Prime Minister Imran Khan will arrive in Saudi Arabia on Saturday on a three-day official visit to attend the launch ceremony of the “Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit”, being held here in the Saudi capital.
The Prime Minister visiting the Kingdom to attend the Summit, at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including the Foreign Minister and other members of the Cabinet. At the MGI Summit, the Prime Minister will share his perspective on the challenges faced by developing countries due to climate change. He will also highlight Pakistan’s experience of launching nature-based solutions to address the environmental challenges, Foreign Office said in a statement issued on Friday.
The MGI Summit, the first of its kind in the Middle East Region, is being held at the initiative of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.
It may be recalled “Green Saudi Arabia” and “Green Middle East” initiatives were launched by the Crown Prince in March 2021 aimed at protecting the nature and planet.
Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed these two initiatives and offered to share experiences and lessons from Pakistan’s “Clean and Green Pakistan” and Prime Minister’s “10 billion Tree Tsunami.”
The Prime Minister will have bilateral interaction with the Saudi leadership, with a particular focus on advancing economic and trade relations; creating more opportunities for the Pakistani workforce; and the welfare of the Pakistani Diaspora in the Kingdom.
The two sides will also exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
During the visit, the Prime Minister will also participate in an event on the promotion of investment in Pakistan and interact with leading investors and businessmen from Saudi Arabia and Pakistani Diaspora in the Kingdom.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long-standing and historic fraternal relations, rooted deep in common faith, shared history and mutual support. Saudi Arabia is home to more than two million Pakistanis, contributing to the progress and prosperity of both countries. The relationship is marked by frequent high-level visits, close cooperation in all fields, and mutual collaboration on regional and international issues, including at the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir.
The visit of the Prime Minister will carry forward the positive momentum of cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Lt. Gen. (r) Bilal Akbar Friday said that with 2 million Pakistani expatriates already working in the Kingdom, the number was expected to reach around 2.5 million in coming years due to increased human resource requirements under the 2030 vision of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz.
“Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, who enjoy broad-based strategic relations rooted deep in history, culture, religion and people to people contacts, have inter-dependence,” he said in an interaction with APP ahead of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s October 23-25 official visit to Saudi Arabia.
The Prime Minister during his visit at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman will attend the launching ceremony of the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit in Riyadh.
Besides attending the summit and sharing Pakistan’s experiences in the success of Billion Tree Tsunami initiative as one of the lead speakers, the Prime Minister during his visit will also address Pakistan-Saudi Investment Forum.
The Forum, being organized in collaboration with Saudi Ministry of Investment, will provide an opportunity to the entrepreneurs of two countries to explore the prospects of business and investment at bilateral level for win-win situation, he added. Lt. Gen. (r) Bilal Akbar said that a delegation of Pakistani businessmen was also coming to Saudi Arabia to attend the Forum.
Highlighting the close and fraternal relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, he said, that as Saudi Arabia was a well-wisher of Pakistan and its people, Pakistan also had always stood with the Kingdom and assured its territorial integrity.
The Ambassador further said that the recent release of Pakistani prisoners by Saudi Arabia including 50 from Qaseem province as well as the commitment for release of another 24 prisoners from Hail province depicted the closer bilateral relations.