{"id":12629,"date":"2023-10-10T01:12:10","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T01:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/saudi-insurance-for-reko-diq\/"},"modified":"2023-10-10T01:12:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T01:12:10","slug":"saudi-insurance-for-reko-diq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/saudi-insurance-for-reko-diq\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi insurance for Reko Diq"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>The caretaker government\u2019s decision to divest 25 per cent of the federal government\u2019s stake in a promising mining project has triggered apprehensions within Pakistan\u2019s mining circles. While not overtly opposing this decision, many individuals have raised doubts about its wisdom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho makes such a move? Even with a 50\/50 partnership alongside Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold Corporation, Pakistan was already in a relatively weaker position to safeguard its interests due to its limited capacity and expertise in managing business affairs.<\/p>\n<p>Now, by relinquishing a significant portion of its stake, one can\u2019t help but wonder what the future holds for the country and its citizens, who rightfully expect to benefit from their own land\u2019s wealth,\u201c said an observer who chose not to be quoted due to need for formal permission from his employer before going public.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1721347\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Pakistan\u2019s 50pc share in the joint venture project is evenly split between the federal and Balochistan governments. The ongoing debate revolves around the divestment of the federal government\u2019s 25pc share, while the Balochistan share has not been touched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy tamper with an agreement that was painstakingly negotiated? Pakistan has faithfully fulfilled its part of the deal by committing $900 million to the project despite financial strains. If Barrick Gold has any reservations, they should be addressed within the parameters of the signed agreement. We cannot afford to revisit such intricate deals on whims; it would not serve our purpose. If the investor has become hesitant, this is not the right approach to resolving the situation,\u201d commented a technocrat with privileged access to insider information.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote-level-1\">\n<p>Riyadh\u2019s involvement would serve as a safeguard against hasty decisions by the government for Barrick Gold but dilute Pakistan\u2019s interests<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Characterising the engagement of a significant Arab nation in the Reko Diq project as \u2018extremely sensitive\u2019, key officials, experts and executives of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were reluctant to formally express their views on the Pakistan government\u2019s proposal to diminish its stake in the multi-billion-dollar copper and gold mining project. This strategic manoeuvre is intended to open opportunities for foreign investors and promote foreign direct investment in Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, the joint civil and military apex body, the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), revealed its intentions to attract Saudi investors by accommodating their interest in participating in the Reko Diq project. The SIFC press release emphasised that if materialised, the new partnership in the mining sector could open the door for much-needed investments from our oil-rich brotherly nation.<\/p>\n<p>It was reported that SIFC has decided to sell 25pc of the federal government\u2019s shares held by three state-owned entities \u2014 Oil and Gas Development Corporation Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Government Holdings Pakistan Limited (GHPL). On the SIFC directives, the relevant SOEs have started engaging with Saudi investors. Two of the three listed SOEs, PPL and OGDCL, have informed the Pakistan Stock Exchange about their intent.<\/p>\n<p>Messages requesting input were sent to the phones of Ahmed Hayat Lak, MD, OGDCL, Masood Nabi, MD and CEO, GHPL and Imran Abbasy, MD, PPL. Mr Abbasy was the only one who responded, calling from Abu Dhabi. He assured that he would provide an update upon his return. The two other executives did not respond to the query.<\/p>\n<p>A corporate lawyer knowledgeable about the foreign company\u2019s affairs shared insight into Barrick\u2019s desires and discussions within official circles. He stated, \u201cSaudi involvement would serve as a safeguard against hasty or illegal decisions by the Pakistan government, given the imperative not to strain relations with Saudi Arabia for obvious reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInitially, the government sought to sell half of its shares to Saudi investors and expected that Barrick would divest half of its stakes as well, but Barrick declined the proposal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regarding the proposed deal\u2019s merit, he remarked, \u201cI think the government is making a mistake by selling all of its shares to Saudis. How can the price be determined without competition? This could potentially lead to a huge scandal in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Repeated attempts to obtain comments from SIFC and Barrick Gold regarding recent developments were unsuccessful. People associated with or invested in the lucrative Reko Diq project appeared not only reluctant but also apprehensive about sharing their views in writing or over the phone.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1733131\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cForeign investment is vital for capital-intensive, technologically advanced mining projects in remote regions of the country, but it should not come at the expense of the people\u2019s rights to mineral wealth,\u201d commented an expert on overseas investment.<\/p>\n<p>A member of the caretaker\u2019s top team shared his perspective on condition of anonymity. \u201cI firmly believe that Pakistan needs strategic investment from Saudi Arabia to make them stakeholders in Pakistan\u2019s progress,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p>The Caretaker Finance Minister, Dr Shamshad Akhtar, was approached for comments, but her response was not received within the deadline.<\/p>\n<p>Domestic mining sector sources, lobbying for a share in the biggest mining project in the country, have closely been observing the process every step of the way. They said the Canadian investors were also keen to replace the government of Pakistan with a Saudi company to cut down the risks associated with a huge investment of exclusively Western country in restive Balochistan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBarrick and Ma\u2019aden have a history of working together. They have also partnered in a copper and gold project at Jebel Ali in Saudi Arabia. It is not surprising that they are mutually comfortable and keen to extend their business relationship to Pakistan,\u201d a mining company\u2019s executive noted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBesides, by having Ma\u2019aden as part of the joint venture, Barrick hopes to have more leverage with the government as<\/p>\n<p>the country counts Saudis as a dependable ally and would be ready to bend backwards to accommodate them,\u201c he added. He did not favour expanding overseas investors\u2019 stakes beyond 50pc in the said project.<\/p>\n<p><em>Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, October 9th, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The caretaker government\u2019s decision to divest 25 per cent of the federal government\u2019s stake in a promising mining project has triggered apprehensions within Pakistan\u2019s mining circles. While not overtly opposing this decision, many individuals have raised doubts about its wisdom. \u201cWho makes such a move? Even with a 50\/50 partnership alongside Canadian mining giant Barrick [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/10\/65233ab4ec454.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}