Minerals forum opens in Islamabad with investors from over 60 countries

Pakistan opened a two-day minerals investment forum at the Jinnah Convention Centre in Islamabad on Thursday, with investors, diplomats and international mining companies from more than 60 countries attending, Aaj News reported.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar inaugurated the event, which the federal government is holding with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). The chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, the prime minister of Azad Kashmir and the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attended the opening session.

Dar said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's aim was an economy built on productivity, exports and investment. He said Balochistan was central to Pakistan's minerals future and the government was committed to making sure the province's resources brought real gains to its economy and to its people. The plan covered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the mineral-rich northern regions, Punjab and Sindh as well, he said. The goal was not only to extract and export raw material but to build local capacity for processing, refining and value-added manufacturing, and participation from more than 60 countries reflected growing global interest, he said.

Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Amjad Hussain Azar told the forum his government had framed the procedures needed to make investment in mineral exploration easier.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said revenue from the provincial mines department had risen to Rs40 billion over the past two and a half years. She said placer gold deposits in Punjab's rivers were being surveyed and studied to establish their quantity, and that Chiniot held 261.5 million tonnes of iron ore that could be processed into steel. Value addition to pink salt was another source of income for the province, she said.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said another security division had been set up to protect a minerals corridor and give investors a safe environment. He said Reko Diq would be operational by 2029, that the provincial government planned to build a fertiliser city at Sui, and that the Saruna area held larger oil and gas reserves than Sui.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said a Mines and Minerals Company would be made operational in the province soon, and assured investors of full security.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said 27 minerals had been identified in his province and the government had established a system for the sector, naming Thar coal as one of its main resources. Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Syed Iftikhar Ali Gilani invited investors to explore the deposits and possibilities in the territory.

Natalie Baker, the ambassador-designate to Pakistan, told Aaj News that Pakistan was a large market for business and investment with wide opportunities in critical minerals and mining. She said the forum's size had doubled from last year and that she hoped it would produce good news and significant investment announcements.

According to the agenda, the prime minister and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir will address the forum on Friday, 13 November.