Key Points
- Japanese group explores Pakistan’s mining investment opportunities
- Projects offer opportunities in exploration and value addition
ISLAMABAD: Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation has engaged with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan’s mining and minerals projects with significant investment potential.
According to a statement issued by SIFC on Tuesday, the engagement reflects growing international interest in Pakistan’s resource potential and the council’s efforts to connect global investors with commercially viable projects.
SIFC said Pakistan’s mining and minerals sector offered substantial opportunities in exploration, resource development, value addition and downstream industrial activity.
The council is facilitating international engagement to unlock this potential and encourage greater participation by global investors.
The engagement forms part of SIFC’s efforts to connect leading international investors with strategic economic sectors and facilitate their entry into commercially sustainable projects.
Japan’s trading and investment group
Sumitomo Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is a Japanese trading and investment group with operations across multiple sectors.
Pakistan has increasingly positioned mining and minerals as a potential source of foreign investment, export earnings and industrial development.
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The government is seeking to move beyond extraction by encouraging exploration, processing, value addition and downstream activity.
SIFC, the top-level one-window investor service, has been facilitating investor access to identified projects and coordinating with relevant government institutions to streamline investment.
The body, chaired by the Prime Minister and co-chaired by the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief of Defence Forces, remained effective in removing bottlenecks and bureaucratic red tape in the way of investment projects. It also facilitates profit repatriation by foreign investors.
The council has also sought to improve investor confidence and attract international capital into strategic sectors. The latest engagement with Sumitomo adds to efforts to bring established global companies into Pakistan’s minerals sector and assess commercially viable opportunities.
