Rare earth elements summit held in Türkiye in collaboration with EU

Türkiye has hosted a rare summit on earth elements in the capital Ankara for industry, research, and technology talks attended by Türkiye's Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır and Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, the leader of the European Union Delegation to Türkiye.

Addressing the event on Wednesday, Meyer-Landrut emphasised the importance of investing in rare earth elements in an innovative, sustainable, and inclusive framework for green growth to shape a better future.

The EU delegation head further underscored the significance of Türkiye's integration into the union's value chains, positioning the nation as a pivotal production hub for European companies and a substantial market for Turkish enterprises.

Kacır, for his part, expressed Ankara's "hope that the project will help improve the business environment, strengthening research, technological development and innovation in the interest of both Türkiye and the EU."

He stressed that the "Enhancing the Rare Earth Elements Research and Innovation Capacity of Türkiye" project was created under the Competitive Sectors Program, an enterprise marked by financial cooperation with the EU to improve competitiveness in internal and foreign markets.

Turkish-EU cooperation

Beneficiaries of the initiative include Türkiye's Mineral Research and Exploration Directorate General and Munzur University Rare Earth Elements Application and Research Center.

Addressing the event, Kacır underlined that the $15 million project is to build an e-waste recycling infrastructure, supporting the research and development facility of the university so the country can reduce its import dependency through rare earth elements.

With a turnover of nearly $2 billion and an export capacity of $1.5 billion, Kacır said they will be able to produce magnets needed by many sectors, such as the wind energy industry. Türkiye currently imports all of its magnets.

Beneficiaries of the initiative include Türkiye's Mineral Research and Exploration Directorate General and Munzur University Rare Earth Elements Application and Research Center.

As demand for rare earth elements-based products rises with the increased production of high-tech and renewable energy-powered products, Türkiye is boosting its research and development capacities on rare earth elements.

The country is also expanding its global business networks for economic recovery and to establish a renewable rare earth elements supply chain.