President of Pak-Saudi Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PSJCCI) Mian Mamoodul Hassan has proposed to hold small-medium-enterprises-investment conferences in Jeddah and Riyadh to make Saudi investors aware of the potential of profitable investment existing in the small-medium enterprises sector of Pakistan.
He stated this in a meeting held on Tuesday with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority Chief Executive Officer Alamgir Chaudhry held at Smeda head office. Smeda and PSJCCI have decided to join hands to expand trade and investment between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
He called for small-medium enterprises exhibitions to introduce Pakistani products to Saudi consumers and said he hoped the Islamic Development Bank would play an important role in promoting bilateral trade and investment relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. He also advised Smeda to develop exclusive business plans for this purpose.
"Pakistan can make a substantial increase in its export earnings by developing human resources as per requirements of the member countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council and urged Smeda to develop a proposal to set up an exclusive training institute aimed at creating trained manpower for these states. He also suggested a low-cost construction strategy for Saudi Arabia.
The meeting then reviewed the potential of bilateral trade existing between the two countries, with Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Alamgir Chaudhry and PSJCCI President Hassan leading their respective teams. It was decided to set the priority areas to sign a memorandum of understanding to enhance the trade and investment relations.
The meeting also reviewing top items to be traded as export and import between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia identified cereals, gems and jewellery and plastic industry as the most potential areas for joint ventures.
The Human Resource Development was also marked by the meeting as a significant area of joint interest. Its strategy, developed as part of Smeda's five-year small-medium enterprises development plan, was termed as a strong foundation in this direction.