JEDDAH, 22 October — Pakistan’s Minister of Finance Shaukat Aziz yesterday said that Saudi Arabia is well-known for its economic power emanating from its position as the largest oil producing country. It is equally reputed for having the world’s finest communication and transport infrastructure with a great deal of its oil revenues allocated for national construction and development of economy and welfare of its people. This was stated by him as a guest in his keynote speech in a symposium on the "Future Vision of Saudi Economy" held at Riyadh yesterday. According to a press release by the Pakistani Consulate General in Jeddah, Shaukat appreciated the positive trends in the Saudi economy and added that there are noticeable trends indicating rising share of non-oil sector in the composition of Saudi Arabia’s GDP as well as greater role of the private sector in the development of Saudi economy. Talking about the role of WTO and IFIs, Shaukat said the future role of financial and investment services sector in evolving the environment will not be complete without the mention of the role of WTO and IFIs. WTO is promoting free trade in goods and services including financial and investment services.
