Welcoming remarks by MINEX Forum organisers

Host Keynote: Türkiye’s structural shift from volume-driven growth to a value-focused production model and role as Eurasian logistics gateway

Keynotes: High-level representatives from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and other focus countries.

Background

Driven by a state target to scale solar and wind capacity to 120 gigawatts by 2035, Türkiye is pivoting from a traditional exporter of raw minerals into a high-value midstream refining hub. This structural shift moves beyond the historical “dig-and-ship” model, prioritising domestic value-chain integration and technological sovereignty. The cornerstone of this ambition is the world-class Beylikova rare earth elements (REE) project in Eskişehir.

The global race to secure critical raw materials — from lithium and rare earths to cobalt and copper — is redrawing the map of international trade and industrial strategy. At the same time, the Middle Corridor (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route) is evolving from a simple logistics bypass into a potential integrated industrial belt spanning Turkey, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia. This session will explore how the Middle Corridor, supercharged by the TRIPP framework, can successfully evolve into an integrated industrial belt. The session will address the delicate balance between commercial opportunity and regional friction, evaluating how to merge mineral extraction and localised high-value processing with synchronized, multi-modal transport networks to build resilient, de-risked supply chains connecting East and West.

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

• Türkiye as a Middle Corridor partner — how geography, four decades of mining capability and commercial ambition position Türkiye to anchor critical-minerals supply chains across Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
• The workforce question — who will build, staff and sustain the operations behind the critical-minerals boom, and the talent risks now surfacing along the Middle Corridor.
• From exploration to processing — the engineering advances that have carried Turkish mining from early-stage exploration through to fully integrated processing plants.
• Capital and technology flows — where Turkish investment, engineering know-how and partnerships are moving across the region.
• Building durable industrial relationships — what it will take to turn early-stage partnerships into long-term commercial and industrial ties.
• Company ambitions in focus — leading Turkish mining and technology firms on their investment priorities, partnership models and regional strategy.

UK, EU and Türkiye share a common strategic imperative: secure reliable, diversified supply chains for the critical minerals that underpin the energy transition, defence systems and advanced manufacturing. The Middle Corridor — stretching from Central Asian mineral wealth through the Caucasus to Türkiye and onward to global markets — offers one of the most compelling yet underexploited answers. Türkiye is the pivotal variable. Building its own midstream processing capacity in boron, REE and battery precursors while serving as the indispensable gateway for Central Asian minerals flowing west, Türkiye is not a transit corridor — it is a potential industrial anchor for the entire allied supply chain. This session asks what it will actually take to convert diplomatic alignment into commercial reality, and who needs to do what to make the Middle Corridor a functioning global strategic supply line.