Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Directs Comprehensive Action Plan to Boost Exports from Vast Mineral Reserves; Expresses Dissatisfaction Over Delays in Gemstone Pilot Project
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has voiced his discontent with the slow progress on the pilot project for exploration, cutting and value addition of precious stones, calling on the concerned authorities to draw up and submit a concrete action plan immediately.
The Prime Minister, while presiding over a high level review meeting in the city of Islamabad, emphasized that laxity on the part of the Government in developing gemstone and minerals industry will not be tolerated. He emphasized the need to create an entire mining and value-addition chain, and stressed that simple extraction techniques and the illegal mining of precious stones are causing annual losses equivalent to billions of dollars.
The following are some of the key highlights of the mineral sector review and the Prime Minister’s directive.
Curbing Smuggling and Boosting Exports: Prime Minister Sharif emphasized that special steps need to be taken to maximize export revenues from Pakistan’s vast mineral and gemstone reserves. He requested the officials to follow the international standards in the development and have Pakistani “Brand Pakistan” in the international image.
Ordering the hasty creation of special infrastructure, the premier organized the establishment of Centers of Excellence for value addition.
Project Progress and Geographical Mapping: During the briefing, officials informed the prime minister that the land transfer process for the Center of Excellence in Hussainabad, Skardu has been successfully completed and construction will begin in the near future, while potential sites have also been located in Azad Kashmir and Islamabad. Moreover, in recent years, eight new blocks have been identified in the region by geological mapping that contain good to excellent pre-mining deposits.