ISLAMABAD   -   Pakistan is hoping for a successful visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia amid the economic challenges.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia today (April 27).

The Prime Minister will also perform Umrah on the sidelines of the visit. Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman will accompany the Prime Minister.

Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will also be among the delegation as the Foreign Minister.

He will take oath as the FM before flying with the PM.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, in a bid to upgrade their economic ties, are mulling a long-term investment strategy.

Saudi Arabia is encouraging major Saudi Arabian companies to expand their business internationally and offering government help and resources through the National Companies Promotion Programme if they are not currently active abroad.

In 2019, the Kingdom had announced plans for a $ 10 billion oil refinery at Gwadar port, but logistics issues hampered the project.

A 600-km oil pipeline connecting Gwadar to the main oil hub, Karachi, would be needed to make the Saudi investment worthwhile, and, according to the feasibility report prepared by Aramco, the transportation of processed oil from Gwadar would be too expensive even then.

This time, Saudi Aramco will be kicking off “preferred projects” in Pakistan’s oil refinery sector, and the expansion of a decades-old refinery in Karachi is most likely.

Saudi investors will receive some exceptional incentives in special economic zones in Pakistan.  Agriculture, mining, renewable energy, food processing, refineries, petrochemicals and information technology have been identified as potential areas of investment.

Despite a gradual increase to around $2.181 billion in 2020, low bilateral trade volume still remains a major shortcoming in Saudi-Pakistan relations.

However, nearly 2.5 million Pakistani expats live in the Kingdom, which is still Islamabad’s largest source of remittances.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia’s ties were once described as one of the closest relationships but they have been affected by regional issues in recent years.

Pakistan adopted a neutral stance in the Yemen war and refused to send any troops in response to the Kingdom’s request in 2015, as it was trying to balance Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Then in August 2019, India abrogated Article 370 and ended the special status of the disputed part of Kashmir valley in its control. As one of the three claimants in the Kashmir issue, Pakistan felt that the cause was not highlighted by the Saudi-led Organization of Islamic Cooperation of which it is a founding member since 1969.

Later, in November 2019, Qatar, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia organized an Islamic summit in Kuala Lumpur without Saudi Arabia, which feared a rival bloc of Muslim countries outside the OIC, which it heads. Then Prime Minister Imran Khan had planned to attend the event but backed out at the last minute due to Riyadh’s insistence.

However, some geopolitical re-alignments have also helped revive Saudi-Pakistan relations.

PM Shehbaz Sharif also has close ties with the Saudi Arabian royal family. He will try to use his personal contacts to revive the historical closest friendship between the two countries.