MBS with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi - image via Reuters
As Saudi Arabia continues efforts to diversify and transform its economy into a knowledge-based one, the Kingdom’s young Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has been on week-long Asia tour, visiting some of the region’s key players – India, Pakistan, China, and South Korea – in a bid to strengthen relations with these countries, announce new investments in energy and infrastructure, and secure a number of trade deals.
MBS with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan
The Crown Prince started his tour with Pakistan, where he met with top officials and secured a number of agreements worth $20 billion, including one to develop alternative energy. While there, work by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) was showcased in an event attended by the Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, along with ambassadors from other Arab countries, senior officials of the Pakistani government, and media figures.
MBS in India
The Crown Prince then headed to India, a country with which Saudi Arabia has always had a strong business relationship with. Indeed, according to a recent article by CNN, trade between the two countries rose about 10 percent last year, reaching $27.5 billion, and India currently imports 17 percent of its oil from Saudi Arabia. According to Independent, following the Crown Prince’s visit, the Kingdom has now committed to deals with India worth $100 billion, $11 billion of that on a massive petrochemical project.
MBS in China - image via Reuters
Next up on the Crown Prince’s tour was China, Saudi Arabia's biggest trading partner (bilateral trade last year reportedly worth $42.36 billion). During his two-day visit, the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco signed a $10 billion deal to build a refining and petrochemical complex in China, as reported by Reuters. As Saudi Arabia seeks to move its economy away from a dependence on oil and focus on technology instead, the Crown Prince is looking at countries such as India and China primarily for foreign investment and expertise. After Beijing, the Crown Prince heads to Seoul in South Korea.
