RIYADH: The second edition of the Future Minerals Forum launched on Wednesday under the patronage of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. Representative of Kuwait's Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Mazen Al-Nahedh, Acting Director General of the Public Authority for Industry Mohammad Al-Adwani headed the Kuwaiti delegation to the meeting.
Speaking to KUNA and Kuwait TV in a statement, Al-Adwani stressed the importance of the meeting attended by more than 60 countries represented by 40 ministers and officials concerned with mining industry in the region from Africa to West central Asia. He affirmed that this industry is imperative for future as the world is seeking to turn to clean energy and zero carbon neutrality by 2035, indicating that minerals contribute to reaching this goal by reducing carbon emissions. There are some investment opportunities offered during the roundtable meeting and will be presented in Wednesday's conference, he said. The Saudi opportunities include exploration for minerals, topped with gold, iron and zinc among others in the region, he said.
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In his inaugural speech, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar Al-Khorayef, noted that the first edition of the forum, held in January 2022, aimed at highlighting the mining potential of Saudi Arabia and emerging regional countries. The second edition, he expounded, will handle a set of urgent topics, including increasing the region's contribution to value chains and supply of critical metals and promoting responsible and sustainable mining.
Additionally, the conference aims at ensuring maximum utilization of mineral wealth in the emerging mining area extending between Africa and West and Central Asia, and developing this area to become a comprehensive hub for producing green minerals. The big turnout of about 12,000 attendees from 130 countries and the participation of 200 speakers, verifies that the mining community is well aware of the challenges ahead, Minister Al-Khorayef stated.
Al-Khorayef also referred to Saudi efforts in the sector, saying that the Saudi Vision 2030 includes programs aiming to develop the sector to become the third pillar of the industry. The forum aims at developing dialogue on the future of minerals and investment in mining, as well as cooperation in the field across the area extending between Africa and West and Central Asia.
Taking part in the forum, set to last until Thursday, is a host of ministers, government representatives and lead investors as well as experts and specialists in the field. The forum allocated an area to showcase the latest mining technologies, an outdoor exhibition area, and a dedicated area to display investment opportunities in Africa, and West and Central Asia, as well as a zone for signing partnership agreements and cooperation memorandums. - KUNA