Faiz Al-Najdi Saudi Gazette RIYADH — The 10th session of the Joint Pak-Saudi Ministerial Commission Meeting (JMC) is all set to begin Tuesday, Waseem Hayat Bajwa, commercial attaché at the Pakistan Embassy, said here on Monday. The JMC will be attended by a high-level Pakistani delegation led by its Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan. The Saudi delegation will be led by Commerce Minister Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabeah. The two-day meeting will discuss several issues concerning bilateral trade and business relations between the two countries. The Pakistani minister is accompanied by 12 prominent businessmen from Pakistan who will try to attract Saudi businessmen to invest in Pakistan. The 9th session of JMC was held in 2012 after a lapse of about five years. Tuesday's meeting has been arranged due to the continuous efforts of the Pakistani Ambassador Muhammad Naeem Khan. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Khan was very upbeat about the success of Tuesday's JMC that “is focused on improving biltaeral trade and commerce relations.” “During this JMC proposals will be submitted for cooperation between our two countries in the fields of banking and finance, manpower export, investment in the energy sector and industrial cooperation. Many other avenues like cooperation in IT, education, science and technology, and sports, etc. will also be explored," Khan said, mentioning that proposals will also be submitted for cooperation in the fields of small and medium enterprise (SMEs). “In short, this JMC is set to deal with a broad range of cooperation between the two countries," Khan added. The 10th JMC session, he said, was finalized during the recent visit to Pakistan by Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz. “This was only possible due to the hard and consistent efforts from both the sides. The crown prince's visit paved the way for finalization of the date for this 10th session of JMC," Khan said. Earlier, Khan shed light on his meeting on Monday with Riyadh Emir Prince Khalid Bin Bandar. Describing the meeting as "useful," Khan said he discussed with the prince issues related to Pakistani citizens in the deportation centers and several hurub cases. The emir, he said, assured him that orders would be issued to deal with these cases urgently.
