The Pakistan government has urged its Saudi-based expatriate businesspeople to invest in their country’s energy sector.

“The government is placing special importance on the energy sector. We will support the investors and protect their investments,” said Ahsan Iqbal, federal minister for planning and development, during the recent visit of Saudi-based Pakistani entrepreneurs to the Vision Pakistan 2025 conference in Islamabad.

Iqbal spelled out the objectives of the conference and said all sectors of Pakistan including the private sector, academia and civil society should work with government to boost the country’s economy.

Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain had a lunch meeting with the Pakistan Investors Forum Riyadh (PIF) team that included the body’s chairman Khalid Mehmood Chaudhary, its president Asghar Qureshi, and Riyadh-based Pakistani entrepreneurs Chaudhary Faryad, Amjad Saddiqui and Shamshad Ali Siddiqui.

“It’s good to find the investors back home. The business community will only come forward if there is energy and security and a one-window operation facility available.”

The total number of Pakistani workers deployed in the Kingdom over the last eight years. Pakistani expatriates in the Kingdom sent home $55 billion over the last five years, averaging $11 billion yearly since 2008.

According to the Pakistan government, there are around 7 million Pakistanis living abroad with the vast majority in the Middle East, Europe and North America.

According to the PIF, there are an estimated 500 Pakistani companies registered with the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) doing business worth SR5 billion in the Kingdom.

The PIF has contributed to the Saudi economy in construction, engineering, medicine, manufacturing, information technology and consultancy services.