In a bid to expand their footprint, Pakistani investors in Saudi Arabia are eager to grab a share of the mega construction projects being offered under the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative.

“Pakistani investors in Saudi Arabia want to expand their construction business to benefit from the enabling environment in the kingdom and have sought arrangement for guarantees from Pakistani banks operating in the kingdom,” said Khalid Raja, President of Pakistan Investors Forum (PIF), an association of Pakistani businessmen in Saudi Arabia, told Arab News.

The investors want to use their assets and savings based in Pakistani as collateral to get financing for the projects.

“We want to pledge our assets in our country in return for guarantees from Pakistani banks operating in the kingdom,” Raja said, adding: “It requires a policy decision, and the government of Pakistan can facilitate us through the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) or Samba Bank.”

PIF President was of the view that projects have the potential to significantly increase the much-needed remittance inflows from KSA to Pakistan.

“The country’s remittance inflow is expected to gradually increase by about 25 to 30 percent if such facility is provided by the government to Pakistani investors,” he added. “It will not only increase Pakistani investment but also the participation of its workers in the kingdom’s development.”

It is pertinent to mention that KSA is a major remittance destination for Pakistan, Inflows from Saudi Arabia increased by 19.5 percent to $5.041 billion in July-Feb of FY21 compared to $4.219 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.