ISLAMABAD: Pakistan opened its two-day Minerals Investment Forum 2026 (PMIF26) in Islamabad on Thursday. Federal and provincial leaders used the opening session to present the country’s mineral sector to foreign investors and to promise them security and support.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said restoring investor confidence was a priority for both the federal and provincial governments. He described Balochistan as the future of the country’s minerals sector.
The forum is organised by the government in collaboration with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). It brings together officials, international mining executives, investors and industry experts. Its agenda covers critical minerals, sustainable mining and policy frameworks, as well as early-stage exploration finance and infrastructure and export corridors.
Provinces make their pitch
The chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the leaders of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan attended the opening.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said her government offers land at affordable rates and low-cost loans to businesses. She said mining lease approvals in the province had been digitised.
She also said surveys were under way to measure gold deposits in Punjab’s rivers, and that evidence of substantial deposits had been found. Business Recorder reported that she showed a sample she described as pure gold recovered from river sand. She said revenue from the provincial Mines and Minerals Department had risen from Rs10 billion to Rs40 billion over two and a half years.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said Thar coal holds considerable potential for investors and that the province has several other mineral resources. He said international investment could help bring modern technology to the province and that Sindh welcomes investors from around the world.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said investor security was the government’s foremost priority. He noted that the province is the country’s second-largest gas producer and said it has significant potential for mineral exploration.
Secretary Petroleum Hameed Yaqoob Sheikh told the opening session that Pakistan has substantial deposits of copper, gold, chromite, coal, gemstones and other critical minerals. Jens-Peter Lux, managing director of the German firm Deutsche Montan Technologie (DMT), pointed to possible cooperation between Pakistan, Germany and the wider European region in the critical raw minerals value chain.
Background
Pakistan’s mineral deposits include copper, gold, coal, rare earth elements, lithium, iron ore, chromite and gemstones across Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan. Arab News reported that the government hopes to attract billions of dollars in foreign investment through projects such as the Reko Diq copper and gold mine and through critical mineral exploration.
Security remains a central concern for investors, particularly in Balochistan. The Express Tribune reported ahead of the forum that Pakistan was urging the United States to lead investment in Balochistan’s minerals despite security risks. It also reported that a Canadian firm had delayed work on Reko Diq because of the US-Iran war.
The previous forum was held on April 8–9, 2025, in Islamabad. There the government launched the National Minerals Harmonisation Framework to align mining policies across the provinces and regions. Business Recorder reported at the time that the minerals sector contributed 3.2 per cent of GDP.
The forum continues on Friday, November 13, with sessions on social licence, ESG and security standards, and on infrastructure and export corridors, including rail, power, water, CPEC connectivity and public-private partnership models.
