ISLAMABAD: A Copenhagen-based multinational mining company, FLSmidth, will train 100 Pakistani engineers in mining, the Pakistani government said on Friday, amid Islamabad’s efforts to utilize the country’s vast mineral resources for economic gains.
The statement by Pakistan’s Press Information Department (PID) came after Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik’s meeting with Danish Ambassador to Pakistan Jakob Linulf in Islamabad that focused on bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, particularly in mining and technological collaboration.
Malik recognized that FLSmidth’s advanced solutions in cement production, mineral processing and decarbonization align with Pakistan’s goals of increasing efficiency and reducing environmental impact in its extractive industries, according to the PID.
He emphasized the Pakistani government’s commitment to creating an investor-friendly environment and invited Danish companies, including FLSmidth, to explore partnerships with Pakistani firms during the Pakistani Minerals Investment Forum on April 8-9.
“FLSmidth will be launching a training program named BRIMM (Bradshaw Research Initiative for Minerals and Mining) under which hundred Pakistani engineers will be provided training,” the PID said, citing the Danish ambassador.
“FLSmidth has already entered into 5 partnership agreements in minerals sector of Pakistan.”
Pakistan’s landscape is a treasure trove of diverse mineral deposits from huge coal reserves in the southern Sindh province to gold and copper deposits in the southwestern Balochistan province. The northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is home to several gemstone mines, including emerald mines in Swat, Mardan’s pink topaz mines, and peridot mines in Kohistan.
The South Asian country is currently making efforts to utilize these vast mineral resources through foreign investment and collaboration to stabilize its $350 billion economy.
Petroleum Minister Malik expressed Pakistan’s keen interest in leveraging Danish technology and investment to optimize resource extraction and processing as the South Asian country has significant mineral reserves. He extended his full support and offered the government’s good offices to facilitate Danish investment and technology transfer in Pakistan’s growing mining sector, according to the statement.
The ambassador reaffirmed Denmark’s support for Pakistan’s energy transition and industrial growth, and said they were looking forward to Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum.
“He noted that Danish companies are eager to share their expertise in green mining solutions, automation, and digitalization to help Pakistan achieve its economic and environmental objectives,” the PID said.
The meeting concluded with an agreement to facilitate further engagement between Pakistani stakeholders and Danish technology providers, with FLSmidth playing a pivotal role in advancing modern mining practices in Pakistan.
Danish firm to train Pakistani engineers as Islamabad seeks to exploit mineral resources
https://arab.news/rca23
Danish firm to train Pakistani engineers as Islamabad seeks to exploit mineral resources
- Pakistan’s landscape is a treasure trove of diverse mineral deposits from huge coal reserves to gold and copper deposits to gemstone
- The South Asian country is currently making efforts to utilize these vast mineral resources to stabilize its $350 billion fragile economy
Back from Iran, Pakistani students say they heard gunshots while confined to campus
- Students say they were confined to dormitories and unable to leave campuses amid unrest
- Pakistani students stayed in touch with families through the embassy amid Internet blackout
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani students returning from Iran on Thursday said they heard gunshots and stories of rioting and violence while being confined to campus and not allowed out of their dormitories in the evening.
Iran’s leadership is trying to quell the worst domestic unrest since its 1979 revolution, with a rights group putting the death toll over 2,600.
As the protests swell, Tehran is seeking to deter US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to intervene on behalf of anti-government protesters.
“During nighttime, we would sit inside and we would hear gunshots,” Shahanshah Abbas, a fourth-year student at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, said at the Islamabad airport.
“The situation down there is that riots have been happening everywhere. People are dying. Force is being used.”
Abbas said students at the university were not allowed to leave campus and told to stay in their dormitories after 4 p.m.
“There was nothing happening on campus,” Abbas said, but in his interactions with Iranians, he heard stories of violence and chaos.
“The surrounding areas, like banks, mosques, they were damaged, set on fire ... so things were really bad.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran but adopted a wait-and-see posture on Thursday after protests appeared to have abated. Information flows have been hampered by an Internet blackout for a week.
“We were not allowed to go out of the university,” said Arslan Haider, a student in his final year. “The riots would mostly start later in the day.”
Haider said he was unable to contact his family due to the blackout but “now that they opened international calls, the students are getting back because their parents were concerned.”
A Pakistani diplomat in Tehran said the embassy was getting calls from many of the 3,500 students in Iran to send messages to their families back home.
“Since they don’t have Internet connections to make WhatsApp and other social network calls, what they do is they contact the embassy from local phone numbers and tell us to inform their families.”
Rimsha Akbar, who was in the middle of her final year exams at Isfahan, said international students were kept safe.
“Iranians would tell us if we are talking on Snapchat or if we were riding in a cab ... that shelling had happened, tear gas had happened, and that a lot of people were killed.”
