ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC), after holding detailed deliberations for two days, drew a roadmap for future cooperation between the two countries to promote trade, investment, agriculture, education, culture and other economic and socio-economic sectors.
The closing ceremony of the 11th JMC session was co-chaired by Pakistan Commerce and Textile Minister Mohamamd Pervaiz Malik and Saudi Arabia Trade and Investment Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi.
Both the dignitaries also signed the protocol of the 11th JMC session.
Speaking on the occasion, Pervaiz Malik said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have always had close brotherly relations, rooted in cultural and religious bonds, and have always helped each other in hard times.
He expressed the hope that the JMC will pave way for new opportunities and highlighted the importance of boosting bilateral cooperation.
He said that Saudi Arabia has adopted vision 2030 which will open up new avenues of development in the country besides creating new jobs, urging Saudi Arabia to enhance job quota for Pakistan under this particular vision.
The minister said that Pakistan has also initiated China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which provides vast investment opportunities, urging Saudi Arabia to invest in this corridor.
Pervaiz further said that the bilateral trade between the two countries is currently just $2.5 billion which is far below the existing potential, stressing the need for promoting trade by diversification, enhancing business to business contacts and simplifying the visa process.
The minister was of the view that Pakistan offers attractive investment opportunities and as a result many international companies are launching joint ventures to tap this potential, urging Saudi Arabia to explore oil and gas, renewable energy and agriculture sectors for investment which provide lucrative incentives.
On the occasion, Saudi Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are not only brotherly countries but also strategic partners to overcome the challenges being faced by both countries. He said that 2030 vision will also help develop strategic relations between the two countries.
“There is a need to identify new opportunities besides overcoming existing challenges that create hurdles in doing business for enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries,” he added.
He also highlighted the importance of continued dialogue between the two countries.
On the proposal of Pervaiz Malik, both the ministers agreed to establish Joint Working Commission (JWC) of the two Commerce Ministries for the promotion of trade on fast-track basis.
Both the countries also agreed to hold exhibitions of new products in each other’s countries and the first single country exhibition of Pakistan will be held in the second half of 2018.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also agreed to review and simplify the procedure of business visa issuance and rationalisation of visa fees.
The commission called for reactivating Pak-Saudi Joint Business Council (JBC) by first quarter of 2018 followed by the first meeting of the council while Saudi Arabia will designate Commercial Attaché in Saudi Embassy to facilitate trade and business.
The Pakistani side stressed the need for cooperation between Saudi oil and gas companies to set up oil refineries in Pakistan.
Both the sides also agreed to expedite negotiations to finalise the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between their central banks besides agreeing on exchanging and sharing security information and the expertise in the field of combating terrorism, organised crimes and money-laundering.
A draft agreement on the transfer of sentenced prisoners is likely to be singed at an early date.
The commission also encouraged exchange of visits of officials from the media field and the exchange of television and cultural content to facilitate the mission of the official radio and television delegations of the two countries.
The Saudi side informed that there is a Saudi Royal Decree to establish a Labour Attaché in Pakistan and one of the mandates of this Attaché will be to get the labour training centers to train manpower in accordance with the Saudi requirement.
It was agreed to encourage cooperation in the fields of scientific research and exchange of scholarships and student visits between the two countries
The Pakistani side requested increasing scholarships for Pakistani students, studying in Saudi universities.
Pakistan also offered Saudi Civil Aviation training courses at Civil Aviation Training Institute, Hyderabad in the field of air traffic control, communication, navigation and surveillance engineering and aviation management.
Saudi Ministry of Health expressed the desire to continue the cooperation in the field of medicine by recruiting qualified and trained Pakistani medical personnel to work in the kingdom focusing on consultants, specialists, and nurses in critical healthcare.
For focused and regular liaison, both the sides agreed to nominate a focal person for cooperation in the fields of trade, energy, investment, education and agriculture.
