Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are moving closer to establishing a Pakistan-Saudi Economic Corridor, a transformative initiative that could reshape regional trade, investment, and connectivity between South Asia and the Middle East.
The proposed corridor, modeled after the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), is being planned in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and Pakistan’s development priorities, and is expected to unlock new opportunities for investment, job creation, and technology transfer.
To drive this ambitious agenda, the federal government has constituted an 18-member high-level committee tasked with leading economic negotiations under the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Economic Framework.
According to a government notification, the committee, formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, will supervise talks aimed at expanding cooperation beyond traditional defense and energy sectors to include environmental protection and climate stability.
The committee will be co-chaired by Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Musadik Masood Malik and Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) National Coordinator Lt. Gen. Sarfraz Ahmed. Other key members include Federal Ministers for Economic Affairs, Commerce, Energy, Food Security, IT, and Communications, as well as senior officials from the State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, and the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh.
The notification states that the co-chairs will form dedicated teams for rapid negotiations with their Saudi counterparts, with all members required to be available starting October 6, 2025. The SIFC will facilitate the committee’s operations, and travel approvals for related meetings are to be processed within one hour to ensure swift progress.
The committee is also empowered to induct additional members as needed and must submit performance reports to the prime minister every fifteen days.
Pakistan will seek renewed Saudi investment in oil and agriculture under a ‘buy-back’ model, and will push to boost exports to help reduce the $3 billion trade deficit currently in Saudi Arabia’s favor. The long-delayed oil refinery project, pending for nearly a decade, is also expected to be on the agenda. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is likely to visit Saudi Arabia in late October to finalize economic agreements under the new framework.
This economic push comes on the heels of last month’s landmark “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement” between the two countries.
