ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has offered a 15 percent investment in the Reko Diq copper and gold mine project in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, according to Pakistani state-owned media on Saturday.
Reko Diq is considered one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold resources, primarily operated by Canada’s Barrick Gold, which holds a 50 percent stake in it.
The remaining stake is owned by three federal state-owned enterprises and the Balochistan provincial government, though Pakistan has also invited Saudi Arabia to invest in the project.
“Saudi Arabia has offered fifteen percent investment in Reko Diq Mining project,” the Radio Pakistan said in one of its reports. “The Kingdom has also offered grants to build road infrastructure around the Reko Diq project.”
“Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has approved the structure of the offer but the final decision has been left to the Cabinet Committee on Intergovernmental Transactions,” it added.
Pakistan set up the SIFC, a civil-military hybrid body, last year in June with the sole purpose of reviving the frail national economy, dented by low foreign exchange reserves, currency depreciation and record inflation.
Barrick Gold’s top official, Mark Bristow, has also acknowledged the Saudi interest in the project, saying his company would not dilute its equity.
However, he added that Barrick Gold would not oppose any decision by the Pakistan government to sell part of its stake to Saudia Arabia.
Radio Pakistan said the government in Islamabad expects up to $5 billion investment in the mining and agriculture sector by June next year.
Saudi Arabia offers 15% investment in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mining venture
https://arab.news/jmsyc
Saudi Arabia offers 15% investment in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mining venture
- Reko Diq in Pakistan’s southwest is considered one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold resources
- State-owned media says Pakistan expects up to $5 billion of Saudi investment in mining, agriculture by June 2025
Pakistan condemns Israel’s West Bank expansion measures at UN Security Council
- Islamabad calls for immediate halt to Israeli steps designating occupied land as “state land”
- Pakistan backs Gaza ceasefire, reconstruction under UN-endorsed diplomatic framework
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has condemned Israel’s recent decisions to expand control over the occupied West Bank while addressing a high-level United Nations Security Council briefing on Palestine in New York, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Israel’s cabinet approved new measures this month tightening administrative and legal control over parts of the West Bank, including easing land purchases by settlers and reclassifying land as “state land,” a move Palestinians and many international observers say deepens settlement expansion and undermines prospects for a two-state solution.
Pakistan, which does not recognize Israel and has consistently supported Palestinian statehood, has also recently joined a multilateral diplomatic framework aimed at stabilizing Gaza following the latest war and ceasefire efforts.
In a statement, the foreign ministry said Dar “strongly condemned Israel’s continued ceasefire violations, illegal settlement activities, and attempts to alter the status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly its recent illegal decisions and measures to expand control over the Occupied West Bank, including designating of its land as ‘state land’.”
He called for the “immediate halt and reversal” of those actions, according to the statement.
Dar also urged a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which underpins international efforts toward reconstruction and political settlement after months of conflict in the enclave.
The minister said Pakistan joined the Board of Peace — a diplomatic initiative supported by a group of Arab and Islamic countries — to support humanitarian relief and long-term political resolution.
He expressed hope the initiative would lead to “concrete steps” toward a ceasefire, expanded humanitarian aid and eventual realization of Palestinian self-determination through a political process based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Dar reaffirmed Pakistan’s willingness to support diplomatic initiatives including the Board of Peace, a proposed international peace conference and other multilateral efforts aimed at a “just, lasting and comprehensive peace” in the Middle East.
