January 2, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 28, 1423

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RIYADH, Jan 1: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali on Tuesday invited the Saudi entrepreneurs to invest in Pakistan as there was an economic stability and guarantee for good returns due to the economic policies pursued by the government in the last three years.

“I assure you that the government would continue the policies of the Musharraf regime in the larger national interest,” he stressed.

Jamali was talking to Dr Ibrahim Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al-Assaf, Minister for Finance, Ali bin Ibrahim Al Noami, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, and managing director of Pak-Saudi Fund, who called on him Tuesday evening.

The ministers said that Saudi Arabia highly appreciated economic policies of the Pakistan government and assured the prime minister that their country would continue its cooperation.

They also appreciated economic reforms pursued by the Musharraf government. They said that these reforms had helped create economic stability and investor-friendly atmosphere in Pakistan.

The Saudi ministers assured Jamali that Saudi Arabia’s private sector would come forward and invest in Pakistan.

They said that their country was already making investment through some large organizations like Pak-Saudi Bank and Hubco.

The prime minister’s adviser for finance, Shaukat Aziz, briefed the mediapersons about the meeting of the Saudi ministers with Mir Zafarullah Jamali.

Shaukat Aziz said the Saudi ministers expressed their willingness to invest in Gomal dam and coastal highway projects. He said a Pakistani team would soon visit Saudi Arabia to assess the possibility of investment in major projects. After initial study, the Saudi finance minister would pay a return visit to Pakistan to find out the potential of Saudi investment in the country.

Shaukat Aziz said that Saudi Arabia had also shown interest in privatization of PSO. During the meeting, he added, oil supply from Saudi Arabia also came under discussion in the light of recent price hike.

During the meeting, the prime minister was assisted by Federal Minister for Petroleum Naurez Shakoor, Adviser on Finance Shaukat Aziz, Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokar, Information Secretary Syed Anwar Mahmood and special assistant to the PM Brig Mansur Hamid. —APP