RIYADH, 1 March — The board of directors of Saudi Pak Industrial and Agricultural Investment Co. (Pvt.) Ltd. has approved a total financing of Rs. 377 million to the companies in manufacturing and financial sectors.
This will facilitate expansion of existing production facilities and creation of additional capacities.
This decision was taken at Saudi Pak’s board meeting held here under the chairmanship of Dr. Abdullah Al-Thenayan, who is also the director-general of Arab Company for Livestock Development in Riyadh.
Muhammad Anwar, secretary, Saudi Pak, said after the board meeting that the company, a Saudi-Pakistani joint venture, earned a net profit of Rs. 177.2 million last year compared to Rs. 155.7 million in 2000.
The board also recommended distribution of cash dividend worth Rs. 140 million to the shareholder — the ninth such distribution since the company’s inception.
The board reviewed the company’s operating performance for the year ended December 31,2001 and expressed satisfaction on all the key areas of operations.
During the period Saudi Pak approved financing of Rs. 2,315 million as against Rs. 1,390 million in 2000, resulting in a net increase of 66.5 percent over the preceding year.
The company achieved record recoveries of Rs. 1,292.6 million during 2001 as against Rs. 1,214.8 million in 2000.
The overall collection ratio improved to 93.5 percent in 2001 from 93.3 percent in 2000.
Anwar said Saudi Pak has been playing an important role in promoting trade relations between the people of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
“It is committed to accelerate industrial development in Pakistan by providing loans and investment facilities to industrial projects sponsored by the private sector.
Its financing is spread over all the key economic sectors, including chemicals, engineering, textile, cement, communications, etc.”
The projects financed by Saudi Pak are located throughout the country.
The paid-up capital of the company is Rs. 2 billion held in equal proportion by the Saudi and Pakistani governments, he added.