Pakistanis, Afghans among 119 migrants deported on US flight to Panama

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb this week met senior officials of Saudi Arabia’s Wafi Energy Pakistan and Asyad Holdings group, promising to facilitate foreign investors via fostering a business-friendly environment in the country, the Finance Division said. 

Wafi Energy, an affiliate of the Asyad Group, made huge investments in Pakistan when it became the majority shareholder of Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) in November last year. The Saudi group now holds approximately 87.78 percent of the total issued share capital of SPL. 

Aurangzeb met Ghassan Al Amoudi, CEO of Asyad Holdings and Wafi Energy Pakistan Limited Chairman Zubair Shaikh on Thursday. He welcomed the delegation and appreciated both groups’ contributions to Pakistan’s energy and investment sectors, the Finance Division said. 

“He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to facilitating foreign investors and ensuring a business-friendly environment,” the statement said on Thursday. 

Aurangzeb spoke to the delegation about his recent visit to Saudi Arabia for the AlUla Conference 2025, commending Saudi Arabia’s strides in economic diversification and infrastructure development.

The Saudi delegation informed the minister about their plans to expand their investments in Pakistan, emphasizing that the South Asian country already hosts their largest investments, the Finance Division said. 

“They expressed confidence in Pakistan’s economic potential and shared their vision for further collaboration in the downstream petroleum sector and energy infrastructure,” the statement said. 

The delegation noted that investor and consumer confidence in Pakistan is returning, the Finance Division said. 

“The finance minister reiterated the government’s full support for foreign investors and its dedication to policies that foster investment, innovation, and sustainable economic progress,” the statement said. 

Pakistan has proactively tried to woo foreign investors and countries into investing in the country’s energy, infrastructure, real estate, agriculture, livestock and other priority sectors ever since it came close to defaulting on its international payments in 2023. 

Pakistan formed the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in June 2023 to attract international investment in its priority sectors, particularly from Gulf countries. 

The SIFC is a hybrid civil-military body that aims to fast-track decisions related to international investment. Since its formation, Pakistan has signed several agreements in trade and investment with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Azerbaijan, Turkiye, China and other countries worth billions of dollars. 

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday he would represent Pakistan at the upcoming Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) extraordinary meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Jeddah on Mar. 7, where the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the Palestinian cause will be discussed. 

The OIC meeting will reportedly take place next month amid backlash and uproar from Arab and OIC countries over US President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to redevelop Gaza into an international beach resort, after resettling Palestinian inhabitants. The US president called on Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians, with the remarks drawing sharp reactions from both countries as well as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and others. 

Dar, who was in New York on a three-day visit to the US to attend a United Nations conference on multilateralism this week, told reporters he had discussed Trump’s proposal with the foreign ministers of Iran, Egypt, Malaysia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye recently.

“He said reportedly Arab leaders were scheduled to meet on the situation on Feb. 27 and Gulf leaders on Mar. 5 ,which would follow the extraordinary CFM meeting on Mar. 7 in Jeddah in which he would represent Pakistan,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said. 

Dar pointed out that Pakistan had also issued a strong statement on proposals to resettle Palestinians from Gaza, saying that they had all the right to their land.

Dar, who also serves as Pakistan’s foreign minister, said despite limited resources Pakistan sent several consignments of relief goods to Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. He said Pakistan also hosted around 200 Palestinian medical students, allowing them to complete their medical education in Pakistani medical colleges.

Israel’s war on Gaza, which began after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians and displaced almost all of Gaza’s 2 million population by laying waste to swathes of neighborhoods, schools and hospitals. A six-week uneasy truce announced on Jan. 19 between Hamas and Israel ended 15 months of war. 

Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

The South Asian country regularly sent relief supplies for the people of Gaza during Israel’s 15-month war.