Licensing Certainty Commitments, Critical Mineral MoU Won't Affect Technical Conditions On Lynas - MITI

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Bernama) -- Both of Malaysia's commitments regarding Licensing Certainty as contained in the Joint Statement on the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) (Article 5.2) and the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Critical Minerals (Areas of Cooperation, Section 3) do not affect the government's decision to enforce technical conditions on Lynas Malaysia or other rare earth elements (REE) companies that are about to be approved to operate in Malaysia.

The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said the Critical Minerals MoU signed by Malaysia and the United States clearly states that areas of cooperation between the two countries include topics related to good regulatory practices, such as facilitating the process of issuing permits related to the REE industry, including mining permits, land purchase and manufacturing licences.

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“This agreement includes fair and equitable treatment for investors, as well as the implementation of sustainable projects that comply with environmental, social and governance practices. 

“In addition, both countries are committed to working together in strengthening the critical minerals sector and ensuring that the sale of REE products is determined by the respective authorities or governments,” the ministry said in a written reply to the Dewan Negara today to a question from Senator Datuk Wu Him Ven who wanted to know whether the two commitments affected the government’s decision to enforce technical conditions on Lynas Malaysia or the rare earth industry.

The Licensing Certainty commitment is enshrined in the Joint Statement on ART (Article 5.2), while the Critical Minerals MoU has the Areas-of-Cooperation, Section 3.

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Regarding the status of negotiations between Khazanah Nasional Bhd and companies from China in the development of the REE industry, MITI said that until now the discussions are still at an early stage and no final agreement has been signed.

“This is because the Chinese government has not yet named the party that will represent the country to implement the cooperation,” he said.

The ministry also explained that the government has mandated Khazanah Nasional as a focal point to comprehensively examine potential strategic collaboration models.

“The research covers aspects of commercial viability, technology safeguarding, strategic governance and control structures, as well as alignment with national interests,” it said.

Regarding the heavy rare-earth element (HREE) separation technology, MITI said that so far no technology transfer has been finalised either in terms of scope, form of implementation or timeline.

“Currently, HREE production at a commercial level in the world is only done by processing plants in China and the Lynas company in Kuantan,” it said.

-- BERNAMA