Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's biggest economy, pledged $6 billion aid to Prime Minister Imran Khan for Pakistan to recover from its diminishing finances.
Riyadh, under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, would dump $3 billion as the form of "balance of payment support," according to Bloomberg. The other $3 billion would comprise a one-year delayed payment for Pakistan's oil imports. The agreement would expand for three years, the subject for further review by both parties, according to the memorandum announced on Tuesday, Oct. 23.
Pakistani Finance Minister Asad Umar said his country needs over $12 billion to stabilize finances gravely affected by local currency deficits and diminishing foreign reserves.
Khan had failed to secure financial aid from China and the United Arab Emirates. Its success with Saudi Arabia may have been the reason why despite heavy criticisms from Pakistanis, the prime minister attended the controversial Future Investment Initiative hosted by Saudi Arabia. The event kicked off on Tuesday, in the middle of new investigations finding top Saudi officials orchestrating the horrific death of journalist Jama Khashoggi inside the kingdom's consulate In Turkey.
The investment forum, originally intended to promote Saudi Arabia as a new hub for business ventures and location for multi-billion tech projects, was already snubbed by top executives of various known companies as well as world leaders.
The unplanned boycott was the international community's way of telling that it condemns the killing of Khashoggi, a known critic of the Crown Prince.
Among top executives who have canceled their attendance were International Monetary Fund Chief Christine Lagarde, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser, as well as executives of JP Morgan, Ford, and Uber. The latter decided to pull out from the event despite Saudi Arabia being one of its major shareholders and has, in fact, a Saudi national as one of its board members.
Big names in the media industry - Bloomberg, the Financial Times, and CNN - had also canceled their participation from the event.
Those who would still attend Saudi's investment Forum were senior executives from HSBC and Credit Suisse.
Various companies from China and Russia are still keen to attend - something that was expected according to Ellen Wald, author of the book Saudi Inc. Since many U.S. companies have withdrawn from the event, it opens big opportunities for Chinese and Russian businesses, Wald told AFP.
Some market analysts said the companies and countries might just be temporarily distancing themselves from the kingdom while the case remained unsolved. As for business ventures, however, companies have yet to officially cease relations with the kingdom.
