January 17, 2006	Tuesday	Zilhaj 16, 1426

ISLAMABAD, Jan 16: Balochistan has tremendous potential in natural resources and the government is focusing to develop the mining sector to utilize the potential as this will contribute to the province’s economic uplift, says Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

He was talking to a delegation of Chilean company Antofagasta that was led by its chairman Jean Paul Luksic. The team from Chile had called on him at the Prime Minister‘s House here on Monday.

Mr Aziz said Balochistan was rich in copper and other natural resources and it had talented and peace-loving people. However, he noted that mining remains an under-exploited business in Pakistan because of the inaccessibility of potential areas and low-key usage of modern technology in the mining sector.

Highlighting the government’s philosophy of privatization, liberalization and deregulation, the prime minister said continuity and consistently in policies and transparency in government transactions have restored investor confidence and the inflow of foreign investment is at an all-time high. He assured the Chilean team of the government’s support to facilitate their business and investments.

Mr Jean Paul Luksic appreciated Pakistan’s investor-friendly policies and said his company was keen to invest in mining sector in Balochistan.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Chilean company Antofagasta Mining Jean Paul Luksic, accompanied by the managing-director of Australian Thethyan Copper Co, called on the Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Amanullah Khan Jadoon here on Monday.

He briefed the minister about his company’s plan to invest $75 million for the development of Rekodiq Copper project in Balochistan.

During the meeting Mr. Jean told that Antofagasta was considered to be one of the 10 largest copper producers in the world and had a market capitalization of over $6 billion and a member of London FTSE-100 Index. Chile produces over 35 per cent of the world’s total copper output.