KARACHI
Mian Zahid Hussain, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Chairman National Business Group Pakistan, Chairman Policy Advisory Board FPCCI, and Former Provincial Minister Information Technology, has welcomed the historic Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, terming it a major step towards collective security, regional stability and deeper economic cooperation among important Muslim countries. He said the agreement signed in Makkah on August 7, 2026, provides that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack on three.
He said the pact is defensive in nature and aims to strengthen collective deterrence while expanding defence cooperation among the three brotherly countries. He noted that recent statements from Turkish leadership indicate that the vision is not intended to remain confined to three countries, and that other regional countries seeking peace, prosperity and stability could eventually become part of the framework.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the economic, demographic and defence dimensions of the Makkah Pact highlight its exceptional significance. Türkiye has an economy of approximately $1.6 trillion, Saudi Arabia $1.3 trillion, while Pakistan’s economy reached $452 billion in FY2025-26, bringing the combined economic strength of the three brotherly countries to around $3.33 trillion. Similarly, Pakistan has a population of about 250 million, Türkiye around 85 million, and Saudi Arabia nearly 37.5 million, taking their combined population to more than 370 million. He said that Saudi Arabia’s annual defence budget is approximately $83.2 billion, Türkiye’s around $30 billion, and Pakistan’s about $12 billion, bringing the combined annual defence budget of the three countries to nearly $125 billion. Through this alliance, Pakistan’s nuclear capability, Saudi Arabia’s economic strength and Türkiye’s expertise in defence technology have merged together. These economic, demographic and defence capabilities have elevated the Makkah Pact into an extremely important regional strategic alliance. He further added that the three countries also represent a vast market, substantial purchasing power, strategically important geography and a large pool of human resources. He said that if more countries join this framework in the future, its overall economic strength, market size and geographical reach could expand significantly, creating greater opportunities for Pakistani industry, exports and investment to secure a central position within the emerging regional framework.
Mian Zahid Hussain said the pact carries major economic opportunities for Pakistani businesses. Pakistani companies can expand joint ventures and exports in defence engineering, information technology, pharmaceuticals, surgical instruments, textiles, food processing, agriculture, construction materials, logistics, minerals and energy-related industries. Türkiye’s leadership has itself expressed the expectation that cooperation created through the pact should extend beyond security into connectivity, trade, finance and investment. He added that Pakistani manufacturers and exporters should be integrated into emerging defence and industrial supply chains, while Saudi investment and Turkish technology should be channelled into export-oriented industries in Pakistan. Joint production, technology transfer and access to third-country markets will turn the pact into a powerful platform for industrialisation and employment.
