tag

India moved ‌to deepen trade ties with Brazil on Saturday, signing ‌a pact ⁠to expand cooperation ‌in mining and minerals as ‌it seeks to meet rising domestic steel demand and support ⁠capacity expansion amid a global race for raw materials.The agreement was signed in the presence of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who arrived in New Delhi earlier this week for a three-day visit.Brazil is among the world's top producers of ​iron ore and holds large reserves of minerals critical to steelmaking. Closer cooperation is expected to improve India's access to raw materials and technologies ‌needed to sustain long-term ⁠growth in its steel ​sector, an Indian government statement said.The cooperation ​will focus on attracting investment in exploration, mining and steel sector infrastructure, the statement said.India has steelmaking capacity of 218mn metric tons, and companies are expanding output to meet rising domestic demand driven by infrastructure development and industrialisation.Addressing a meeting with a Brazilian delegation led by Lula, Modi said their talks had focused on ways to deepen the India-Brazil trade partnership."We are committed to taking ‌bilateral trade much beyond $20bn ‌in the next five ⁠years," Modi said.Bilateral trade between the two countries currently stands at ⁠about $15bn."Our nations ⁠will also work closely in areas such as technology, innovation, digital public infrastructure, AI, semiconductors and more," Modi said.India and Brazil have been strategic partners since 2006, with cooperation spanning trade, defence, energy, agriculture, health, critical minerals, technology ​and digital infrastructure.Brazil is India's largest trading partner in the Latin America and Caribbean region, and the two countries work closely on global issues such as UN reform, climate change and counter-terrorism.Lula on Thursday advocated for Brazil and India to conduct trade in their own currencies rather than settling transactions in US dollars, but dismissed speculation that the BRICS group of countries, of ‌which both ​nations are members, would create a common currency. 

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is looking to increase its investments in Japan to about $27bn by the end of 2030 as the kingdom looks to deepen ties in Asia and expand in areas from critical minerals to financial markets.The Public Investment Fund aims to deploy more capital after investing $11.5bn in Japan from 2019-2024, Governor Yasir al-Rumayyan said at the FII Priority Asia Summit in Tokyo Monday. He highlighted spending in public and private markets and predicted recently-launched exchange traded funds between Saudi Arabia and Japan will “go further”.“Asia is big for us. We want to have better ties, better relationships, better procurement process, access to the supply chain,” al-Rumayyan said. “Japan at some stage was one of the largest partners for Saudi Arabia and we want to get that back.”Japan is Saudi Arabia’s third-largest trading partner at present. The sovereign wealth fund expects its investments in the country to contribute as much as $16.6bn to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product, al-Rumayyan said. He also hopes to see more return investment to the kingdom in areas including travel and tourism.Those sectors are among six areas of priority for the $1tn PIF under its 2026-2030 investment strategy, which is set to be unveiled early next year. The board has approved that plan and will be hammering out details over the next few days at a summit on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, al-Rumayyan said.The comments suggest Japan will remain a priority for PIF global investment as the fund seeks to increase its annual deployment of capital to $70bn after this year. It allocated nearly $57bn across priority sectors in 2024.Saudi Arabia has been leaning more heavily into its relationships with Asian nations in recent years as it seeks to draw more foreign partners to help advance the country’s multi-trillion dollar Vision 2030 economic transformation programme.There’s been a strong emphasis on the financial sector, with multiple ETFs launched in markets including mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan to track Saudi assets over the last two years. Asian banks have emerged as major financiers for Saudi entities. In energy, Saudi Arabia is working with Japan on developing the market for blue ammonia.Additionally, the kingdom is developing Dragon Ball and anime theme parks at its Qiddiya mega entertainment city on the outskirts of Riyadh in partnership with Japan. The FII Tokyo conference held on November 30-December 1 was the second FII event ever held in Asia. 

Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and US President Donald Trump affirmed at their summit in Tokyo to bolster cooperation on defense and the economy.On the security front, Takaichi and Trump are likely to have confirmed the importance of reinforcing the alliance's deterrence and response capabilities amid growing challenges posed by China and North Korea, while Washington is calling for allies to spend more on defense, Japan news agency (Kyodo) reported.Takaichi and Trump signed documents, including one on cooperation to secure and supply critical minerals, including rare earths, in an effort to enhance economic security, according to Kyodo.Takaichi described the Japan-US alliance as "the greatest alliance in the world."She is expected to stress her plan, pledged in her parliamentary speech last week, to increase Japan's defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product by March, two years ahead of the previously set goal of fiscal 2027, Kyodo added.Japan has been raising its defense budget significantly since the fiscal 2027 target was set when the government in late 2022 revised its long-term National Security Strategy, which Takaichi has vowed to update next year.The two sides are also expected to have affirmed the steady implementation of a trade agreement struck in July, which includes a Japanese commitment to invest $550 billion in key US industries such as semiconductors, critical minerals and shipbuilding as well as increased purchases by Japan of US agricultural and other products.Based on the bilateral deal, Trump lowered US tariffs on goods from Japan, reducing the levy on automobiles to 15 percent from the previous rate of 27.5 percent.Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Seoul next Thursday, the next stop on his Asian tour.

US President Donald Trump, currently visiting Tokyo, and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi signed an agreement on Tuesday to secure supplies of rare earth minerals.A White House statement indicated that Trump and Takaichi signed a joint agreement during their meeting aimed at securing supplies of rare earth minerals and critical minerals.Kyodo News Agency reported that Takaichi and Trump agreed to continue working to develop bilateral relations between the two countries in various fields.Takaichi, who became Japan's first female prime minister last week, pledged to build a new "golden age" for the Japan-US alliance, while praising Trump's role in promoting peace in the Middle East.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is “positioning” Qatar not just as an energy powerhouse but as a strategic player in the global minerals market, noted Michael Finch, Head of Strategic Initiatives at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.“This is a long-term strategy that underpins economic diversification and supply chain security,” Finch noted at Al-Attiyah Foundation podcast, which was hosted by Stephen Cole.QIA, which is Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, has become a leading international investor in the sector.It is the largest institutional shareholder in commodities giant Glencore, holding an 8%-9% stake, and has recently invested in companies like TechMet and Rainbow Rare Earths, strengthening ties with supply chains vital for the energy transitionIn a world racing toward decarbonisation, the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) are standing at the precipice of historic transformation. Long defined by oil and gas wealth, the region is now seeking to secure its place in a post-hydrocarbon future.Finch emphasised that Mena nations are not merely reacting to global change but actively reshaping their economies for the decades ahead.Still, hydrocarbons represent around 40% of Saudi Arabia’s GDP (Gulf International Forum, 2024), over 60% of Qatar’s GDP (World Bank, 2023), and roughly a quarter of the UAE’s GDP (Reuters/IMF, 2024).That dependence underscores the urgency of diversification. “There’s a real economic imperative,” Finch explained. “This is not simply about risk management — it’s a lucrative opportunity.”Across the region, sovereign wealth funds hold an estimated $5tn in assets under management, increasingly channelled into mining, refining, and clean energy infrastructure. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and other state-backed vehicles are similarly making bold bets, including downstream ventures in electric vehicles and overseas acquisitions of mineral assets.The strategy is characterised by patience and foresight, with funds pursuing multi-decade returns tied to energy transition industries rather than short-term profit.While Mena is unlikely to rival South America or Australia in sheer geological endowment, the region holds valuable reserves. Morocco stands out as a global leader in phosphate resources, critical for lithium iron phosphate battery cathodes, while Saudi Arabia is advancing rapidly in copper, gold, and rare earth elements. New extraction technologies, such as Direct Lithium Extraction, could also unlock value from the region’s oilfield brines — leveraging existing hydrocarbon infrastructure for future supply chains.The conversation also touched on electric vehicle adoption in Mena, which remains at an early stage with penetration generally under 1% across the region, though the UAE leads at around 3% new car sales (Bain & Company, 2024).Still, growth targets are ambitious: Morocco aims to expand EV production capacity to 100,000 vehicles by 2025 (CleanTechnica, 2024), while Saudi Arabia has set a goal of producing 500,000 EVs annually by 2030 (Construction Week Saudi, 2024).Finch concluded: “The energy transition is not a threat to the region — it is an opportunity. With resources, capital, and expertise, Mena can become a cornerstone of the future global energy system”.“For Qatar, and for the wider region, the era of critical minerals is not just a hedge against the decline of oil — it is the foundation of a new energy economy,” he added.