Japan and the European Union are encouraging the Philippines to join the Mineral Security
Partnership (MSP) Forum amid a growing demand for “critical minerals” whose market value has
reached $320 billion.
Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya and EU Ambassador Luc Veron extended their invitation by way
of speeches they delivered separately during a recent mining conference initiated by the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and co-organized with international
think tank Stratbase Institute.
MSP, a multilateral effort designed to promote reliable and steady supply of crucial minerals, counts
US, Japan, Canada, Australia and EU among its proponents. The Philippines has rich deposits of gold,
nickel, chromite and other minerals with estimated value of $1.6 trillion but remains in their raw
form and largely untapped, according to DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
The Japanese diplomat, anticipating Manila’s joining the MSP, said critical minerals such as nickel,
lithium and cobalt are essential for the production of a wide range of goods — from smartphones
and electric vehicles to medical devices and clean energy technologies.
Veron, for his part, cited the Philippine participation to the MSP launch in Leuven, Belgium last April
5 and hoped that Manila would join as full member as well.