Europe’s ambition to lead the energy transition and digital transformation rests on a fragile foundation: extreme dependency on a handful of countries — above all China — for the critical raw materials that power batteries, semiconductors, wind turbines, and defence systems. But the uncomfortable truth is that Europe cannot mine its way to self-sufficiency. It must build diversified, resilient supply partnerships — fast. The Trans-Caspian Middle Corridor, stretching from Central Asia through the Caucasus to Turkey and onward to European markets, offers one of the most promising yet underexplored answers. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and their neighbours sit on vast deposits of rare earths, lithium, chromium, cobalt, copper, tungsten, and uranium — many already being extracted but almost entirely shipped eastward for Chinese processing. This session asks the hard question: what would it actually take to redirect, refine, and secure these materials for European and allied supply chains, and to do so at speed and scale?

From legacy tailing dams and Aral Sea remediation to CBAM compliance and IFC Performance Standards, ESG is no longer a compliance burden but a prerequisite for access to international capital. This session examines environmental rehabilitation, water stewardship, community engagement, and how best-in-class ESG unlocks institutional financing across the region.

AI, machine learning and geospatial technologies are reshaping exploration across the Tethyan Belt, enabling faster target generation from legacy Soviet-era datasets and reducing discovery risk. This session showcases field-proven digital tools — from UAV geophysics and AI-driven drill targeting to automation, LIMS and Industry 4.0 production management — with concrete case studies from Türkiye, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Turkish and International Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) companies are heavily involved in modernising Central Asia and the Caucasus. The session will showcase achievements Large Scale Industrial Complexes Development, Exploration Technology and Digital Tech projects developed in the region.