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Saudi Investments to Aid Cash-Strapped Pakistan

by AFP

Fayez Nureldine—AFP

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expected to sign several major investment deals during an as-yet-unconfirmed visit to Islamabad

A record investment package being prepared by Saudi Arabia for Pakistan will likely provide welcome relief for its cash-strapped Muslim ally, while also addressing regional geopolitical challenges, analysts say.

At the heart of the investment is a reported $10 billion refinery and oil complex in the strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea, the ultimate destination for the massive multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which lies not far from the Indo-Iranian port of Chabahar.

Two Saudi sources have confirmed to AFP that heir apparent to the Gulf kingdom’s throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will visit Islamabad shortly, without giving a date. And a number of major investment deals are expected to be signed during a visit, officials from both countries have told AFP.

Riyadh and Islamabad, decades-old allies, have been involved for months in talks to hammer out details of the deals in time for the high-profile visit.

“The outcome of the talks so far has been very positive and this is going to be one of the biggest-ever Saudi investments in Pakistan,” a Pakistani senior finance ministry official told AFP. “We hope that an agreement to this effect will be signed during the upcoming visit of the Saudi crown prince to Pakistan,” said the official, requesting anonymity.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Islamabad’s biggest trading partner in the Middle East, have offered Prime Minister Imran Khan some $30 billion in investment and loans.

At the World Government Summit in Dubai on Sunday, Khan said investors were looking into projects in Pakistan. “We are trying to improve all of our economic policies. We are trying to cut down on our fiscal deficit. We are trying to improve exports, cut down on imports,” Khan said. “But in my opinion, Pakistan now has a chance. Already we are seeing optimism. Investors are coming to our country.”

Riyadh’s investments are expected to provide a lifeline for Pakistan’s slumping economy, which was downgraded in early February by S&P ratings agency from a B to a B-, Saudi economist Fadhl al-Bouenain said.

“Saudi investment to Pakistan comes within an economic aid package aimed at relieving the stress of external debt and a shortage of foreign currency, besides boosting the sluggish economy,” Bouenain told AFP.

The OPEC heavyweight also aims to achieve strategic and commercial goals with investments in infrastructure and refinery projects, he said.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf partner, the U.A.E., have already deposited $3 billion each in Pakistan’s central bank to help resolve a balance of payments crisis and shore up its declining rupee. They have also reportedly deferred some $6 billion in oil imports payments as Islamabad has so far failed to secure fresh loans from the International Monetary Fund.

Khan has already visited Riyadh twice since taking office in July and in October attended a prestigious investment conference widely boycotted by other political and economic figures after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Khan also visited Saudi rivals Qatar and Turkey, as well as China, seeking investments.

“One of the goals for Saudi Arabia expanding investments in refining worldwide is to secure market share and sustainable exports in the face of international competition,” Bouenain said.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih visited Gwadar in January and inspected the site for the proposed oil refinery at the deep sea port, just 70 kilometers away from its Iranian competitor, Chabahar. He was quoted by local media as saying the kingdom was studying plans to construct a $10 billion refinery and petrochemicals complex in Gwadar.

Like most oil suppliers, the world’s top crude exporter has been investing heavily in refinery and petrochemicals projects across the globe to secure long-term buyers of its oil.

A pipeline from Gwadar to China would cut the supply time from the current 40 days to just seven, experts say.

Developed as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative with investments worth some $60 billion, Gwadar is being billed as a regional industrial hub of the future, easily accessible for Central Asia, Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. “Pakistan needs a rich partner to enter as a third party besides China, capable of injecting needed cash,” Bouenain said.

But so far China has rejected other partners for the corridor that seeks to connect its western province Xinjiang with Gwadar, including Saudi Arabia and U.A.E., said James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. This is despite calls by Khan “for the Chinese investments to be restructured to include agriculture and job-creation sectors and not only in infrastructure,” Dorsey told AFP.

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3 comments

Muhammad Ilyas February 11, 2019 - 2:59 pm

Afghan war which brought terrorism to Pakistan destroyed Pakistan s economy and cost incurred on hosting over three million refugees added to it. Pakistan suffered over seventy thousand dead. Now position is improving due army action. Over the past ten years Nawaz League borrowed huge amounts from different sources and wasted money.
Current Govt is doing it’s best to reverse the situation and hope friendly Muslim countries and other western countries will help invest in Pakistan.

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Taimur February 11, 2019 - 4:21 pm

I think new government is trying to push Pakistan into a new war by trying to bring Taliban to power. Peace is the solution to our problems and we must get out of the confusion of Good Taliban or Bad Taliban. Just to get some loan from IMF our leadership should avoid the old tactics of pleasing foreign powers. Let us focus on our problems and our region

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Zahra Zafar February 12, 2019 - 9:56 am

you are right this is all because of our own people and because of afghan refugee Pakistan is completely destroyed a lot of people died

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