The Senate passed on Friday a bill for amendments to a recently approved foreign investment law, seeking to limit the legislation’s scope in Balochistan to “qualified investment” for the Reko Diq copper and gold mining project.

The law, titled the Foreign Invest­ment (Promotion and Protection) Act, 2022, was passed by both houses of parliament on Tuesday and paved the way for a settlement deal between the government and Canadian company Barrick Gold for the reconstitution, and eventually, revival of the long-stalled mining initiative in Balochistan’s Chagai district.

It aims to protect investors from unnecessary court proceedings and other hassles and has been a cause of discord within the ruling coalition, with several parties, including key allies BNP and JUI-F, raising objections that it is against the rights of people of Balochistan.

To placate the allies, ministers from the PML-N, which leads the ruling coalition, assured first during the National Assembly (NA) session on Tuesday and later after a cabinet meeting the same day that the law would be amended to address their grievances.

Subsequently, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presented the bill for amendments to the law in the Senate today.

The bill, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, stated that the law, which “extends to the whole of Pakistan”, be amended to specify that “for … Balochistan, it should only apply to the qualified investment of Reko Diq project as mentioned in schedules and annexures of this act”.

The amendment bill added: “The purpose of the subject amendment is to clarify the scope and application of the Foreign Investment (Promotion and Protection Act), 2022.”

The amendment has to be approved by the NA before it is finalised.

The bill for the amendment was passed amid the opposition’s uproar in a repeat of Senate proceedings from Tuesday when the original Foreign Invest­ment (Promotion and Protection) Bill, 2022 was approved by the upper house of parliament.

Lawmakers from the opposition — mainly the PTI — shouted slogans, demanding the release of arrested party Senator Azam Swati and the issuance of his production order, as the finance minister presented the bill.

Senator from the opposition also surrounded Senate Chairperson Sadiq Sanjrani’s podium while security personnel encircled the house.

After the bill was passed, Dar congratulated Pakistan and Balochistan and said the bill was of immense importance for the Chagai district.

“It will protect business,” he added.

Later, the session was adjourned for an indefinite period.

FIFA World Cup resolution

The Senate also passed a resolution regarding the football World Cup in Qatar during today’s proceedings.

The resolution was moved by Senator Sarfraz Bugti and celebrated the hosting of the World Cup by Qatar.

It said Qatar was the first Muslim country to host the World Cup and added that the Gulf country had organised the “best tournament”.

“The house protests the propaganda against Qatar,” the resolution added.

During the proceedings, treasury members also surrounded the Senate chairperson’s podium and raised slogans regarding the APS tragedy.

The Reko Diq project

The original agreement for the Reko Diq mining project was signed in 2006, and it set aside a share of 37.5pc to Canada’s Barrick Gold and Chile’s Antofagasta each while the Balochistan government received a 25pc stake.

The two international firms were part of the consortium Tethyan Copper company and had found vast gold and copper deposits at Reko Diq in Balochistan.

But the hugely lucrative open-pit mine project came to a standstill in 2011 after the local government refused to renew Tethyan Copper’s lease, and in 2013 Supreme Court declared it invalid.

In 2019, the World Bank’s arbitration tribunal committee imposed a penalty on Pakistan for unlawful denial of mining.

However, in March, the federal and Balochistan governments reached an agreement with two international firms — Antofagasta PLC and Barrick Gold Corporation — on a framework to reconstitute the Reko Diq project that allowed Antofagasta to make an exit.

The reconstituted project, which will excavate gold and copper reserves in Balochistan, saved Pakistan from an $11 billion penalty in the Reko Diq case.

Under the new agreement, Barrick decided to become a 50 per cent partner with the governments of Pakistan and Balochistan and three state-owned entities in the project, while the Chilean firm exited the contract in exchange for $900 million by Pakistani shareholders.

Balochistan government holds a 25pc stake in the project under the new pact and the rest of the 25pc shareholding is controlled equally (8.33pc) by the three state-owned enterprises.

On October 18, President Dr Arif Alvi moved a reference seeking the Supreme Court’s (SC) opinion on the proposed reconstitution of the Reko Diq project in Balochistan and interpretation on whether its 2013 judgement in the case prevented the federal and provincial governments from entering into the implementation agreement and the constitutionality of the proposed Foreign Investment (Protection and Promotion) Bill 2022.

Last Friday, the SC said in a short order that the agreement for the revival of the Reko Diq project was legal and validated the constitutionality of the foreign investment bill.

Subsequently, the NA and Senate passed the foreign investment law, and the government signed an agreement with Barrick Gold on the Reko Diq project last night.

The agreement takes effect on Dec 16 (today) and the company will start work on the project with immediate effect.