Today is the second day of the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum that kicked off in Islamabad on Tuesday. Over 300 representatives of foreign countries, including China, USA, Saudi Arab, Russia and Finland, attended the Forum on the opening day. Agreements and memorandums of understanding were signed with the companies of different countries, including China, South Africa, UK and Russia, on the very first day.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while asserting that Pakistan was rich in mineral resources, said that these resources were worth billions of dollars and by utilizing them the country could get rid of its loans.   He said there were vast mineral reserves in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

“Similarly, Sindh and Punjab too are rich in mineral resources.”   The country, the prime minister added, had the largest coal reserves in the world. He further said there were many opportunities for investment in the country’s mineral sector and the purpose of organising the Forum was to introduce investors to this sector.   The prime minister further said that progress on the Reko Diq project was encouraging.

Earlier speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar stressed the need for the maximum utilization of the mineral resources for the durable economic progress of the country. “Pakistan is going to enter a new phase of economic development,” he said, adding, “All indicators are positive. International organisations too now acknowledge Pakistan’s economic development.”

Dar further said that Pakistan was rich in gold and copper. “What we require is more and more investment to make the most of these resources,” he said, and expressed the optimism that the Forum would help bring investment to the minerals sector. Speaking on the occasion, Senior American Bureau official Eric Mayor said that President Donald Trump had emphasized making the future of the mineral sector of the USA safe and secure.

Addressing the Forum, he said he was pleased that he was attending the Forum. “We convinced Pakistan to import the Soybean from the USA,” Eric said, adding that he was looking forward to working with Pakistan.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)