PM: Khazanah-China rare earth investment should be accelerated
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has urged for Khazanah Nasional Bhd to accelerate its investment with China in rare earth element (REE) development to capitalise on the sector’s potential and ensure balanced regional development.
Anwar said he conveyed the recommendation to Chinese Premier Li Qiang during discussions at the 47th Asean Summit.
“During my meeting with Premier Li Qiang, I proposed that China’s investment with Khazanah in rare earths be expedited,” he said during ministerial question time in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday.
He was responding to an additional question from Ahmad Amzad Mohamed @ Hashim (PN-Kuala Terengganu) on whether the government planned a more assertive policy to review regional economic growth projections under the 13th Malaysia Plan, aimed at preventing disparities between regions.
Media reports had previously highlighted REEs as a topic of discussion during the bilateral meeting between Anwar and Li Qiang at the 47th Asean Summit and related gatherings.
The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry stated on Aug 27 that the government remained committed to developing and attracting investors to strengthen production activities across Malaysia’s REE supply chain.
Malaysia is estimated to hold 16.1 million tonnes of non-radioactive REEs, with a market value of RM809.6 billion.
Answering a supplementary question in Parliament on the recently signed Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), Anwar emphasised that the agreement, which also covers rare earths, is not exclusive to the United States.
“Some assume the trade agreement restricts rare earths to the US. That is not true. During the two-week negotiations in Korea, we created space for JS Link to open additional ‘super magnet’ rare earth facilities in Pahang,” he said.
In July, Lynas Rare Earths Ltd announced that it had signed a preliminary agreement with JS Link to develop a rare earth permanent magnet production facility in Malaysia.
Under the memorandum of understanding, Lynas will collaborate with JS Link to build a plant capable of producing up to 3,000 tonnes of neodymium-iron-boron sintered permanent magnets near the company’s advanced materials plant in Kuantan, Pahang.
Source: Theedgemalaysia