As Prepared
UNDER SECRETARY FERNANDEZ: Good morning. Thank you, Minister Ganbaatar. As the United States celebrates 36 years of diplomatic relations and friendship with Mongolia this year, I’m excited to celebrate another milestone in our relationship with you today.
As Mongolia’s strategic partner, third neighbor, and trusted friend, the United States is working with Mongolia to strengthen our economies and make them more resilient.
Critical minerals play a vital role in our economies, and in the world’s ability to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The increasing demand for critical minerals in modern industry, especially the transition to clean energy, presents significant challenges, but also enormous economic opportunities.
It’s only natural that we work together and with partners to overcome these challenges, and to ensure all countries can fully benefit from these opportunities. Mongolia’s vast critical mineral resources, including rare earth elements, position it to be an important partner in global efforts to build more robust critical mineral supply chains, to the benefit of both our economies.
Both the United States and Mongolia have a long history of mining, and we look forward to building on that shared expertise and bolstering the critical minerals sector in Mongolia.
Through this bilateral MOU [memorandum of understanding], we aim to provide a framework for the United States and Mongolia to cooperatively strengthen sound practices in critical mineral resource development, and for the U.S. government to assist Mongolia’s resource development by providing technical and regulatory expertise.
As we continue to strengthen the U.S.-Mongolia partnership, we believe this MOU will lay the groundwork for our two countries to further deepen our bilateral cooperation in an increasingly important sector of the global economy.
Thank you.