Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Wednesday said that Saudi Arabia has decided to invest another $500 million to strengthen the energy sector in Pakistan, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Addressing a news conference in Multan after offering fateha on the death of world-fame scholar Qari Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar Naqshbandi, Qureshi said the Saudi Arabian assistance would help overcome the imbalance in the energy mix. It was meant for alternate and renewable energy including solar, wind and hydel power, he added.

The $500 million from Saudi Arabia would improve Pakistan’s energy mix balance, Qureshi said, adding it would help make the tariff become cheaper gradually and would impact our economy positively.

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The minister said Saudi funding would also focus on infrastructure development and investment on water resources projects.
Qureshi said the three-day KSA visit was made on the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and it helped defuse the designs of detractors.

He said Pakistan had enjoyed good relations with Saudi Arabia, however, the recent initiative of the Saudi-Pak Strategic Supreme Council brought it from ad hoc to institutional arrangements.

He further informed that this institutional mechanism stood on three pillars including security and political pillar to be headed by foreign minister, economic outreach led by the interior minister and cultural and communication pillar would be led by the minister for information and broadcasting.

He said Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman would pay his second visit to Pakistan soon. Qureshi said a delegation of Saudi officials would visit Pakistan to meet officials after Eid to be followed by a two-day visit by foreign minister of Saudi Arabia to finalize arrangements for Crown Prince’s visit to Pakistan.

The minister disclosed that Saudi Arabia has allocated a special manpower quota for Pakistani workers under its 2030 development vision that involved huge investment for Saudi Arabia development. He said the new jobs opportunity would benefit hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis.

Qureshi further informed that the issues of visas with Kuwait have also be set and the issues faced by Pakistani families living in Kuwait have been resolved.

He said that there was ban on export of Pakistani kinno to Iran for last 12 years which has now been lifted adding that it would benefit the Pakistani farmers, exporters and the overall national economy.