RAWALPINDI, January 14: Governor of Tabuk of Saudi Arabia Prince Fahad bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the General Headquarters, Rawalpindi a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Monday.
During the meeting, the two discussed matters of mutual interests including the regional security situation.
In December last year, the country’s foreign reserves were bolstered as the second $1 billion tranche was received from the kingdom. Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves then stood at 9.24 billion, with the third instalment from Riyadh expected in January. Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Riyadh on the invitation of King Salman bin Abdul Aziz to participate in the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Conference in October.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed to negotiate a free trade agreement (FTA) for trade liberalisation and increasing the volume between the two countries.
Riyadh offered Islamabad to negotiate the FTA directly or sign a preferential trade agreement (PTA) first for providing mutual trade opportunity in each other’s markets.-Agencies
