ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — A Japanese trading conglomerate is now in Pakistan’s sights as the government looks to widen the pool of foreign players interested in its mining sector. The Special Investment Facilitation Council announced Tuesday that it has brought Sumitomo Corporation into discussions about potential mining and minerals ventures in the country.
Sumitomo, based in Tokyo’s Chiyoda ward, is one of Japan’s largest trading and investment houses, with interests spanning multiple industries globally. According to SIFC, the outreach is meant to gauge the company’s appetite for specific projects the council considers commercially promising, though neither side has named which minerals or sites are under discussion.
SIFC framed the move as evidence that foreign investors are paying closer attention to Pakistan’s mineral wealth, and cast itself as the government body responsible for turning that interest into actual deals rather than just diplomatic goodwill. The council has repeatedly pitched itself in similar language when announcing outreach to other foreign firms.
Pakistan has been actively courting mining investment for over two years now, arguing its mineral reserves remain underdeveloped relative to their potential value once processed domestically rather than exported raw. SIFC was set up in mid-2023 specifically to centralise this kind of investment courtship, running on a “whole-of-government” model meant to cut through the bureaucratic delays that have historically slowed foreign deals in Pakistan. The council has set itself benchmarks along the way: $5 billion in foreign investment as an immediate target, scaling to $60 billion over five years and $100 billion over three, with an even larger goal of pushing Pakistan’s economy past $1 trillion by 2035.
