ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has invited Chinese investors to explore investment opportunities in the natural resources sector of its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday, as Islamabad aims to attract foreign investment and unlock the region’s mineral potential.

KP is rich in natural resources, including significant deposits of metallic and non-metallic minerals, precious gemstones, marble, granite, limestone and chromite as well as oil and natural gas reserves. The province also has considerable hydropower potential.

Last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government sidelined the opposition-led government in the province, citing persistent security and governance challenges, and brought the region under federal control by imposing governor’s rule and an emergency in militancy-hit districts.

Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, who is running provincial affairs under the new administrative arrangement, met a delegation of Chinese investors in the provincial capital of Peshawar and invited them to invest in the province's rich natural resources.

"Detailed discussions were held on investment opportunities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly the potential of the minerals sector and opportunities in the province's economic zones," the radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.

The development comes amid Islamabad's push to attract foreign investment as Pakistan seeks to tap its largely untapped natural resources.

Kundi told Chinese investors that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is rich in natural resources and mineral reserves and offers vast investment opportunities, including in the mining sector.

"Chinese investors can fully benefit from the economic zones established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and all possible measures would be taken to provide investors with the necessary facilities," he was quoted as saying.