ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Pakistan, Nawaf bin Saeed Ahmad Al-Maliky, wants to utilise Pakistan’s experience in the field of cricket and promote the game in his country.

The ambassador, who called on the Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr. Fehmida Mirza, discussed cooperation in the field of sports between both the countries, said a press release issued here.

The ambassador said Pakistan cricket team was famous in the region due to which cricket was also becoming popular in Saudi Arabia. “We want to utilize Pakistan rich experience in the field of cricket and promote it in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

He said sports were very important for the people and collaboration between the countries was necessary to show the real picture of the society.

The meeting discussed in detail cooperation, sharing of experiences in different fields of sports, the potentials of both countries in sports and its utilization.

They also discussed practical steps to be taken for enhancing sports relations and activities between the two countries.

The minister expressed gratitude to the ambassador for visiting her ministry and said that she believed in sports diplomacy and Pakistan had got a lot of youth bulge in sports.

There is a lot of potential and talent in athletes but they need support in terms of training in those fields where both countries have expertise. Both the countries could launch initiatives such as exchange of teams and coaches for sharing of experiences and best practices in the field as athletes of both countries needed further exposure, she said.

She further said that in the past Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) were signed but we needed to focus on implementation for cooperation and enhancement of sports diplomacy. IPC Secretary Ghufran Memon also attended the meeting.