ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to work towards raising Pakistan’s agricultural and food exports to the Kingdom to $3 billion within the next two years, marking a major development in bilateral economic cooperation under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s personal focus on the agriculture and food-security sectors.
The understanding was reached during high-level Pakistan-Saudi agricultural negotiations held during the visit of Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Engineer Abdulrahman A. Al-Fadley to Islamabad from August 26 to 28.
A joint communiqué issued after the visit identified rice, red meat, fruits and fruit concentrates, green fodder and water-efficient agricultural technologies as priority areas for expanded trade and investment.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia aim to boost Pakistan’s agricultural and food exports to the Kingdom to $3 billion within two years, according to a joint statement issued after high-level talks in Islamabad. Saudi Arabia has also expressed interest in gradually doubling red meat… pic.twitter.com/BT1d11fadG
— Pakistan TV (@PakTVGlobal) August 30, 2026
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also met the Saudi delegation and discussed potential areas of cooperation, while the Pakistani side was led by Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain.
Pakistan’s agricultural and food-export potential
The two sides highlighted strong complementarities between Saudi Arabia’s food-security priorities under Vision 2030 and Pakistan’s agricultural and food-export potential, agreeing to deepen cooperation with the Saudi private sector.
Pakistan supplied around 169,000 tonnes of rice worth approximately $163 million to Saudi Arabia in 2025. The Saudi side expressed interest in significantly expanding bilateral rice trade in the coming years.
In the red-meat sector, Pakistan currently supplies around 30,000 tonnes annually, valued at approximately $167 million. Saudi Arabia expressed interest in gradually doubling imports of red meat from Pakistan, according to the communiqué.
The two countries also agreed to facilitate business-to-business linkages and matchmaking in the fruit and fruit-concentrate sector, while encouraging steps towards mutual recognition of quality certifications to expand Pakistan’s market share in Saudi Arabia.
Green fodder and water-efficient agriculture were also identified as promising areas for long-term cooperation.
Both sides welcomed the successful completion of the first phase of a water-efficient irrigation programme in Bhakkar, Punjab, and expressed interest in a proposed second phase targeting small farmers.
Pakistan-Saudi strategic partnership
The Saudi delegation also encouraged Pakistan to join the International Date Council, with the Pakistani side welcoming the proposal.
During the visit, the two sides reviewed investment proposals from Pakistan’s private sector in livestock, agri-food processing and the rice value chain and agreed to maintain coordination to advance viable investment opportunities.
The Saudi delegation included senior officials from the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, the General Food Security Authority and other relevant institutions.
The Pakistani delegation included Secretary Commerce Jawad Paul, Secretary National Food Security and Research Aamir Ali Ahmed, Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Agriculture and Food Security Ahmad Umair and representatives of Pakistan’s rice, red-meat, processed-food/fruit-concentrate and green-fodder sectors.
The Saudi delegation also held meetings with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), Fauji Foundation and Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Agribusiness Forum, besides visiting the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC).
Both countries reaffirmed their longstanding strategic partnership and welcomed an invitation for Pakistan to participate in the 43rd Saudi Agriculture Exhibition, scheduled to be held in Riyadh from October 19 to 22, 2026.
The latest understanding provides a concrete economic dimension to the broader Pakistan-Saudi strategic partnership, with agriculture and food security emerging as key areas for expanding trade, investment and long-term supply-chain cooperation.
