RIYADH: A free trade agreement between the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and Pakistan is to be signed before March, and once it is signed, the current annual Saudi-Pak bilateral trade figure of $456 million is expected to almost double by the end of the year. “After evicting the Taleban from Swat and Buner, our security forces have gained control of almost 95 percent of the volatile northwest region of Waziristan,” said Omar Khan Ali Sherzai, Pakistani ambassador.
He advised expatriate Pakistanis to invest in their own country, and underlined the fact that greater risks ensured higher profits. Responding to a request, Sherzai said that he would look into the possibility of moving the premises of embassy’s commercial section onto a suitable location in the city and increasing its staff.
“Our bilateral trade figures for 2009 showed an increase of 20 percent over those of the previous year, but they still fell far short of what some other countries with much less population and fewer resources than ours achieved,” he noted. The larger commercial section will have deeper access to the local market, he said.
Sherzai also promised to provide Pakistani businessmen with a corporate lawyer at the embassy. “It is quite inconvenient for traders to travel to Riyadh from other areas and go about looking for legal services,” he noted, adding that language differences can also pose problems. He disclosed that Pakistani industrialists had injected $1,400 million in various projects in the Kingdom, and noted that he felt the need of a protocol between the two countries in order to ensure financial guarantees for each other’s investors.