{"id":25783,"date":"2025-10-28T06:59:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T06:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=25783"},"modified":"2025-10-28T06:59:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T06:59:24","slug":"pakistan-aims-to-double-trade-with-the-uae-to-20-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=25783","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan aims to double trade with the UAE to $20 billion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Adviser Khurram Shehzad highlighted the UAE\u2019s $10 billion pledge and Pakistan\u2019s economic reset<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Khurram<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Khurram Shehzad, Adviser to the Finance Minister of Pakistan, spoke at the ICAP Middle East CFO Conference in DubaiSupplied<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan is seeking to double its trade with the UAE from $10 billion to $20 billion within the next three to four years, according to Khurram Shehzad, Adviser to the Finance Minister of Pakistan. Speaking at the ICAP Middle East CFO Conference in Dubai,\u00a0he said the move reflects growing investor confidence in Pakistan\u2019s economic outlook and the strong bilateral relationship between the two nations.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe already have $10 billion in total trade with the UAE, and we aspire, we wish, to take it to double it to $20 billion in the next two to three years,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s quite possible because there are several areas we offer to the entire world, which include agriculture, food security, data and analytics, AI, mining and minerals, defense, and much more. Our market is huge, our location is very strategic, and we are now stabilizing and moving towards growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shehzad said the UAE remains one of Pakistan\u2019s most significant economic partners, not only in trade but also in remittances and investment flows. \u201cRemittances we receive from the UAE alone are around $8 billion on an annual basis, and there\u2019s a growth of 42% last year. It\u2019s a huge one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Privatisation and UAE investment interest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The adviser pointed to recent developments in Pakistan\u2019s privatisation drive, which has begun to attract major investors from the UAE. He highlighted the International Holding Company (IHC), one of the Middle East\u2019s largest listed conglomerates with a market valuation of around $240 billion and assets under management exceeding $100 billion, which recently acquired Pakistan’s state-owned First Women Bank Limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough this transaction size is small, it has entered Pakistan at a point where we\u2019ve been facing a lot of challenges,\u201d he said. \u201cSince the economy has stabilised, ratings have been upgraded, and we\u2019re back to the global markets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shehzad noted that Pakistan recently raised $1 billion from commercial banks in the Middle East, led by Dubai Islamic Bank and Standard Chartered, in another signal of strengthening investor confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom your perspective, His Excellency, the significance of the investor is very important,\u201d he said, addressing the UAE Minister of Foreign Trade, Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi. \u201cThis shows trust in Pakistan\u2019s market at a time when things are turning around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macroeconomic reset and reform agenda<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The adviser said Pakistan has made meaningful progress in stabilising its economy over the past year, noting that several key indicators are now moving in the right direction. \u201cInflation has been a good story. Fiscal and external sides have been a good story. Interest rates have been a good story. Privatisation has a bigger story,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described Pakistan\u2019s current position as a \u201cmacro reset\u201d, adding that the country has moved past the worst of its 2022\u20132023 financial challenges. \u201cWe have been out of the woods now. We actually faced a huge tough time back in 2022 and 2023 when we were on the verge of default, and we are now out of the woods,\u201d he said. \u201cInflation is down, rates are normalised, the current account has strengthened, and currency stability is there now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government\u2019s ongoing reform agenda has also improved investor sentiment. \u201cThe Government of Pakistan has been moving on reforms that improve returns and exit options,\u201d Shehzad said. \u201cIf you add deep people-to-people ties and shared logistics, Pakistan becomes a compelling investment story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UAE\u2019s $10 billion commitment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Shehzad praised the UAE for its continued support, citing the country\u2019s recent commitment to invest $10 billion further in Pakistan. \u201cHis Excellency and his government have recently committed to invest $10 billion further in Pakistan, and now it\u2019s up to us how we make the best use of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said Pakistan\u2019s large population, strategic location, and expanding middle class offer strong opportunities for UAE investors in energy, food security, logistics, and technology. \u201cNumber one is the scale and location. Pakistan offers a huge market. Number two is the macro reset, and number three is the reform agenda,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the renewed confidence from Gulf investors, supported by recent financial stability and upgraded credit ratings, signals Pakistan\u2019s return to global markets. \u201cIt\u2019s been a good story after a long time,\u201d Shehzad said. \u201cWe are back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference Link:- https:\/\/gulfnews.com\/business\/markets\/pakistan-aims-to-double-trade-with-the-uae-to-20-billion-in-two-years-1.500322575<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adviser Khurram Shehzad highlighted the UAE\u2019s $10 billion pledge and Pakistan\u2019s economic reset Khurram Shehzad, Adviser to the Finance Minister of Pakistan, spoke at the ICAP Middle East CFO Conference in DubaiSupplied Pakistan is seeking to double its trade with the UAE from $10 billion to $20 billion within the next three to four years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[24680,2076,2769,483,2906,23773],"class_list":["post-25783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","tag-20-billion","tag-economy-2","tag-exports-2","tag-pakistan-2","tag-trade-2","tag-uae-2","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25783"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25785,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25783\/revisions\/25785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}