Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives, Asad Umar has emphasized the need for coordinated efforts to accelerate exploration and development of indigenous mineral resources to reduce huge spending on imported materials.

He said this while chairing a meeting of the Pakistan Mineral Development Company (PMDC) here on Thursday. He said speeding up exploration and development activities, large-scale mining, value-addition and promotion of downstream industries are much needed to put the country on the track of economic development.

Managing Director (MD) PMDC, Sajid Mahmood Qazi briefed the meeting on the operations of the corporation and also presented an overview of the minerals sector, the roles and responsibilities of federal and provincial departments, the development impediments and their remedial measures. He also informed the meeting that the board and management of the organization have been revamped to make it a vibrant institution.

Umar observed that a uniform policy and regulatory framework across the country would be beneficial for attracting investment in the sector. He said that minerals are a provincial subject, but still the federal government can help and support the development of the sector by aligning its various policies towards that objective.

He said that the federal government would support the federating units to improve the mineral sector's contribution to the country's GDP. He said that both public and private sectors should come forward for optimum exploitation of indigenous mineral resources.

Shahzad Syed Qasim, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Coordination of Marketing & Development of Mineral Resources, and Secretary Petroleum Division Mian Asad Hayaud Din also attended the meeting.