Dubai: Pakistan could become the world’s sixth-largest economy before 2050, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on November 13 as he called for foreign investment in mineral processing and manufacturing.
“Instead of 2075, it will be, Inshallah, earlier than 2050,” said Sharif, when speaking at the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum in Islamabad, citing a December 2022 Goldman Sachs report that ranked Pakistan sixth in its projections for 2075. The pre-2050 timeline was Sharif’s own assessment.
“Mine in Pakistan, process in Pakistan, manufacture in Pakistan and then export to the rest of the world,” Sharif told investors. He called for investment in refineries, smelters and factories that could turn locally mined minerals into products such as cables and electrical conductors. He said processing more minerals in Pakistan could create jobs and help bring technology and expertise into the country.
The two-day forum yielded 13 agreements and memorandums of understanding, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. They covered areas including mineral exploration, investment and geological surveys, multiple media reported, citing forum president Ahmed Hayat Lak.
What Goldman Sachs projected
Goldman Sachs economists Kevin Daly and Tadas Gedminas examined 104 economies in The Path to 2075. Their projections, based on gross domestic product measured in inflation-adjusted US dollars, placed Japan sixth in 2050.
