The Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, in his speech, stressed that Malaysia will continue to ban the export of raw rare earths to protect the strategic value of domestic resources, despite signing the Critical Minerals Agreement with the United States this week.
He rejected claims that Malaysia would open the door to raw rare earth exports to the US for short-term profits or geopolitical purposes.
On the contrary, Malaysia wants to attract high-quality foreign investment and technology transfer for mining and processing activities in the country, thus ensuring that added value remains in Malaysia.
Malaysia is estimated to have 16.1 million tonnes of rare earth deposits, but still lacks the technology to mine and process the high-value minerals, which are important components for the EV, semiconductor and defense industries.
A previous Reuters report revealed that Malaysia is in talks with China for cooperation in the construction of a rare earth refinery, involving Khazanah Nasional and a Chinese company.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump signed separate agreements with Malaysia and Thailand to strengthen the supply chain of critical minerals in the region, as Washington-Beijing rivalry intensifies.
According to a joint statement from the two countries, Malaysia agreed not to impose export bans or quotas on critical minerals and rare earths to the United States, but the government insisted the ban would remain on unprocessed raw materials.
