Saudi Investors Consider 140-Acre Industrial Park in Karachi as Pakistan-Saudi Ties Deepen and UAE Relations Cool

Saudi investors are weighing a deal to create a 140-acre industrial park in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi. The proposed joint venture would focus on attracting maritime businesses and would use land belonging to the Karachi Port Trust. Semafor reported the development on June 9, 2026.

The project is presented as a further sign of warming ties between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Pakistan wants to establish itself as a hub for trade between China and the Gulf. The country has moved particularly close to Saudi Arabia in recent times, including through a bilateral defense pact signed last year.

That pact has strained Islamabad’s relations with the UAE. S. and Iran to end their war. The conflict has sharpened Saudi Arabia’s logistics sector.

The country’s Red Sea ports have seen a surge in business to service neighboring countries cut off from their usual trade routes due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.