Pakistani investors take ties to new heights

The $2 billion investment made by a group of 500 members in the Pakistan Investors Forum in the Saudi capital is an indication that Saudi-Pak trade ties have taken a new turn.
This was stated by Pakistan Ambassador Muhammad Naeem Khan as he delivered his keynote address during an oath-taking ceremony for the newly elected officials of Pakistan Investors Forum in Riyadh.
The event was attended by officials from SAGIA and banks, in addition to officials from the Ministries of Interior and Labor and airlines.
“Pakistanis have made tremendous contribution to the growth of today’s Saudi Arabia by working in the fields of construction, engineering, medicine, manufacturing, information technology and consultancy services. There’s hardly a project in the Kingdom that doesn’t have a Pakistani imprint on it,” said Khan, observing that the local population holds his countrymen in high esteem due to this phenomenon.
He noted that Saudi Arabia is a peninsula of stability in a turbulent region and that Pak-Saudi bilateral ties went “beyond normal diplomacy,” adding that cordial and brotherly relations between the two states existed at both the government and popular level.
He stressed that Pakistani businessmen enjoyed the advantage of being familiar with the culture, language and societal norms of the Kingdom and that this gave them bigger opportunities of establishing themselves as successful entrepreneurs in the country.
Khan advised the forum to establish a fully equipped secretariat in Riyadh and expand its sphere of activity to other Saudi cities.
"Saudi Arabia is a lucrative market, which is open to a large number of business activities,” Khan asserted, observing that the Pakistan Investors Forum could play an effective conduit between the two countries and tap into opportunities to promote commercial activity.
The ambassador disclosed that the second meeting of the Joint Ministerial Commission would take place in Riyadh, adding that trade delegations headed by the ministers of trade of both sides will take part.
Earlier, the ambassador administered the oath of office to newly elected Chairman Khalid Mahmood Chaudhay, President Mohammad Asghar Qureshi, General Secretary Khalid Raja and Finance Secretary Bashir Ahmad Chaudhary.
Ahsan Rasheed, a member of the executive committee, gave a brief overview of the history and the objectives of the forum. He said that the organization has today a membership of 500 companies and made investments to the tune of SR2 billion in multifarious public and private projects.
Forum Chairman Chaudhary, a founding member, paid tribute to SAGIA for allowing foreign investors to operate and for effectively supervising trade activity in the Kingdom.
Qureshi spelled out the objectives of the forum in his speech and said that he would not only encourage bilateral visits by entrepreneurs of the two states but also endeavor to increase two-way trade.
The proceeding began with a recitation of the Holy Quran by Rana Abdurrauf.