"The most important part of these agreements was that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was directly supervising these business agreements and it was for the first time that private sector was given the opportunity to lead in devising business deals," said President FPCCI Engineer Daroo Khan Achakzai.
Flanked with senior leaders of FPCCI including Mirza Ikhtiar Baig and others, Daroo Khan said that the agreement for technical cooperation is the key to success of these MoUs.
He said that Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) and Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organisation (SASO) will cooperate with each other so that standards of Pakistani goods and services could be raised for exports to Saudi Arabia.
He said that the visit of the Saudi crown prince has not only added to image building of Pakistan but the various MoUs with business community of that country has also given a boost to international investors in the Pakistan.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig welcomed the establishment of 20-member Saudi-Pak Joint Business Council, having ten members from each side. The first meeting of the Saudi-Pak Joint Business Council will be held next month. They demanded that there is a need to reduce high mark-up rates.
The FPCCI leaders said that Pakistan has a strong base in industrial, agricultural as well as research sectors but there was a need for modernisation and investments to compete in changing global environment.
"Though Pakistan allows investments on 100 percent ownership but we expect that there will be joint ventures with Saudi business community as they too are seeking to broaden their economy and also want to enter the agricultural based businesses," Malik said.