Fair Finance Asia Calls for Equitable Critical Minerals Governance in ASEAN
A new report finds ASEAN nations are routinely sidelined in critical minerals value chains, prompting calls for fairer profit-sharing and oversight.
A new report from the Fair Finance Asia (FFA) network and its research partner Profundo concludes that member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are frequently excluded from the higher-value segments of critical minerals supply chains, leaving resource-rich countries with limited economic returns despite hosting significant extraction activity.
The report, released September 30, 2026, calls for stronger regional governance frameworks that would give ASEAN governments greater say over how profits from critical minerals trade and financing are distributed. Researchers argue that without structural reforms, the current model risks perpetuating extractive relationships that benefit outside investors and multinational financiers at the expense of local economies and communities.
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Critical minerals — including materials essential to batteries, clean energy infrastructure, and consumer electronics — have become a focal point of global industrial policy. ASEAN sits atop substantial reserves of several such commodities, yet the FFA-Profundo findings suggest the region captures a disproportionately small share of the value generated as those resources move through processing, manufacturing, and financing stages toward end markets.
Fair Finance Asia is urging financial institutions operating in the region to adopt lending and investment standards that explicitly account for equitable revenue distribution and community impact. The network also calls on ASEAN policymakers to coordinate cross-border rules that would strengthen member states' negotiating position with foreign capital and trading partners.
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