Pakistan to speed up work on joint entertainment productions with Saudi Arabia

Pakistan’s Information Minister, Shibli Faraz expressed Islamabad wanted enhanced cultural cooperation with Riyadh, and to ‘speed up’ work on joint film and television productions to bring the people of the two countries closer together, according to a private source.

“Some dramas got dubbed and were sent there [Saudi Arabia], some films. Some even the royal family watched, like Parchi,” he said, as he elaborated on strengthening ties between the two nations.

Parchi became the first Pakistani film ever to release in Saudi Arabia in 2018 and one of the first international releases in the Kingdom after a nearly 40-year ban on cinemas came to an end.

“There is a lot of similarity in our cultures, so on the basis of that, we would want that we can do more joint productions in films, in dramas . This is a very powerful tool to bring two countries, two relationships, closer together,” adding that the government’s efforts involve speeding up the process and creating institutional mechanisms so the process can go on, without delay.

Last year in June, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry had revealed that Pakistan will be taking stringent measures to strengthen its cultural ties with Saudi Arabia. Part of this would involve the latter incorporating the expertise of Pakistani artists in its upcoming art schools.