PM Shehbaz hopes Pakistan will become world's 6th largest economy 'earlier than 2050'

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday expressed hope that Pakistan could become the world’s sixth-largest economy “earlier than 2050”.

The premier made the remarks while addressing the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2026 (PMIF26) in Islamabad, where delegations, exhibitors and attendees have arrived from across the world to attend the event.

As the two-day event opened on Thursday, Pakistan showcased its vast mineral resources, ranging from coal and salt to gold and critical minerals, to attract international investment, promising predictable, investor-friendly policies, institutional support and security.

PM Shehbaz recalled a Goldman Sachs assessment, which had projected Pakistan to become the sixth-largest economy in the world by 2075 and said: “I would like to make a small amendment here — instead of 2075, it will be earlier than 2050.”

Earlier in the day, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik addressed the forum and stated that Pakistan’s exploration efforts were increasingly focused on minerals that were of strategic importance to global investors.

In continuation of the pitch, Malik told the investors that Pakistan’s exploration efforts were being complemented with “modern geochemical and geophysical surveys, exploratory drilling, and upgrading of our geoscience advanced research laboratories with sophisticated analytical technologies”.

Here, he particularly mentioned the exploration of copper and gold in Chagai and western Balochistan to lithium, tin and tungsten in Gilgit-Baltistan and antimony and base metals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said Pakistan had been exporting raw ore and importing the finished products to meet its requirements for a long time.

“We are now advancing copper smelting to capture more of the value chain from the mine to the finished metal,” he added.

The minister said Pakistan was also strengthening the scientific foundation of its mineral sector through the Geological Survey of Pakistan.

“The government’s accelerated geological mapping programme, including detailed surveys at a scale of 1:50,000, is helping identify mineral prospects across the country.”

The minister further said that through international technical cooperation, including the UK Pakistan Geoscience Capacity Building Programme, “we are strengthening expertise in digital mapping, airborne surveys and mineral assessment”.

“We are also digitising decades of geological information to give investors greater access to reliable data, reduce exploration uncertainty, and enable informed investment decisions,” he continued.

The petroleum minister highlighted that discovering a mineral deposit was only the initial stage and a commercially viable mine required, electricity water, roads, railways and access to international markets.

“That is why infrastructure development is aligned with our mineral ambitions,” he explained. In this context, he described the planned upgrade of the Rohri-Nokundi railway corridor, connectivity to Port Qasim and the development of supporting infrastructure around Reko Diq as “important steps” towards connecting Pakistan’s mineral-rich regions with the global markets around the world.

He said, “Our objective is very clear: to build not just individual mines, but an integrated, competitive and sustainable mineral industry.

“Where it is commercially and technically viable, we want investment to support processing, refining, downstream industry, technology transfer and integration into the global value chains.

“We want this industry to build Pakistani capability as it grows through technical skills, vocational training, engineering services, a stronger base for Pakistani suppliers and real career opportunities for young people, including women entering the sector for the first time.”

But, he contended, not of this would hold together without the communities in our producing regions. “Projects that earn the trust of the communities around them are, in our experience, the projects that actually get built and sustain.”

Follow Dawn Business on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.