ISLAMABAD: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Thursday committed to investing $10 billion in multiple sectors in Pakistan during a meeting with PM Shehbaz Sharif, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
Sharif met the UAE president in Abu Dhabi during his day-long trip to the Gulf country. The Pakistani prime minister arrived in UAE on Thursday with a high-level delegation amid a concerted push by Pakistan to seek foreign investment as it navigates a challenging path to economic recovery.
The UAE is one of Pakistan’s closest allies and has frequently bailed out the South Asian country, joining Saudi Arabia and China in rolling over billions of dollars of loans to Pakistan last year to help it clinch a last-gasp deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and avoid a sovereign debt default.
The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner, after China and the United States. Policymakers in Pakistan consider the Gulf state an optimal export destination due to its geographical proximity, which minimizes transportation and freight costs while facilitating commercial transactions. The UAE is also home to more than a million Pakistani expatriates and the second-largest source of remittances to the South Asian country, after Saudi Arabia.
“President of the UAE His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan assured UAE’s support in all circumstances and made commitment of investing $ 10 billion in multiple sectors in Pakistan,” the PMO statement said.
Sharif was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan, Minister for Defense Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi in his meeting with the UAE president.
The PMO said Sharif and the UAE president discussed cooperation between the two countries in political, economic, social, cultural and defense sectors.
“Prime Minister underscored the importance of galvanizing existing cooperation and strengthening strategic partnership including in the field of information technology, renewable energy and tourism,” the PMO said.
Sharif conveyed his gratitude to the UAE leadership for hosting 1.8 million Pakistanis in the Gulf country and highlighted Pakistan’s “huge human resource potential” that he said could be engaged in multiple sectors, the statement said.
‘JOINT INVESTMENTS, NOT LOANS’
Sharif earlier spoke at a roundtable conference in Abu Dhabi which was attended by the Pakistani and Emirati business communities.
“Today I am here in this great country, this great brotherly country, not to seek loans but to seek joint collaboration, seek joint investments, which have mutual benefits … for the investor, and draw dividends through hard work, ingenuity, and by using modern tools and skills,” Sharif said.
Leading Pakistan and UAE businesses signed three agreements on information technology, energy and infotech during the conference.
Sharif also met Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. The prime minister informed Al Suwaidi that Islamabad was introducing business-friendly policies and facilitating foreign investors in its bid to develop Pakistan’s private sector.
He separately met Abdullah Muhammad Al Mazrui, the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to discuss trade relations between Pakistan and the UAE as well as their business communities, the PMO said.
Pakistan has seen a flurry of foreign visits in recent weeks, including by the now deceased Iranian president, the Saudi foreign minister, a delegation of top Saudi companies as well as officials from Qatar, China, Japan, Turkiye and Central Asian countries, among others.
Reeling from high inflation, low forex reserves, and an unstable currency, Sharif has vowed to steer Pakistan out of its prolonged economic crisis by enhancing bilateral trade with allies and attracting more international investments. Islamabad is also currently in talks with the IMF to secure a new, longer-term bailout package of at least $6 billion.