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The
event aims to spotlight Pakistan’s vast reserves of copper,
gold, lithium and other minerals while promoting investment
opportunities in the long-overlooked sector.
The Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum was inaugurated by Deputy
Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who said in televised remarks that
“Pakistan is strategically positioned to emerge as a global
mining powerhouse.” He added that the country holds one of the
world’s largest unexplored reserves and is offering incentives
to potential investors.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country's
powerful army chief Gen. Asim Munir also attended the event.
Pakistan is home to significant mineral wealth, including
world's one of the largest copper and gold deposits in Reko Diq,
a district in the restive southwestern province of Balochistan,
which has witnessed a surge in attacks on security forces and
foreigners by Baloch separatists in recent years.
Oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest but also
least populated province. It is a hub for the country’s ethnic
Baloch minority, whose members say they face discrimination and
exploitation by the central government.
Pakistan says it has quelled the insurgency in Balochistan, but
the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army has continued to mount
attacks as recently as last month.
The BLA mostly targets security forces and foreigners,
especially Chinese nationals who are in Pakistan as part of
Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative. The BLA
wants a halt to all Chinese-funded projects and for Chinese
workers to leave Pakistan.
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