Session 3
14:00
– 15:30 June
Kavaklıdere Ballroom
Critical Minerals Geopolitics and Financing — Who is Funding the Future in the Tethyan Mineral 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
Speakers:
14:00 Protecting foreign investments in the mining sector from political risks in a rapidly changing geopolitical world
Counsel
Hogan Lovells International
14:00 - ADB’s Critical Minerals-to-Manufacturing (CMM) Value Chains Initiative
Principal Investment Specialist
Asian Development Bank
14:00 - Panel Discussion
Head of EIB Representation to Türkiye
European Investment Bank (EIB)
Country Head Türkiye, Eastern Europe and Central Asia
UK Export Finance (UKEF)
Vice President
KfW Ipex-Bank Türkiye Rep Office
Principal Investment Specialist
Asian Development Bank
Principal Banker, Natural Resources
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Investment Officer
International Finance Corporation
Senior Consultant
BORG Capital Insights
