ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged international mining companies to refine and manufacture Pakistan’s minerals inside the country rather than ship them out raw, as the two-day Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2026 brought government leaders and global investors together in Islamabad.
Addressing the forum, the Prime Minister summed up his message as “mine in Pakistan, process in Pakistan, manufacture in Pakistan” before exporting to the world. He repeated his pledge to end the export of raw minerals, saying that day was not far away, and called for refineries, smelters and factories for cables and conductors to be built alongside projects in Balochistan, including Reko Diq. He promised to reduce bureaucratic delays, make the award of licences transparent and digitise geological records, and told investors to bring any hold-ups directly to him.
Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir pledged maximum security for mines, miners, investors and projects, according to an ISPR statement. He described turning mineral wealth into economic opportunity as a shared national goal and stressed building the full value chain so that nearby communities benefit directly.
On the sidelines of the forum, Robert Friedland’s Ivanhoe group and Mari signed an agreement to explore copper and gold deposits in Chagai district, in a ceremony attended by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik. The minister also met senior executives of Barrick, British engineering firm Weir, commodities trader Trafigura and Turkey’s Calik Holding. Weir expressed interest in expanding its role in Pakistan, including at Reko Diq, while Trafigura showed interest in zinc and barite projects.
Background
The forum opened on Thursday with an invitation to global investors to develop the country’s copper, gold and other reserves, as NEN reported. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb described the minerals sector as a potential game changer for the economy. Chagai, in western Balochistan, is home to the Saindak copper-gold project and the Reko Diq deposit, one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold resources.
What This Means for You
Processing minerals at home means more of the value stays in Pakistan: instead of exporting ore, the country would export refined metal and finished goods such as cables, which sell for more and need a larger workforce. The Prime Minister also asked mining firms to set up vocational training centres, transfer technology, use local suppliers and invest in schools, health care and clean drinking water for communities near the mines. For job seekers in Balochistan, that would mean training and employment closer to home if the projects go ahead.
The Prime Minister said the government would remove delays in licensing and make geological data available digitally to speed up new projects.
Sources: Radio Pakistan, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Arab News
Featured image: Photo: ماني / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
