islamabad - Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday hailed United Arab Emirates’ announcement to deposit $3 billion in State Bank of Pakistan to support financial and monetary policy of the country and termed it a highly positive development as it would provide crucial financial cushion to the weak foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan.

Ahmed Hassan Moughal, president Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the UAE had come forward to provide support to Pakistan at a time when the country was facing serious liquidity challenges. He said that generous support for Pakistan at testing times showed that the UAE was a close friend of Pakistan and it wanted to see Pakistan a strong economy.

He said that the UAE’s generosity for Pakistan would further deepen and strengthen relations between the two friendly countries.

Moughal said that during the last visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the UAE, the leadership of both the countries had agreed to transform their relations into long-term strategic economic partnership.

He said that both sides had also resolved to strengthen trade and economic ties and eliminate impediments to seamless flow of trade and investment between the two countries. He said that Pakistan and the UAE should further strengthen connectivity between their private sectors to maximise bilateral trade, investment, JVs and economic relations between the two friendly countries.

Rafat Farid, senior vice president and Iftikhar Anwar Sethi, vice president ICCI, said that Pakistan offered huge opportunities for foreign investments and joint ventures in various sectors including infrastructure development, power generation, water management, agricultural-based industries, insurance and real estate. They stressed that the UAE’s investors should take maximum benefits of these opportunities by further enhancing their joint ventures and investment in the CPEC and in other sectors of Pakistan’s economy.