Assahafa.com
Morocco, represented by Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali, is co-chairing, alongside Türkiye, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Forum on Critical Minerals, which kicked off on Tuesday in Istanbul.
This two-day high-level forum is held under the theme “Unlocking Investment and Growth through Partnership,” against an international backdrop marked by growing demand for strategic resources linked to the global energy and industrial transition.
Bringing together representatives from countries that produce and import critical minerals, as well as OECD experts and private-sector stakeholders, the Istanbul Forum serves as a multilateral platform for discussing policies that can strengthen resilience and diversify supply chains for critical minerals, stimulate industrialization, and promote economic diversification.
The Kingdom was entrusted with the co-chairmanship of this event in recognition of its strategic role as an OECD partner, as well as the increasingly important position it holds in matters related to energy security and global industrial value chains.
In this context, Ms. Benali emphasized that this co-chairmanship of the Critical Minerals Forum is of particular importance, given that the Kingdom, despite not being a member of this organization, has demonstrated its ability to actively contribute to the international debate on the value chains of critical and strategic minerals.
In this context, the minister highlighted the importance of the “Marrakech Declaration,” adopted at the conclusion of the 2nd International Mining Congress (IMC Morocco), held in November 2025, which established the first common African framework for environmental standards, social responsibility, and governance in the mining sector.
She also noted that the Kingdom is now calling on OECD member countries to enhance transparency within this sector and to adopt fairer and more effective approaches to managing global supply chains.
The opening session of the OECD Forum on Critical Minerals featured OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, alongside Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, and Türkiye’s Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat, as well as several senior government officials from participating countries.
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