Pakistan, Aug. 31 -- Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to raise Pakistani agricultural and food exports to $3 billion within two years to mark the Saudi delegation's visit to Islamabad, naming rice, red meat, fruit concentrates, green fodder and water-efficient technology as areas for cooperation. The government deserves credit for bringing a business agenda into a relationship often sustained by political goodwill. It has opened a useful door. The difficult work begins now.

First and foremost, the target needs to be explained clearly. Does the $3 billion figure refer to annual exports by 2028, sales accumulated over two years, or prospective contracts? These are very different outcomes. Pakistan supplied Saudi Arabia with 169,000 to...