Pakistanis urge government to take ‘decisive action’ for Gaza ceasefire, delivery of humanitarian aid

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that Pakistan was having a “very close interaction” with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in minerals and mining sectors, amid Islamabad’s efforts to focus on key sectors to boost the country’s economy.
Pakistan’s landscape is a treasure trove of diverse mineral deposits from huge coal reserves in the southern Sindh province to gold and copper deposits in the southwestern Balochistan province. The northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is home to several gemstone mines, including emerald mines in Swat, Mardan’s pink topaz mines, and peridot mines in Kohistan.
Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik said last month Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were in “advanced” stages of talks relating to investment in Reko Diq copper and gold mine, one of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper-gold mines, in Balochistan, with Saudi Arabia reportedly offering Pakistan a 15 percent investment stake in the project. The UAE, a key development and investment partner of Pakistan, has also recently expressed its “keen interest” in collaborating with Pakistan in mining, minerals and agriculture sectors, according to PM Sharif’s office.
While this huge mineral potential has remained largely unexplored, Pakistan has expedited efforts in recent months to exploit this untapped potential to speed up its economic growth.
“Mines and minerals, which is generally a G2G [government-to-government] corridor, in this, we are having a very close interaction with the UAE [United Arab Emirates] and Saudi Arabia,” PM Sharif told a group of Pakistani businessmen and investors in Dubai.
Sharif is currently in the UAE to attend the World Governments Summit (WGS) on Feb. 10-11, which brings together a large number of heads of state/government, global policymakers, and leading private sector figures to discuss the future of governance, innovation and international cooperation. This will be Sharif’s second visit to the UAE since assuming office in March last year.
His statement follows remarks by Petroleum Minister Malik, in which he said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had done all the requisite homework with regard to a “very large asset.”
“Both sides have come up with valuation frameworks, the valuation ranges are in place, and both of the teams are empowered now to negotiate, and right now, we are under non-disclosure. So, I can’t give you the details, but suffice to say that we are expecting very big announcements very soon,” he said, on the sidelines of Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh last month.
Reuters reported that Saudi Arabian mining company Manara Minerals could invest in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mine in the next two quarters, citing the Pakistani petroleum minister.
Saudi Arabia is the largest source of remittances to Pakistan, which were recorded at $728.3 million in January, and a key ally, whereas Pakistani policymakers consider the UAE an optimal export destination due to its geographical proximity, which minimizes transportation and freight costs while facilitating commercial transactions.
Pakistan, faced with a prolonged economic crisis, last year also signed several agreements worth $2.8 billion and $3 billion with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, respectively.

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia remained the largest source of workers’ remittances to Pakistan that rose by 25.2% in January, Pakistan’s central bank said on Monday, with Riyadh contributing $728.3 million in inflows to the South Asian nation.
The Kingdom is a key destination for Pakistani workers, whose remittances are vital to Pakistan’s economy amid an ongoing economic crisis that has seen its foreign exchange reserves plummet to low levels and its currency weaken against the US dollar, forcing it to seek financial assistance from global lenders and friendly countries.
Workers’ remittances recorded an inflow of $3 billion in the month of January, according to the Pakistani central bank.
“Remittances inflows during January 2025 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($728.3 million), United Arab Emirates ($621.7 million), United Kingdom ($443.6 million) and United States of America ($298.5 million),” the State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement.
Cumulatively, the SBP said, workers’ remittances recorded an inflow of $20.8 billion from July 2024 till January 2025, compared to $15.8 billion during the same period in the previous year, depicting a growth of 31.7%.
In December 2024, Pakistan’s remittances clocked in at $3.1 billion, marking a 29.3% year-on-year growth.
The South Asian country, which secured a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) facility last September, is navigating a tricky path to economic recovery and this surge in remittances is considered vital to stabilizing the country’s foreign exchange reserves.