Now that efforts are on for the expansion of the production plant of Pakistan Steel in Karachi, the Iranian offer seems to have been prompted by our understandable urge to ensure increasing availability of domestic ore of needed quality to meet the growing need of the national steel industry.
It will thus be noted that had it not been for further expansion of the steel mill plant, the potential domestic iron ore resources would have still remained ignored.
The new urge may also be attributed to the lately developing world steel scenario as dotted by shortage and rising prices of both steel and iron ore around which steel industry basically revolves.
Needless to point out, had it not been for exigencies now facing the country, both from domestic and international compulsions, little serious thought would have gone into vigorous exploration of the domestic iron ore potential.
Perhaps, notwithstanding the traditional periodical surveys, focusing all-embracing official efforts for economic development down the decades past, we would be conveniently importing iron ore from Australia, Mauritius, India and Iran as before, and without taking the trouble of making any change in the strategy.
However, the welcome change, as now discernible, will be seen to have emanated from the marked shift on to self-reliance in economic activity, as punctuated by added emphasis on poverty reduction.
For efforts for mobilisation of domestic mineral and other resources have also been necessitated by prospects of opening widespread employment opportunities too. Be that as it may, the fact remains that reflection of gains of development will remain elusive without a realistic approach, the wisdom of which can be seen dawning on the new set of political and economic leadership.
Although the present effort for boosting use of local iron ore seems basically linked to expansion of Pak Steel, it does carry with it the nation's overall requirements too.
For the news report under reference also has it that the Pak Steel chairman and the Iranian deputy minister discussed the ways and means to further enhance their bilateral co-operation in other fields relating to steel industry.
More to it, Qayyum is also stated to have urged upon private steel companies operating in Iran to invest in Pakistan, claiming that the country was offering lucrative incentives and secure environment for foreign investors.
That the Pakistan Steel chairman visited Iran with an exhaustive idea of the prospects of co-operation in the steel sector and of the urgency of it should become evident from the expectation now expressed of the two countries signing an agreement, under which, Pakistan Steel engineers would get training at Ispahan Steel Industry in Iran and that an experts-level Iranian delegation would visit Pakistan in the near future to identify the areas, in which the two countries could extend technical financial assistance to each other in matters relating to the steel industry.
Since Iran has a developed steel industry, its co-operation can help Pakistan to meet its domestic demand in iron ore, and also expand its own steel industry.