Shoaib Ansari 
pakistan considers selling reko diq shares to saudi investors
Pakistan is thinking about selling its part of the Reko Diq project to Saudi Arabia to attract more money for the project. Saudi Arabia is interested in this project, which is about digging for valuable copper and gold.
Right now, a Canadian company called Barrick Gold Corporation owns half of the project. Another company from Chile used to be involved but left and got $900 million from three Pakistani government groups: the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), and Government Holdings Private Limited (GHPL). Together, these three groups have a quarter (25%) of the project. Balochistan, a province in Pakistan, owns the other 25%, with some of it paid for and some given for free.
Now, a new council called the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) is trying to make a deal with Saudi companies to buy Pakistan’s part of the project. They originally wanted to finish the deal by December, but now they have until the end of March next year.
PPL and OGDCL have shared this information with the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), but GHPL didn’t need to because it’s not listed on the PSX.
Pakistan wants Saudi Arabia to invest in the current project instead of starting a new one. They are getting an independent company to figure out how much Pakistan’s part of the project is worth so they can negotiate better. Barrick Gold is also okay with having Saudi investors, but there are still some things they need to talk about.
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The big question is who will own most of the project. Right now, Barrick Gold, the federal government, and the provincial governments each own half. If the federal government sells its part, then Barrick Gold will own most of it. They aren’t planning to ask the provincial government to sell their part because it wouldn’t be fair to Balochistan.
The Saudi investors might be the Saudi government or private companies, and they have their own way of owning shares. Even though the federal government doesn’t really want to sell their part, they hope that this will bring more investment to Pakistan. They will know how much their part is worth by December this year.
