Pakistan will process minerals at home, not export raw ore, Dar says

Pakistan's goal is to move beyond extracting minerals and exporting them raw, and to build the capacity to process, refine and manufacture them at home, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday.

He was speaking at the opening session of the third Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2026 (PMIF-26) in Islamabad, which has drawn participants from more than 60 countries. Dar said the turnout showed "growing international interest in Pakistan's mineral potential" and confidence in the government's commitment to long-term partnerships in the sector.

The forum, he said, was more than an investment conference. It reflected Pakistan's ambition to take an active part in the global shift towards clean energy, digital technologies and advanced manufacturing.

Dar said Pakistan had made significant progress over the past two years in stabilising macroeconomic indicators, crediting fiscal and monetary discipline, structural reforms and prudent financial management. Mineral development, he said, sits at the centre of the next phase of economic transformation: diversifying exports, strengthening the industrial base and attracting long-term investment.

He pointed to copper and gold potential along the Tethyan Metallogenic Belt in the west, and to deposits of iron ore, chromite, lead, zinc, coal, rock salt, marble, gypsum and gemstones. The Reko Diq copper-gold project in Balochistan, a partnership between Barrick Gold, federal state-owned enterprises and the Balochistan government, showed how international expertise, national participation and provincial ownership could combine in a major long-term investment, he said.

"But our ambition must extend beyond individual projects. It must encompass the entire minerals value chain," Dar said. That would need investment in mines, technology, processing facilities, energy, transport and logistics, and would open opportunities for Pakistani firms in engineering, equipment, specialised services and manufacturing, he said.

He said demand for copper and other critical minerals had risen with the global move to clean energy, electric vehicles and battery storage, and that Pakistan was offering itself as a competitive and trusted destination for exploration as countries diversify supply chains.

On governance, Dar said the constitutional framework made partnership with the provinces indispensable and that provincial authority over mineral resources must be respected. The federal government, he said, is working with the provinces on national coordination, investment facilitation, policy alignment and international engagement.

"Balochistan is central to Pakistan's mineral future," he said, pledging that developing the province's resources would benefit its economy and the well-being of its people. He said the agenda also covers Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the mineral-rich northern regions, and noted investment opportunities presented earlier by the chief ministers of Punjab and Sindh.

"A mine must create opportunities beyond its boundaries," Dar said, stressing local employment, skills development, local supply-chain participation and infrastructure investment. Communities would be active participants and beneficiaries, he said, with their livelihoods, traditions and cultural heritage fully respected.

He praised the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division), OGDCL, the Special Investment Facilitation Council and partner institutions for organising the forum, and thanked the Foreign Office and Pakistan's missions abroad for bringing in international participation.