Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived on Thursday in United Arab Emirates on a day-long visit with reports suggesting that investment in Pakistan will be high on his agenda.

This is the premier’s first visit to the UAE since the election in February this year. The PM is accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising key ministers of the cabinet.

Shortly after his arrival, the PM in a post on X said that he was looking forward to a “fruitful” exchange of views with the UAE leadership.

Meanwhile, the premier was welcomed by UAE Vice President and Deputy PM Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In a statement, the Foreign Office (FO) said that the PM will meet His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi.

“The two leaders will discuss bilateral relations between Pakistan and the UAE with special focus on trade and investment,” FO said.

PM Shehbaz is also likely to hold meetings with other Emirati dignitaries, businesspersons, and heads of financial institutions.

The FO further said that Pakistan and the UAE have long-standing fraternal relations deep rooted in religio-cultural affinity.

“Frequent high-level exchanges form a distinguishing feature of brotherly ties between the two countries.

The Prime Minister’s visit marks an important step towards further deepening multifaceted bilateral collaboration between Pakistan and the UAE.“

Earlier, sources told Business Recorder that issues related to investment in different sectors, Pakistan’s financial matters and PTCL’s pending payment are expected to be the top agenda items during the PM’s trip.

On investment cooperation in the port operations projects, Ministry of Maritime Affairs (MoMA) has proposed revenue sharing model to execute the dredging project whereas UAE side prefers the royalty model with extension in Concession Agreement.