Khartoum – The Sudanese government has forged several new agreements with mining companies based in Gulf and Egypt to invest in the gold sector.

Companies based in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar all expressed willingness to invest in mining sector in Sudan.

Following extensive consultations with different investors from the Arab world, Sudan’s Ministry of Minerals announced it would offer several opportunities and incentives to encourage investments in its gold sector, as a measure to prevent U.S. threats on the country’s gold exports.

Minister of Minerals Ahmed Sadiq al-Karouri met last week with a number of businessmen with whom he discussed with possibilities to invest in the mining sector in Sudan.

In a press statement issued following the meeting, Karouri stressed his ministry’s keenness to support all Arab and Gulf companies to invest in the mining.

“We have very simple requirements for investing in minerals and all procedures are done at the Ministry of Minerals,” he said.

Al-Karouri noted that there are no restrictions on gold exportation, pointing that the investing companies can export all the gold they produce.

The Sudanese minister further pledged to facilitate all the procedures for the investors from Qatar, U.A.E and Saudi Arabia.

Gold production in Sudan reached around 45 tons during the first half of 2016 and it is expected to rise to one hundred tons by the end of the year.

In comments to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, Karouri said that his ministry was largely depending on gold production to boost its local economy. He added that the sector’s contribution to the GDP reached 3.4 percent, with a growth rate of 10.3 percent in the first half of 2016.