Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia is making a $20 billion investment in Pakistan in the first phase which will be increased every month. Speaking at the reception hosted in his honour by Prime Minister Imran Khan after the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) he said, "Today we have signed MoUs of $20 billon investment in the phase one and it will grow bigger in number every month, which will be beneficial for both the countries".
"We will make sure that we are creating an amazing great future of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as well as for the region," he said while adding that "We believe in our region that why we are investing in it and we believe that one day we have a grater Middle East surrounded by Pakistan from the East side". He said that this is his first trip to East since I became the Crown Prince and the first country is Pakistan.
"Thank your Prime Minister we are very glad to be in Pakistan, which is a dear country to have Saudis, he said adding that both Saudi Arab and Pakistan are brotherly and friendly countries and want to have good ties. He said that Pakistan "Faces a very great future with the great leadership," he said while praising the leadership of Prime Minister Khan. He continued that last year Pakistan's GDP grew by over 5 percent. "We believe that Pakistan is going to be a very positive country in the coming future and we want to ensure that we are part of that. We're waiting for that kind of leadership to partner with".
While referring to potential of tourism in two countries, he said, "Mr Prime Minister! you are my friend, because we planned to announce that after a few days, may be ten days from today, we have to be committed for 100 million tourists".
"We are not going to announce that we are planning 1200 million tourists, which I can promise for 2050", he said, adding that today we have 18 million tourists and will believe to that we will be able to reach 50 million tourists easily in the next coming 15 years.
Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister said that for Pakistan this a great day, adding that Saudi Arabia has always been a friend in need. He said that people of Saudi Arabia are living in our hearts, adding that his best moment was to visit the two holy mosques in Mecca and Madina.
"I want to thank you the way you helped Pakistan... Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are taking this relationship to a new level, a relationship of investment which would be beneficial for both the countries.
He said that the MoUs have been signed in petrochemical, while another area is agriculture and food processing. The prime minister also invited Saudi Arabia to invest in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and stated that China is very close country and the CPEC will connect the region.
The prime minister also raised the issue of Pakistani pilgrims as well as 2.5 million labourers in Saudi Arabia, saying "these people are very close to my heart because they have gone to earn livelihood of their families". He requested the Crown Prince to look into the problems being faced by them, especially those languishing in the Saudi prisons and treat them as their own people. In his response, the Crown Prince stated: "Mr Prime Minister! Consider me [in Saudi Arabia] as ambassador of Pakistan and we will do whatever is possible to do".
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