Pakistan hopes to sign media accords with Saudi Arabia, UAE after end of lockdown

ISLAMABAD: Once the restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus have been lifted, Pakistan hopes to expedite work on media and culture-related agreements signed last year with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the Pakistani information minister said on Thursday.

Last year, Pakistan’s then information minister announced during a visit to Riyadh that Islamabad would soon export television series to the Kingdom. The press information department in Islamabad also said in March last year that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had agreed to form a working group that would explore the possibilities of collaboration in filmmaking, drama production and the performing arts.

In August, Turki Al-Shabanah, then Saudi media minister, also met Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to discuss media cooperation.

“Saudi Arabian culture is very dear to Pakistanis so we would like to work with them through joint productions, cultural exchanges of artisans,” Information Minister Shibli Faraz told Arab News.

“We have a number of MOUs (memorandums of agreement) signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and would like to fast forward their implementation after this coronavirus pandemic to tackle the challenges faced by the Muslim world.

“Now is the time for Muslim countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to encourage and create projects that project Muslim history, heritage and culture by bringing out the work and greatness achieved by our legends,” Faraz said, adding that talks between the two nations were underway to revamp a working group representing information ministries from both countries.

Last year, a popular Pakistani drama from the 1980s, “Dhoop Kinare,” was dubbed in Arabic and broadcast for the first time in the Kingdom. A number of Pakistani films have also been aired in the Kingdom since 2018.