The Saudi Shoura Council has approved a draft agreement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on renewable energy development.

“The Saudi Shoura Council approves a draft MoU between Saudi Arabia and the government of Pakistan to study investment opportunities in the refining and petrochemical sectors,” the Shoura Council said, Arab News reported.

“The government of Pakistan will certainly welcome the investment from international investors, including from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Dr Rana Abdul Jabbar, chief executive of Pakistan’s Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), said.

He said that renewable energy cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia was initiated in February last year when the draft memorandum was signed during the visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

During the crown prince’s visit, Saudi Arabia announced a $20 billion investment package for Pakistan, which includes the development of a petrochemical complex, renewable energy projects and investment in mineral resources.

“The government of Pakistan is proactively pursuing the promotion and development of indigenous renewable energy resources through private parties’ participation,” Jabbar said, adding that the cooperation with Saudi Arabia is going to help the Pakistani government achieve its targets of 25 percent renewable energy share in the total energy mix by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030.

The targets are set in the Alternative and Renewable Energy Policy 2019 (ARE Policy 2019).