Editorial: Pakistan needs to improve the security situation if it is serious about foreign investment in the mining sector

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, speaking to a think tank in New York, put Pakistan's mineral endowment at more than $7 trillion, though the method behind that estimate remains unclear, according to a Dawn editorial. He also said the country's unstable politics was the chief deterrent to foreign capital entering the sector, and that large investment would be needed to exploit the deposits. Dawn argues that this wealth cannot yet be tapped.

The editorial accepts that Pakistan holds substantial reserves, including critical minerals in demand for emerging technologies, but says the contribution of mining to GDP is currently very small. Shortages of money, skills and technology are part of the problem, yet the paper singles out insecurity in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the mineral wealth is concentrated, as the biggest obstacle. It argues that a security-first approach alone will not produce results.

According to the editorial, mining projects should give local residents priority in training and jobs, and firms should fund infrastructure and social responsibility work, since much of the activity is in poorer districts. The paper also wants processing industries built at home so that ore is not simply shipped abroad for added value. Without security, community development and policy continuity, the paper warns, the resource could become a curse rather than a benefit.