Transparency issue: Tareen assails Reko Diq deal

Former finance minister says it was unfortunate that the Reko Diq deal wasn't transparent, SC should intervene.


Express January 14, 2011

KARACHI: Former finance minister Shaukat Tareen has said that it was unfortunate that the Reko Diq deal wasn’t transparent. In a special interview with Daily Express he said that Reko Diq has one of the largest reserves of gold and copper in the world. He said that the Supreme Court had to intervene in the matter because the agreements were not transparent. Shaukat Tareen said that the element of transparency is always maintained when concluding agreements of national interest. He said that as the matter is before the apex court, this project could get delayed. He added that international investors were getting a negative impression about Pakistan because of this.

He said that the steps being

taken now by the provincial government, to make the agreement transparent, should have been taken when the agreement was being finalised. He said that if the country sells the raw mineral reserves it will get 40 billion dollars in 30 years while if they were to do the refining in Pakistan the income from the project will be seven to eight times of this figure.

Some experts estimate the value of the Reko Diq reserves in excess of 500 billion dollars. He said that there are laws and regulations in Pakistan but conflicts surface because they are not implemented.

The former finance minister said that an investment of three billion dollars is required for the execution of the project, which can be completed with the help of foreign companies only. However, rather than selling the raw material, the contracting company should be required to refine gold, copper and other metals within Pakistan. The refined minerals can then be sold so that maximum income is generated.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2011.

COMMENTS (12)

amjad | 13 years ago | Reply All the resources of the nation belongs to every citizen of this country. They do not belong to a few no matter who they are. Any deal made with local or internal entity should be transparent and in the long term interest of the country.
nina | 13 years ago | Reply A comment made by a an American analyst of Wall Street mentioned that because of the copper and gold reserves at Reko Dig, Balochistan and Pakistan can become so prosperous, even more so than the Arab Gulf states. This can only be done with proper and transparent mining and supervision of the work. May Allah guide the leaders of the province of Balochistan and the federal leaders to work together for the betterment of the people of Balochistan and Pakistan.
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