WASHINGTON: Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb met with Sultan Abdulrahman Al-Marshad, CEO Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), in Washington and discussed investable projects, including a dam and a major national highway.

The Pakistani Finance Minister is in Washington for IMF and World Bank spring meetings. As he launches negotiations for a new three-year multi-billion-dollar bailout deal from the IMF, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud was in Islamabad earlier this week where he said Riyadh would be “moving ahead significantly” to invest in projects in the South Asian nation.

The Saudi official’s visit followed a meeting in Makkah between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in which the Kingdom had pledged to expedite $5 billion in investments.

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“Briefed him [SFD CEO] about his recent visit to Saudi Arabia and that of Saudi delegation to Pakistan during this week,” the finance ministry said about the meeting between the Pakistani finance minister and the Saudi official in Washington.

“Expressed satisfaction with the progress of ongoing projects. Discussed the funding of Diamer Bhasha dam and N-25 from Karachi to Chaman. Informed that Pakistan would pitch bankable and investable projects to Saudi investors.”

Diamer-Bhasha Dam is a concrete-filled gravity dam, in the preliminary stages of construction, on the River Indus between Kohistan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Diamer district in Gilgit Baltistan.