Islamabad, Jan. 17 (TNS): Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in diverse fields.
The agreement was reached during the two-day 11th Session of Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Joint Ministerial Commission that concluded in Islamabad on Wednesday.
The session was Co-chaired by Minister for Commerce and Textile Mohammad Pervaiz Malik and Minister for Trade and Investment of Saudi Arabia Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi.
The two countries agreed to hold exhibitions of new products in each other’s countries.
It was decided that the first single country exhibition of Pakistan in Saudi Arabia will be held in the second half of this year.
Both sides will exchange and share security information and the expertise in the field of combating terrorism, organized crimes and money laundering.
For focused and regular sectoral liaison, both sides agreed to nominate the Focal Persons for cooperation in the fields of trade, energy, investment, education and agriculture.
It was agreed to encourage cooperation in the fields of scientific researches, exchange of scholarships and experiences in health teaching and medical staff and exchange of student visits.
Both sides agreed to review and simplify the procedure of business visa issuance and fee for the business visa will also be rationalized.
The Joint Ministerial Commission called for reactivating Pak-Saudi Joint Business Council by first quarter of this year followed by the first meeting of the Council.
A Commercial Attache will soon be designated in Saudi Embassy, Islamabad.
Pakistani side stressed the importance of cooperation between Saudi oil and gas companies to develop oil production in Pakistan including setting up of refineries.
Both sides agreed to expedite negotiations to finalize the MoU between Central Banks of two countries.
The Commission encouraged exchange visits of the officials from the media field, share television cultural programs and documentaries, facilitate the missions of the official radio and television delegations between the two countries.
The Saudi side informed that there is a Saudi Royal Decree to establish labor Attache in Pakistan and one of the mandate of this Attache is to approve the labor training centers to train manpower in accordance with the Saudi requirements.
The Pakistani side requested increasing scholarships for Pakistani students studying in Saudi universities.
Pakistan offered Saudi Civil Aviation training courses at Civil Aviation Training Institute, Hyderabad in the field of air traffic control, communication, navigation and surveillance engineering and aviation management.
Saudi Ministry of Health will continue the cooperation in the field of recruiting qualified and trained Pakistani medical personnel to work in the Kingdom focusing on consultants, specialist and nurses in critical healthcare.
