Session 4

14:00 – 15:30 / 24 June 2026   Kavaklıdere Ballroom

Critical Minerals Geopolitics and Financing — Who is Funding the Future in the Tethyan Belt?

China currently imports approximately 70% of Central Asia's critical raw materials and manages 25 active projects in the region — five times the number operated by European firms. This session examines the competitive dynamics between Chinese, Western and Middle Eastern capital in the region, the impact of US/UK/EU critical minerals diplomacy, and how host governments are navigating multi-vector strategies to extract maximum value from the global mineral race.

Key themes
  • Overview of financing flows into Tethyan Belt mining 2024–2026: who is investing, where, and on what terms.
  • The Execution Gap: Western Diplomacy vs. China’s Ground Game
  • The Western Counter-Offensive: Strategic Frameworks and New Capital
  • The Middle Eastern Pivot: A “Third Way” for Project Financing
  • Mobilising State-Backed Finance.
  • EBRD’s critical minerals strategy for Central Asia and the South Caucasus