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.
