.
Alvi said he was highly impressed by the vision of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman that led to the normalisation of relations between the Kingdom and Iran, which he said, was essential to bring peace and prosperity to the region.
He said Saudi Arabia always supported Pakistan at difficult times and emphasized that the brotherly countries enjoyed excellent relations in various fields and had commonality of views on various regional and international issues. He thanked the Saudi leadership for providing financial support to Pakistan to help deal with its economic challenges. The president lauded the role of Saudi Arabia on the platform of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in highlighting the plight of the Muslims in Palestine, Kashmir and Afghanistan.
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 the beginning and called for further improvement in their bilateral ties.
He said the Saudi Vision 2030 would bring prosperity to the neighbouring countries and to the Islamic world.
Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf Bin Saeed Al-Malki also attended the meeting.
