KHARTOUM, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Sudan is seeking investment opportunities in mining sector in a bid to revive the economy which lost two thirds of its oil revenues following separation of South Sudan in 2011.
The Sudan International Mining Business Forum and Exhibition kicked off sessions on Monday in Khartoum with the participation of 29 foreign companies from all over the world and 36 local ones.
"The forum tends to inform with and promote for Sudan's mineral potentialities in addition to utilization of modern technologies in operations of minerals' research, exploration and extraction as well as advanced progress achieved in the developed countries in this field," Ahmed Mohammed Sadiq Al Karuri, Sudan's Minerals Minister, said when addressing the forum's opening session.
"We reiterate that we attach a great concern for this forum to exhibit Sudan's huge minerals potentialities and the available investment opportunities in this important sector, which has assumed an advanced position in the gross domestic product," he noted.
The minister further reiterated Sudan's concern with reactivating the mining sector in the wake of the huge mineral resources in all states of Sudan besides huge mineral reserves based on outcome of the exploration researches made by Sudan's geological research authority.
In its bid to attract foreign investors to the mining sector, Sudan has made strong commitments to improve the investment climate and make amendments on the national investment law.
To this end, Sudan's First Vice-President and Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh, addressing the forum, reviewed many guidelines for the work in the mining field.
"The principle of better exploitation of resources must be the goal behind all the efforts to consolidate the concept of operation of the mining economies. Better exploitation of resources should be built on efficiency of the national capabilities which require complete awareness of training, supervision and assessment," said Saleh.
He reiterated the importance of utilizing the international developments to attract expertise and employ the modern technologies in the mining field, pointing to the importance of observing the mining safety to safeguard the environment.
Around 461 companies are operating in the mining field in Sudan, where the mining sector constitutes 40 percent of Sudan's exports.
Sudan's gold production jumped to 93.4 tons in 2016, making Sudan ranks second after South Africa in gold production in Africa, according to Sudan's minerals ministry.
Sudanese statistics indicate that around one million Sudanese employees work in the traditional mining industry in Sudan.
