By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A council of Saudi Arabian and Pakistani investors launched a private equity fund on Monday, directing three-quarters of its capital to Pakistan as the two governments try to build private-sector trade and investment to match their deepening security ties.
The Saudi-Pakistan Joint Business Council, which the two governments formed, described the fund’s initial size as “multi-hundred million” and said it is expected to grow based on opportunities across sectors. The remaining quarter will go to Saudi Arabian projects, the council said in a statement. The council signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the fund in Karachi on Monday, Daily Pakistan reported. Pakistani outlets put the size in dollars. Who will manage the fund, which sectors it will target and how quickly it will deploy capital weren’t immediately disclosed.
The council is chaired by Prince Mansour bin Mohammad Al Saud and serves as a formal platform for private-sector cooperation, joint ventures and cross-sector partnerships between the two countries. It held a meeting in Islamabad in October 2025 with the support of Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council and the Ministry of Commerce.
The fund arrives as Islamabad and Riyadh deepen longstanding ties, especially in defense, with few signs of a breakthrough in the months-long US-Iran conflict.
Defense Ties
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on August 7, committing the three to treat an armed attack on one as an attack on all. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also signed a separate bilateral defense pact in September last year. Islamabad will initially head the trilateral pact’s secretariat for three years. The pact’s political and defense committee met in Istanbul in August and in Riyadh in October, where Houthi attacks were on the agenda.
Pakistan is likely to host the committee later this month, according to an official with direct knowledge. Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said on Sunday that Houthi rebels attempted to attack an Aramco administrative building in Riyadh. No casualties were reported, and Pakistan’s foreign office condemned the attempt on Monday.
Riyadh has also supported Pakistan’s balance of payments. In April, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said Saudi Arabia had committed $3 billion in additional support and agreed to extend an existing $5 billion deposit. Pakistan’s central bank said it received the funds in tranches, $2 billion first and then $1 billion. The support fed into a $7 billion International Monetary Fund program that targets reserves above $18 billion by June.
Trade and Investment Pipeline
Saudi investors have signaled interest across Pakistan’s economy this year. After meeting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on June 4, Prince Mansour’s delegation cited interest in ports, highways, airport outsourcing, energy, power distribution and information technology. The next day, Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan invited Saudi investors to help build the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway, known as M6, and two other highway projects. The M6 is a 306-kilometer, six-lane road with 15 interchanges and 10 service areas. The National Highway Authority and the Asian Development Bank signed an agreement in April to build two sections of it.
Prince Mansour returned to Islamabad in August. Sharif told the delegation on August 25 that Pakistan wants to lift its economic relationship with Saudi Arabia into a “strategic economic partnership.” Per the Prime Minister’s Office, the Saudi side conveyed interest in agriculture, ports, highways, airport outsourcing, real estate, energy, power distribution and information technology.
Days later, after a visit by Saudi Agriculture Minister Abdulrahman Al-Fadley from August 26 to 28, the two countries agreed to work toward lifting Pakistani agricultural and food exports to the kingdom to $3 billion within two years. Pakistan sold Saudi Arabia about 169,000 tons of rice worth $163 million in 2025, along with around 30,000 tons of meat valued at $167 million. Rice, red meat, fruit and concentrates, green fodder and water-efficient farm technology were named as priority areas.
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