RIYADH: Islamabad has proposed to set up a trade mission in Dammam, while the Riyadh-based embassy now has a full-fledged commercial section headed by a senior officer, said Pakistan’s Ambassador Shahid Karimullah here on Saturday.
Speaking at a farewell function organized by the Pakistan Investors’ Forum (PIF) in his honor, the ambassador urged foreign and domestic entrepreneurs to invest in Pakistan. The event also marked the release of PIF Business Directory.
Referring to the Pakistan International School Riyadh (PISR), Karimullah said, “PISR has become the first embassy-run school out of several dozens foreign schools in the capital city to own a building in its name. PISR owns the land as well as the building in which the PISR Girls Section will be moving first.”
Speaking at the event, PIF member Tariq M. Soomro said, “The PIF, set up some four years ago, has emerged as a major business networking platform that will go a long way in boosting business relations between the Kingdom and Pakistan.”
Referring to the cumulative investment made by the PIF members in Saudi Arabia, PIF General Secretary Shamshad Siddiqui said, "The 56 Pakistani investors enlisted in this directory alone have stakes worth SR900 million in Saudi Arabia." Siddiqui, who edited the PIF directory, lauded the efforts of the ambassador for establishing an exhibition center for Pakistani products and services inside the chancery.
On the trade front, Siddiqui said that two-way trade exceeded SR6 billion last year, indicating a massive leap compared to figures a year before. In terms of investment, he pointed out that the Samba Financial Group has completed official procedures to purchase a 68 percent stake in the Crescent Commercial Bank of Pakistan.
