Overview
The development of the minerals sector in ASEAN is important to the socio-economic development of the region because mining, minerals and metals form the material bases of any modern economy. Every item of manufacture or processing or construction that is not plant- or animal-based, would have its raw material traced to mining or mineral products sourced from within and outside the region.
ASEAN is one of the largest markets in the world for the supply of mineral raw materials and ASEAN Member States are among the top global suppliers of major mineral and metal products. Trade in minerals accounted for $250 billion or close to 9% of ASEAN’s total trade in 2018. 21% of the trade in minerals are internal ASEAN trade.
ASEAN cooperation in the minerals sector was institutionalized back in August 2005 through a Ministerial Understanding on ASEAN Cooperation in Minerals. This was in response to a specific mandate from the ASEAN Summit to cooperate on minerals development. The Ministerial Understanding established the future basis of cooperation which aimed to
- develop the minerals sector to be an engine for greater economic growth and social progress in the ASEAN region,
- enhance trade and investment in the ASEAN minerals sector, and
- promote environmentally sound and socially responsible mineral development practices.
The year 2005 also saw the establishment of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Minerals (AMMin) and the adoption of the first ASEAN sectoral plan for minerals or the ASEAN Minerals Cooperation Action Plan 2005-2010 (AMCAP-I). The series of five-year AMCAPs have to date served as a blueprint for ASEAN minerals cooperation and continue to aspire towards dynamism in the ASEAN minerals sector.
Since its inception, ASEAN cooperation in minerals has a strong focus on capacity building across ASEAN Member States including in areas such as geological survey, resource assessment and mapping, mine rehabilitation and sustainable development, mineral mining licensing, mining business and investment opportunities for rare earth minerals, processing of tin and industrial minerals and geological and mineral resources development. These capacity building initiatives have been generously supported by Member States themselves and by partner organisations and Dialogue Partner governments.
Regional cooperation has further expanded to promoting sustainable minerals development through better monitoring, sharing and recognition of best practices, and promoting the adoption of sustainable frameworks and standards.
Priority Areas of Cooperation
The current AMCAP-III 2016-2025 Phase 2: 2021-2025 aims towards promoting the region as a minerals investment destination and building investments in all stages of the minerals value chain, commencing with exploration with attention to gradually building opportunities throughout the minerals value chain. The strategic plan is thus geared towards:
- boosting domestic and international investments in all components of the minerals value chain,
- adopting sustainable minerals development principles and working to expand stakeholder engagement and contribution,
- building human, institutional and technical capacities in minerals governance, and,
- developing new strategies and effective tools for collecting and processing data for the ASEAN minerals information system to drive investments and sustainable development.
To attract and promote exploration investment into the region, ASEAN recognised the need to enhance the quality and availability of pre-competitive geoscience data to potential investors. As such, the 9th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Minerals (AMMin) held in November 2023 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, endorsed the ASEAN Minerals Exploration Strategy (version 1: 2023) or AMEXS-1 which seeks to provide a coordinated set of strategies for improving geological prospectivity in ASEAN from the investor’s perspective, including a specific plan to collect and process the data that underpins the information base for marketing exploration in ASEAN.
The 9th AMMin also adopted the Declaration on Promoting ASEAN as an Investment Destination for Sustainable Minerals Development, which affirmed ASEAN’s shared commitment to develop its mineral resources and contribute to securing an adequate and steady supply of metals and minerals to meet rising minerals demand and to fuel industrial expansion across ASEAN while encouraging responsible sourcing of mineral inputs and products to boost the region’s competitiveness and continued access to global markets.
Sectoral Bodies
The ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Minerals (AMMin), consisting of ASEAN Ministers responsible for minerals, is the highest policy making body for ASEAN cooperation in the sector. AMMin sets the policy directions and meets on a biennial basis.
The ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Minerals (ASOMM) is the main operating arm of the AMMin and oversees the working groups that assist the Senior Officials in the development and implementation of sectoral policies as well as the work programmes/plans under the four (4) AMCAP strategic areas.
Four (4) Working Groups focus on implementing the sector’s four strategic areas of cooperation. These are the
- Working Group on Trade and Investments in Minerals (WGTIM)
- Working Group on Sustainable Minerals Development (WGSMD)
- Working Group on Capacity Building on Minerals (WGCBM)
- Working Group on Minerals Information and Database (WGMID)
A Joint ASOMM Working Groups Meeting (JWG) was also formalised in 2017 to facilitate discussion of all agenda items common to the WGs, and, give opportunity for all Working Groups to interact on cross-cutting issues and on the progress of individual WG works/activities.
Key Documents
Key documents under the ASEAN Minerals Cooperation include:
- ASEAN Minerals Development Vision (AMDV)
- ASEAN Minerals Cooperation Action Plan (AMCAP):
- AMCAP-I: 2005-2010 (adopted at the 1st AMMin, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, 4 August 2005)
- AMCAP-II: 2011-2015 (adopted at the 3rd AMMin, Ha Noi, Viet Nam, 9 December 2011)
- AMCAP-III: 2016-2025 Phase 1: 2016-2020 (adopted at the 5th AMMin, Vientiane, Lao PDR, 10 September 2015)
- AMCAP – III: 2021 – 2025 Phase 2: 2021 – 2025 (adopted at the 8th AMMin, hosted virtually by Viet Nam on 8 October 2021)
- ASEAN Minerals Cooperation Action Plan (AMCAP-IV): 2026 – 2030 (adopted at the 10th AMMin, hosted by Lao PDR on 2 October 2025)
- Joint Press Statements:
- Joint Press Statement of the 1st AMMin, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, 4 August 2005
- Joint Press Statement of the 2nd AMMin, Manila, Philippines, 16 October 2008
- Joint Press Statement of the 3rd AMMin, Ha Noi, Viet Nam, 9 December 2011
- Joint Press Statement of the 4th AMMin, Bali, Indonesia, 28 November 2013
- Joint Press Statement of the 5th AMMin, Vientiane, Lao PDR, 10 September 2015
- Joint Press Statement of the 6th AMMin, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, 30 November 2017
- Joint Press Statement of the 7th AMMin, Bangkok, Thailand, 13 December 2019
- Joint Press Statement of the 8th AMMin, Virtual, 8 October 2021
- Joint Press Statement of the 9th AMMin, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 21 -24 November 2023
- Ministerial Understanding and Declaration
- Ministerial Understanding on ASEAN Cooperation in Minerals (adopted at the 1st AMMin, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, 4 August 2005)
- Manila Declaration on Intensifying ASEAN Minerals Cooperation (adopted at the 2nd AMMin, Manila, Philippines, 16 October 2008)
- Ha Noi Declaration on Sustainable ASEAN Connectivity in Minerals (adopted at the 3rd AMMin, Ha Noi, Viet Nam, 9 December 2011)
- 9th AMMin Declaration on Promoting ASEAN as an Investment Destination for Sustainable Minerals Development (adopted at the 9th AMMin, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 23 November 2023)
- Cooperation with Partners:
Publications/Technical Papers and Related Links to The Sector
- ASEAN-IGF Scoping Study on Critical Minerals Supply Chain in ASEAN (May 2023)
- Study on the Development Prospects of ASEAN Minerals Cooperation (April 2022)
- ASEAN Reporting Mechanism (RM) to Monitor the Adoption of Sustainability Assessment Frameworks and Tools for the Minerals Sector (November 2017)
- Sustainable Mineral Development: Best Practices in ASEAN (November 2017)
- Sustainable Mineral Resource Development: Fitting ASEAN People, Economy and Environment (poster, November 2017)
- Study on Enhancing ASEAN Minerals Trade and Investment (December 2005)
Related Links to the ASEAN Minerals Sector
