Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said on Thursday that there was “significant evidence” of “sufficient quantities” of placer gold flowing in the province’s five rivers.
She was speaking at the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum in Islamabad, an initiative aimed at harnessing the country’s mineral resources and attracting domestic and foreign investment in the mining sector.
The chief ministers of Balochistan and Sindh, as well as KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, also attended the forum.
Maryam said Punjab was the land of five rivers and that gold was “literally flowing” in all five, particularly in the areas of Mianwali and Attock.
She described Pakistan as a “pot of gold”, saying its wealth lay both above and beneath the ground and needed to be explored and turned into tangible wealth.
“The wealth beneath Punjab was never a problem, never a problem, just like the whole of Pakistan, just like all four provinces and the federating units. The chaos above ground was the actual problem,” she said.
Maryam said revenue generated by the provincial Mines and Minerals Department had increased from Rs10 billion to Rs40bn in two and a half years.
“And it is just the beginning,” she added.
She said the provincial government was also taking steps to facilitate investment in the mining sector and create an enabling environment for investors.
She said her role as chief executive of the country’s most populous province was to facilitate investors and create an enabling environment by eliminating red tape, bureaucratic delays and unnecessary hurdles.
The provincial government was offering one-window facilitation to ensure investors did not have to run from pillar to post to complete procedures, she added.
Maryam said the government was also making substantial capital investments to lower capital expenditure and prevent investors’ finances from being tied up in purchasing expensive land.
Additionally, the government was offering concessional financing of up to Rs5 billion and would provide solar-based energy solutions to investors to help offset high energy and fuel costs.
More to follow
Source: dawn
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