THE renewed warmth in relations between Pakistan and the United States has started yielding concrete results as the two countries, on Monday, signed investment deals worth $500 million intended at developing and processing critical minerals including rare earth elements and expanding logistic infrastructure.
The accords were signed during a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a high-level US delegation that included United States Strategic Metals (USSM) and Mota-Engil, global firms in the mining and infrastructure sectors. The significance of the events was also highlighted by the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, who have been actively involved in all moves and processes aimed at attracting foreign investment in different sectors of the economy.
The agreements represent an important milestone in bilateral economic engagement, which will hopefully encourage other US companies and those from other countries to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan, which have expanded significantly with the decision of the government to open the mineral sector for exploration and investment in a big way. The Frontier Works Organization (FWO), Pakistan’s largest miner of critical minerals, signed an MoU with USSM, a Missouri-based processor and recycler of rare metals. The agreement creates a framework for collaboration in minerals vital for the defence, aerospace and technology industries. Separately, Pakistan’s National Logistics Corporation signed an MoU with Mota-Engil Group, a Portuguese construction and engineering firm, to cooperate on infrastructure projects. Under the deal, cooperation will begin with exports of antimony, copper, gold, tungsten and rare earth elements from Pakistan besides laying the groundwork for a proposed USSM poly-metallic refinery in Pakistan to produce intermediate and finished products for the US market. According to a statement of the PM Office, this collaboration further strengthens the enduring bilateral relationship between Pakistan and the US, while unlocking new opportunities for sustainable growth, technology transfer and job creation. Next steps under the MoU include forming teams to assess Pakistan’s resource base, identify critical minerals for export and build a long-term partnership in exploration, extraction and processing. The cooperation will prioritize sustainability, profitability and environmental responsibility to ensure benefits for both nations. The serious interest being shown by renowned American companies will surely incentivize companies from other countries, unlocking prospects for meaningful investment that could lead to acceleration of economic opportunities and employment generation. More important is the fact that the US companies have expressed readiness to invest in value-addition facilities, expand processing capacity and develop large-scale projects linked to mining. There is no doubt, credit for this goes to the right kind of economic and strategic policies being pursued by the present Government with the full backing of the Army Chief. Previously, major investment deals were signed with Saudi Arabia, UAE and Azerbaijan besides role-model cooperation with China (the country signed $8.5 billion in new investment agreements with China only a few days back) and now a process has begun to attract investment from the United States. As pointed out by US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker, the Trump Administration has made the forging of such deals a key priority given the importance of critical mineral resources to American security and prosperity, expressing confidence that more such agreements will be signed in future. Her remarks were in line with the oft-repeated commitments of President Trump to make investments in mining and hydrocarbon sectors of Pakistan. Appreciably, the two countries have moved quickly to give this commitment the shape of MoUs and hopefully they will proceed ahead with the same speed to ensure launching of concrete projects for the purpose. No doubt, the potential is there but there are also challenges like the security concerns, as highlighted by a surge in terrorist attacks in Balochistan and besides campaigns to eradicate the menace of terrorism, media campaigns are also needed to counter negative propaganda and to enlist support of the people for investment policies aimed at ameliorating their lot.
