Iftikhar Malik on Friday said Pak-Saudi relations are historical and based on mutual interest and trust and the Saudi government always extended helping hands towards Pakistan at the time of crisis whether it was a grant of US 10 million dollars during the 2005 earthquake, $170 million during the 2010/11 floods, and $1.5 billion grant when Pakistan faced an economic crisis in 2014.
He further said the good thing is that Saudi Arabia is not giving loan but injecting investment around $2 billion to $3 billion in order to stabilize its foreign reserves position, currency and external balance sheet and about $9 billion into different projects.
He said that it would be in benefit of Pakistan if Saudi Arabia agreed to supply oil at concessionary rates which would mitigate pressure on the import bill to a large extent during the Crown Prince visit. "During the last fiscal year, 2017-18, the country's imports of petroleum stood at $13.27 billion, imported from different countries, including Saudi Arabia. "If Pakistan gets the oil at a deferred payment or at relaxed conditions the issue of the country's cash will be resolved," he added.
Malik suggested exploring avenues for exports to Saudi Arabia by ending tariff and non-tariff barriers that have decreased the trade of goods and services. "Despite holding great potential, bilateral trade between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is only $3.4 billion and largely in favour of Saudi Arabia. Pakistan imported $3.1 billion worth of goods from the Kingdom during the fiscal year 2017-18, while exports stood at $316.7 million, data shared by the State Bank of Pakistan showed," he pointed out.
He said at this juncture, we are able to build on the historic relationship by encouraging investors on both sides to make use of the business and cooperation opportunities. He also proposed having a dialogue with the business community in both the countries and make room for having more agreements to launch new initiatives.
He said Pakistan should try to win Saudi contracts for IT services to earn foreign exchange and explore new potential in agriculture to seek Saudi investment through joint ventures. "This area has potential to grow fast and create export surplus. Saudis investors can be lured for modern corporate farming in Pakistan to earn substantial profits," he added.
Iftikhar Malik said Saudi Arabia investment in the mega-project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be beneficial for both the countries. It would connect those parts of the world which had been no or less connectivity.