On Tuesday, the 11th session of Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) concluded with an agreement to boost bilateral economic, investment and trade cooperation between the two countries.
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The meeting was attended by various high-ranked officials of various ministries of both countries, with a similar aim to strengthen the ties and cooperate with each other for future economic development. Special Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aitzaz Ahmad said,
Pakistan offered tremendous opportunities in various sectors of the economy, particularly in tourism which could be exploited for better financial developmental prospects. He expressed hope that the session would provide a ‘way-forward’ agenda to promote trade and investment.
He had a view of taking advantage of sessions like JMC and come up with a tangible outcome to make this bilateral cooperation constructive for both countries.
The session concluded with an agreement to simplify the procedure of business visa issuance for both the countries instead of streamlining the visa fee.
While considering the Pak-Saudi bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), they even agreed to initiate the Saudi-Pak Business Council to advocate the trade and investment on a fast-track basis.
Moreover, apart from agreeing to identify and remove the obstacles that are in the way of the smooth ties, the two countries decided to promote their products through exhibitions held in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
The visa fee for Saudi Arabia currently adds up to ~80,000 PKR when you factor in the exorbitant margins charged by Etimad as well. No other country charges this much for a bloody visit visa.