WASHINGTON: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Sunday vowed to further expand their trade and investment relations as Pakistani Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh met with his Saudi counterpart here during the annual IMF-World Bank spring gathering.

“We have close historical links between our countries. So we discussed strengthening trade and economic ties in a number of areas,” said Dr Shaikh after meeting with Dr Ibrahim al-Assaf.

Pakistan's ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman also attended the meeting.

The finance minister said Saudi Arabia is already participating in hydropower projects and showed further interest in the area.

They also discussed prospects of the Saudi business companies investing in potential areas to enhance the bilateral and close brotherly relations.

Saudi Arabia has great influence in Islamic Development Bank and is also a member of the G 20 group. Pakistan imports oil and fertilizers from Saudi Arabia.

The two finance leaders also discussed the global economic situation.

They agreed to identify potential areas of cooperation in the form of Saudi investment and joint ventures.

Earlier, Dr Shaikh also met with Iranian finance minister Syyed Shams Al-din Hosseini and discussed the possibilities of economic cooperation and trade liberalization.