A number of prominent Saudi businessmen and members of several chambers of commerce and industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will visit Pakistan next month to participate in the first ever expo being organized in Karachi, a diplomat said. Their trip was confirmed after Tariq Ikram, Pakistani minister of state and chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau, made a three-day visit to the Kingdom to meet Saudi businessmen and invite them to the expo. Hijab Gul, commercial counselor at the Consulate General of Pakistan, said Expo Pakistan will be held in Karachi on February 2-5. The expo will highlight Pakistan s growth in such fields as information technology and agriculture, Saudi Gazette reported today. The Pakistani minister of state met senior officials and prominent businessmen in Jeddah and Riyadh during his visit on January 1-3. He called on Prince Abdullah Bin Turki Bin Abdul Aziz, whose investment company is interested in real estate projects in Pakistan, Gul said. Besides his talks with Mohammed Abdullah Al-Sharif, secretary general of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the minister met executives of big companies in the Kingdom. They included Mohammed A.Y.Xenel Alireza of Xenel Industries ltd., Abdullah M. Sharbatly of Sharbatly group, Mazen Batterjee of Batterjee group of companies, Khalid Omar Abubaker Balubaid of Balubaid group of companies and Hussain A. Alireza of Hussain Ali Raza group of companies. President General Pervez Musharraf will inaugurate the expo on February 2, while Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, will address a trade and investment conference the next day. Individual and group meetings will be organized between Pakistani and foreign businessmen on February 4-5.Gul said a large number of overseas visitors are expected to join the expo.
