It is great to see that such a credible group of professionals have managed to reach out to the best private sector leaders for exploring private sector led joint ventures in the region. Pakistan needs to leverage the potential of private sector investment in priority sectors and I am sure PREF can play a vital role in this regard.

I would like to endorse the approach taken by PREF to leverage the regional connectivity being developed under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). At this stage, private sector investments are key to revive Pakistan’s growth and the way forward is to compliment potential of regional partners.

We are pleased that such an eminent group of professionals led by Mr. Haroon Sharif has started facilitating private sector joint ventures between China and Pakistan. As envisaged by President Xi Jinping in China’s Global Development Initiative (GDI), we look forward to closely consulting PREF for making the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) a source of shared prosperity and stability.

Saudi Arabia is keen to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan under the Saudi Vision 2030 spearheaded by H.H. Mohammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. Saudi investors are looking for joint investment opportunities in the energy, information technology and mining sectors. PREF priority sectors are aligned with our priorities.

We attach utmost importance to the improvement of our economic relations to the level of political relations. Within this context, increasing the bilateral trade volume and mutual investments, which are below the potential, remains one of our priorities. Increasing the number of tourists on a mutual basis is another primary objective. I look forward to working with PREF for increasing private sector led economic cooperation between the two brotherly countries.