PM Shehbaz to visit Saudi Arabia for WEF meeting, Gambia for OIC summit

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Saudi Arabia to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) special meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy, scheduled to be held in Riyadh from April 28 to 29.

At her weekly media briefing in Islamabad today, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar will also accompany the Prime Minister during the visit.

FO Spokesperson said they have received the invitations from the Crown Prince of KSA Muhammad bin Salman, and Professor Klaus Schwab, the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

The Spokesperson said high-level participation in the Forum will afford an important opportunity to present Pakistan’s priorities specifically in global health architecture, inclusive growth, revitalizing regional collaboration, and the need for striking a balance between promoting growth and energy consumption.

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Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said on the margins of the main event, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister will also hold bilateral meetings with world leaders, heads of international organizations bodies, and other leading personalities participating in the event.

PM Shehbaz to participate in 15th OIC summit

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will also visit Gambia on May 4 to participate in the 15th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation being held in Banjul, the capital city of Gambia on May 4 and 5.

The Summit is being convened at a critical time for the Muslim Ummah as the war on the people of Gaza continues unabated, the FO spokesperson said.

Mumtaz Baloch said at the Summit, PM Shehbaz will speak about Pakistan’s grave concern about the genocide in Gaza, the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and  Kashmir, imperatives of solidarity and unity of the Ummah, rising Islamophobia and terrorism and other contemporary global issues.

He will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders of the Islamic world on the margins of the Summit, she said.

Before the OIC Summit, Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar will attend the OIC Foreign Ministers meeting on May 2 and 3. On the sidelines of the meeting, the Foreign Minister will meet with his counterparts from other OIC countries.