Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have called on Japan to invest in the country’s unexploited minerals and metals amid a rush by Chinese investors into the country.

The Taliban is banking on investments in its untapped minerals to lift the country out of poverty amid a dire economic outlook, sanctions and high unemployment.

“We have a lot of natural resources valued at trillions of dollars but they are untapped and underground. They need to be extracted and utilized,” , Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Nikkei Asia last week. “We welcome investment of Japan in various sectors that they are interested [in].”

“There is a great scope of cooperation between the two countries. There is a need that the two sides expedite engagement,” said Suhail, adding that his country has investor-friendly laws.

Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment for this story. However, a source from Japan’s embassy in Afghanistan said the country needs to be stable to attract the Japanese private sector to invest in the “rich minerals” sector.

“I believe the security situation in Afghanistan may not be appropriate to attract the Japanese private sector,” the source said.

Japan’s embassy in Afghanistan in Kabul is open and operating as normal, but Tokyo does not officially recognize the Taliban-led administration.

According to a 2010 survey by the United States Geological Survey, Afghanistan has $1 trillion worth of unexplored mineral deposits. The Afghan government has said they are worth three times as much.

They include vast reserves of lithium, a critical component of electric vehicle batteries. Other minerals include copper, rare-earth elements and cobalt — all essential for the transition from fossil fuels to green energy.

Suhail said the Taliban could guarantee the safety of Japanese investors in the country. “[The] security of investors is our responsibility. We have very good security right now. Any Afghan or foreigner can travel from one corner of Afghanistan to another day and night without fear.”

The source at the Japanese embassy said that while the number of “explosions” in the country has been decreasing, it was not “easy to say” whether the situation is secure or stable.

Faran Jeffery, deputy director and head of the South Asia terrorism desk at the U.K.-based Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism, told Nikkei Asia the terrain in Afghanistan is “almost always difficult,” and the previous Afghan republic’s inability to tap its potential mineral wealth was due in part to security concerns, substandard infrastructure and a lack of easy export options.

Jeffery said the security situation in Afghanistan has significantly improved in the past few months following Taliban successes against the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISKP), an affiliate of the global terror network Islamic State.

“But it’s important to remember that ISKP may be down but it’s not out yet. … This group targets pretty much everyone, including the Taliban as well as foreign nationals,” said Jeffery.

The ISKP does not control any territory and is presently operating in Afghanistan in the form of cells. There could be dozens of ISKP cells all over the country and some cell members could even be present within Taliban ranks, according to Jeffery.

“Besides ISKP, there’s also a security threat from local criminals, who often engage in kidnappings for ransom,” said Jeffery.

For Japan, stability in Afghanistan “is very important” because should Afghanistan become unstable, it could again become a breeding ground for international terrorism, the Japanese embassy source said.

The Taliban-led government signed seven mining contracts totaling $6.5 billion in investment last month between local companies and partners in China, Iran and Turkey.

In January, the Taliban signed a contract with a Chinese company to extract oil from the Amu Darya basin and develop an oil reserve in the country’s northern Sar-e Pul province, Reuters reported.

In a sign of the importance of Afghanistan to China, Beijing became the first country to name a new ambassador, Zhao Xing, to Kabul on Sept. 13.

Suhail urged Japan to take part in the “full development” of a new megacity in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, which was designed during the previous regime. He also said Afghanistan wants to learn how Japan rebuilt “after World War II.”

The embassy source said the megacity project was designed by Japan more than 10 years ago, but declined to comment further on it.

On Sept. 9, Suhail met with Japan’s envoy to Afghanistan, Takashi Okada, in Doha, Qatar. “Japan supports a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan which we appreciate,” said Suhail.

Suhail said he told the Japanese envoy there was a need for sanctions to be removed, as they had resulted in unemployment and caused Afghans to leave the country.

Japan is one of Afghanistan’s biggest donors, providing $367 million in assistance through international organizations since August 2021, the Japanese embassy source said.

“Participation of women in education is important for the stability of Afghanistan,” the person added. “I know it is not easy … [and] cannot be achieved in a short time, but we need to keep dialogue with the Taliban.”