Saudi Arabia agrees more Pakistan investment deals By Neil Halligan October 31, 2024, 6:29 PM Lev Radin/Pacific Press via ZUMA Press Wire Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan, thanked Saudi Arabia for its support 34 agreements signed Five already ‘creating value’ $7 billion IMF bailout Saudi Arabia has signed seven more investment agreements with Pakistan, bringing the total value of what has been agreed in recent weeks to $2.8 billion, Saudi Arabia’s minister of investment Khalid Al-Falih said on Wednesday. Three weeks ago Al-Falih led a delegation from Saudi Arabia to Islamabad, where 27 investment agreements, valued at $2.2 billion, were signed during the three-day visit. During a TV broadcast of a meeting with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Riyadh on Wednesday, Al-Falih said that seven more agreements have been signed, worth an estimated $600 million, which could rise further when the detail of each agreement is ironed out and assigned a final valuation. “I mentioned at that time, during various events, that this is only the beginning. And to prove that, here we are two or three weeks later, and I’d like to announce that that number has gone from 27 MoUs [memoranda of understanding] and agreements to 34,” Al-Falih said. The agreements involve industry, agriculture, finance, information technology, food, education, mining and minerals, healthcare, petroleum and energy sectors. Five of the agreements dating back to three weeks ago are already “operational, working, financed funding and creating value for the companies from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia”, Al-Falih said. “We have a Saudi investor who has acquired land and assets and will be building an integrated medical complex [in Pakistan],” Al-Falih added. Cash-strapped Pakistan last month secured a $7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to boost the country’s struggling economy. Saudi Arabia to invest $2bn in Pakistan’s economy Saudi Arabia targets stake in Pakistan’s $6.5bn mining project Regional conflict eroding investment openings, Saudis warn Saudi Arabia, the UAE and China rolled over their loans to support the bailout. Pakistan holds $12 billion in bilateral loans from the three countries, which have been extended over the past few years. The IMF said in September that Pakistan has received “significant financing assurances” from China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE that go beyond the bilateral loans owed to them. Sharif said he thanked the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for Saudi Arabia’s support “without which we wouldn’t have been able to achieve IMF programme [support]”. “Hopefully this will be the last IMF programme Pakistan will be seeking and thereafter through our hard work and efforts … Pakistan will be marching towards economic progress and prosperity,” Sharif said. Pakistan has secured more than 20 IMF loans in nearly 70 years and is currently its fourth-largest debtor behind Argentina, Ukraine and Egypt.
