BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 20. Kazakhstan should
make effective use of its resource and industrial potential amid
growing global competition for critical materials, President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said, according to the presidential press
service.
Tokayev made the remarks during a meeting of the Security
Council focused on the development of the critical materials
sector, including rare and rare earth metals.
The president emphasized Kazakhstan’s leading position in
Central Asia in terms of resource and production potential and
stressed the need to use these advantages in the national
interest.
“The current global situation creates favorable, one could say
unique, conditions for those who possess reserves,” Tokayev
said.
He noted that competition among countries for access to critical
materials of strategic importance to high-tech industries is
intensifying. Tokayev said that under these conditions, Kazakhstan
should effectively use its existing resource and industrial
potential, consistently developing its own competencies and
production chains.
During the meeting, government officials presented reports on
the current state of the sector, prospects for developing the
country’s resource base, the expansion of processing and existing
barriers.
Following the meeting, the government and relevant state bodies
were instructed to develop a comprehensive approach to the sector’s
development and improve its regulatory framework.
The instructions also cover expanding geological exploration and
processing, bringing man-made mineral formations into economic use,
developing laboratory and human resource capacity, and removing
administrative barriers.
The measures are aimed at strengthening Kazakhstan’s
capabilities across the critical materials value chain, from
geological exploration and extraction to processing and
production.
