Fair Finance Asia Urges Better Mining Governance Across ASEAN
A new FFA report finds ASEAN nations are routinely cut out of critical mineral value chains, calling for stronger governance and equitable benefit-sharing.
A new report from the Fair Finance Asia 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 mineral supply chains, limiting the economic gains those countries receive from resources extracted within their own borders.
The report, released September 30, 2026, argues that existing trade and financing structures tend to concentrate profits among downstream processors and end-market consumers in wealthier nations, while ASEAN producers bear the environmental and social costs of extraction without proportional financial reward. FFA and Profundo are calling on regional governments and financial institutions to redesign those arrangements.
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Among the report's central recommendations is a push for stronger regional governance frameworks that would give ASEAN states more leverage in negotiations with multinational mining companies and international lenders. The organizations contend that without binding standards and greater transparency in financing deals, the current imbalance is unlikely to correct itself as global demand for critical minerals accelerates.
The findings carry particular weight at a moment when lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other battery-critical materials are drawing intense investment interest tied to the global energy transition. Southeast Asia holds significant reserves of several such minerals, making the governance gap identified by FFA an increasingly urgent policy question for the bloc.
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