Army chief says Pakistan seeks long-term mineral investment

Field Marshal Asim Munir, the chief of defence forces and chief of army staff, said on Friday that Pakistan aims to become a competitive destination for long-term mineral investment and that the whole mining chain would be protected. He was addressing the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2026 in Islamabad, Radio Pakistan reported.

"Mines and miners, investments, industries, projects and all associated people would be provided adequate protection," Munir said, according to the state broadcaster.

He said harnessing the country's mineral wealth was a collective national objective, and that the aim was not to ship raw material abroad but to build refining and manufacturing at home. "Pakistan seeks to foster long-term partnerships that create sustainable economic value for the country and its partners," he said.

Mineral development had to reach the people who live in mineral-rich areas, he said, and they should see visible improvement in their lives. "Pakistan must move from potential to productivity, from promises to action, and from raw exports to value-added growth."

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking at the same forum, said Pakistan would join the world's major economies before 2050 and cited a Goldman Sachs forecast that the country could become the world's sixth-largest economy by 2075.

He said Pakistan did not want to keep exporting its minerals in raw form and would use them in domestic downstream industries instead. "The day is not far when Pakistan will utilise its mineral resources for the country's downstream industries," he said.

The Reko Diq copper and gold project, one of the world's largest undeveloped deposits, had been stalled for two decades and was now moving towards practical completion and its operational phase, he said.

The prime minister said a National Minerals Data Centre and the digitisation of geological records would make reliable information available, and that federal and provincial governments would work together to promote the sector.

He told investors his government would protect their interests and would move held-up files as quickly as possible, and that protecting manpower, assets and supply routes was the government's responsibility. Reliable electricity, water and communications infrastructure was needed to draw investment, he said, and the cooperation and trust of local communities was essential to any project's success.

Dawn reported that delegations, exhibitors and attendees arrived from across the world for the two-day event, which opened on Thursday, with Pakistan presenting resources from coal and salt to gold and critical minerals.