Pakistan Chases $2.5B Rail Investment Dream

Pakistan is going all out to modernize its aged railway tracks, inviting Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to invest $2.5 billion to revamp the key Multan–Lahore line. Hanif Abbasi, the railways minister, has suggested the use of the build–operate–transfer (BOT) approach, inviting Gulf investors to take a 25-year concession on running this important corridor.

Abbasi also considered proposing similar investments in the Lahore–Rawalpindi sector. Some of the key players in early negotiations include Mashreq Bank, which is a Dubai-based entity currently looking at opportunities in the rail sector outside its prime digital banking business.

These schemes are part of larger national plans, such as reviving large parts of Pakistan’s colonial-era rail network, while others under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) are held up. With a number of international bidders having already tendered technical proposals, the next few weeks may determine the pace of Pakistan’s railway renaissance and the pull of Gulf capital into long-delayed transport upgradation.

Read more: PM Inaugurates Mashreq Digital Bank in Pakistan