DUBAI — Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef said that the mining sector plays an important role in supporting the energy transition in green manufacturing. In his speech at the third edition of the Saudi Green Initiative Forum 2023 in Dubai, he said that the mining sector plays an important role in supporting the development of flexible and secure value chains necessary to support the energy transition in green manufacturing, renewable energy sources, electric vehicles, and other industries. This is in the context of the increasing global demand for minerals and metals needed for clean energy technologies, and its endeavor to increase the supply of these vital resources in a sustainable and equitable manner, he pointed out. Alkhorayef said at the forum, under the slogan "From Ambition to Action," that the Kingdom aims to increase the diversity and security of value chains of important metals in several ways such as the optimal exploitation of data and methods for extracting it, which include launching large-scale regional surveys, accelerating the issuance of licenses, reducing the cost of energy, increasing the volume of investments, and the strategic location. Alkhorayef stated that expanding the sustainable and equitable supply of vital minerals is one of the highest priorities of the International Mining Conference (FMF) and the associated Ministerial Round Table. "In light of the huge amount of minerals and metals that will be required for the transition in the field of energy, no country can do this alone, and it will require international cooperation and dialogue," he pointed out. The minister stressed that the International Mining Conference serves as a platform for this global cooperation and dialogue, and the Kingdom has been holding it annually to enable the creation of flexible mineral value chains in the resource-rich region of Africa, West and Central Asia, while the Ministerial Round Table is a government-led platform. They aim to work together to produce the minerals that the world is required for the energy transition, he added
