PM Shehbaz Invites Bahraini Business Community to Invest in Pakistan, Highlights Long-Term Partnership Opportunities
Manama: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has invited Bahrain’s business community to invest in Pakistan, emphasizing vast opportunities for long-term partnerships in agriculture, IT, minerals, energy, and tourism. He extended the invitation while addressing Bahraini investors during his two-day official visit to the kingdom.
The event was attended by Bahrain’s Deputy Prime Minister, ministers of foreign affairs, finance, national economy, industry, and commerce, as well as Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, and other officials.
Prime Minister Sharif highlighted Pakistan’s young and skilled workforce, abundant natural resources, and rapidly expanding consumer market, noting that combined with Bahrain’s financial expertise and business acumen, “the possibilities multiply.”
He further stated that Pakistan is ready to enhance economic cooperation with Bahrain in agriculture, IT, artificial intelligence, fintech, and other emerging sectors, with the aim of creating synergy through shared knowledge and joint efforts.
He informed the audience that Pakistan and the GCC are expected to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) soon, which will significantly strengthen regional trade cooperation.
Speaking to the business community, the prime minister remarked: *“I address you not only as the Prime Minister of Pakistan but as the CEO of a country eager to build partnerships with Bahraini investors. We are ready to support your joint ventures, assist in your investment planning, and help make the journey of mutual benefit a success.”*
He expressed gratitude to Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince-Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa for their warm hospitality, saying bilateral relations are rooted in culture, faith, mutual trust, and decades of strategic cooperation. He stressed the need to transform these excellent relations into strong economic bonds.
PM Shehbaz pledged to convert Pakistan’s youth bulge into a productive force through IT, AI, vocational training, and skills development. He also lauded the contributions of over 100,000 Pakistanis living in Bahrain, who sent home $484 million in remittances last year.
He reaffirmed that Pakistan’s doors remain open to Bahraini investors: *“The doors of Pakistan—and my own office—will always remain open for you.”* He praised Bahrain’s visionary leadership for transforming the country into a hub of economic growth, financial innovation, and people-centered development.
Earlier, Bahrain’s Finance Minister Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa acknowledged the longstanding contribution of Pakistani professionals to the kingdom’s progress, noting that Pakistani financial institutions have been a key pillar of Bahrain’s financial sector for more than 50 years.
He said Bahrain is undergoing demographic transformation and is emerging as a regional center of innovation, sustainability, and technological excellence. The minister highlighted Bahrain’s high-capacity submarine cables and expanding digital infrastructure, which position it as a regional hub for data and connectivity—creating new opportunities for Pakistan’s software engineers, AI specialists, cybersecurity firms, and digital service providers.
He added that as Bahrain advances Vision 2030 and lays the foundation for Vision 2050, it sees Pakistan as a natural partner in shaping a shared economic future.
