PM urges Bahrain businesses to tap Pakistans potential | The Express Tribune

MANAMA:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday highlighting the structural transformation, regulatory and economic reforms by his government, urged the Bahraini business sector to seize Pakistan’s immense investment potential with new sectors opened like agribusiness, IT, minerals, energy and tourism, to build a long-term partnership.

“Pakistan is undergoing a structural transformation embodying economic reforms, digital modernisation and a decisive push for a private sector-led growth. We have cut red tape forever, strengthened our regulations and opened new sectors such as agribusiness, IT, minerals, energy and tourism for long-term partnership,” the prime minister said, addressing the members of the business community here during his two-day official visit.

The event was attended by Bahrain’s deputy prime minister, ministers for foreign affairs, finance and national economy, industries and commerce, besides the prime minister’s own delegation members including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and others.

He said that Pakistan offered talent, resources and a growing consumer market which had enormous potential, combined with Bahrain’s financial expertise and business acumen.

The prime minister said that Pakistan was ready to enhance economic cooperation with Bahrain in the field of agriculture, IT, AI, FinTech and all other areas to create synergy through mutual efforts, knowledge and experience.

He told the gathering of overseas Pakistanis and Pakistani and Bahraini entrepreneurs that the Free Trade Agreement between Pakistan and GCC was expected to be signed soon to help strengthen trade cooperation.

“I address you not just as the Prime Minister of Pakistan but as the CEO of a nation eager to partner with Bahraini entrepreneurs ready to support joint ventures, facilitate your investment plans and assist in the mutually-rewarding journey ahead of us… Whether you are a Bahraini investor exploring Pakistan or a Pakistani entrepreneur contributing to Bahrain’s great progress, let this moment be your launching pad for a bold and meaningful collaboration.”

Expressing gratitude to King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa for their warm hospitality to him and his delegation, he said the relationship between the two countries was based on cultural, religious, mutual respect and trust, with both having strategic cooperation for decades.

“Now we have to convert these wonderful relations into economic cooperation,” he said, and vowed to convert Pakistan’s challenge of youth bulge into a great opportunity by training them in IT, AI, vocational training, and skill training.

The prime minister appreciated the Pakistani community of over 100,000 in Bahrain for their contribution to the host country as well as their own homeland by sending their hard-earned remittances worth $484 million last year.

“Let me assure you that Pakistan’s doors and my own door will always remain open to all of you,” he assured and appreciated Bahrain’s visionary leadership, making the country emerge as a “beacon” of economic growth, financial innovation and human-centered development, also serving as inspiration for Pakistan.

Earlier, in his remarks, Bahrain’s Finance Minister Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, said that the generations of Pakistanis had played a vital role in Bahrain’s growth with many having made the kingdom their second home.

He said that Pakistan’s financial institutions had been important contributors to Bahrain’s financial sector for over half a century.

The minister said that Bahrain was witnessing a generational transformation as the region was becoming a center of innovation, sustainability, and technological excellence in which Bahrain was playing a leading role.

He highlighted that in financial services, Bahrain’s forward-looking regulatory environment, skilled talent base, and thriving fintech landscape provide an ideal platform for Pakistani banks and innovators to expand their regional and global reach.

Similarly, in digital technology, Bahrain’s high-capacity subsea cables and expanding digital infrastructure were positioning it as a regional center for data and connectivity, opening opportunities for Pakistani firms in software engineering, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and next-generation digital services.

The finance minister said that as Bahrain was advancing Vision 2030 and laying the foundations for Vision 2050, it saw Pakistan as a partner in a shared economic future.