State Minister Kozuki Attends Event on Establishment of MSP Forum

1. Overview of the event

• On Friday, April 5, 2024, the European Union and the United States jointly held an event on the establishment of the MSP Forum in a hybrid format, namely in-person in Leuven, Belgium, and online, with State Minister Kozuki attending the event online as a representative of Japan.
• At the event, among all MSP partner countries (15 countries and regions: the United States, Japan, the European Commission, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea (ROK), India, and Estonia), the EU, the United States, Japan, the ROK, Finland, Germany, and the United Kingdom delivered speeches. Among the candidate countries for the MSP Forum, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Greenland, and Morocco delivered speeches.
• The establishment of the MSP Forum was announced in March 2024, expanding from the existing MSP framework, as the world’s first framework aiming to enhance supply chain resilience involving critical minerals, consisting of not only like-minded countries but also resource-rich countries in Asia, Africa, and South America as formal members.
• At the beginning of the Inaugural Event, the co-chairs, namely Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr. Validis Dombrovskis, and the United States Secretary of State, Mr. Antony J. Blinken, stated the significance of the MSP Forum, with the increasing importance of critical minerals for the energy transition, which aims to secure resources as well as adding value and achieving high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards in resource-rich countries, through collaboration between resource-rich and consuming countries.
• In addition, the countries participating in the event welcomed the establishment of the MSP Forum and agreed to cooperate together to build a resilient supply chain of critical minerals.
• Finally, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment of the United States, Mr. Jose W. Fernandez, announced that in addition to promoting individual projects though cooperation amongst like-minded countries based on high ESG standards, the MSP Forum will be used to discuss policies to achieve supply chain resilience while creating added value for resource-rich countries.

2. Highlights of State Minister Kozuki’s speech

State Minister Kozuki welcomed the establishment of the MSP Forum and stated the importance of building a supply chain of critical minerals that does not rely on specific countries, from the perspectives of achieving net-zero emissions and economic security. Moreover, he mentioned that Japan will further deepen cooperative ties between producing countries and consuming countries, and aim to realize a resilient and sustainable supply chain of critical minerals though the MSP Forum, while leveraging Japan’s past cooperation efforts in producing countries, including human resource development and infrastructure.

Division in Charge

Mineral and Natural Resources Division, Natural Resources and Fuel Department, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy