US-China row offers Asean ‘transformative’ minerals opportunity: economist

Southeast Asian economies have a “transformative” opportunity to enter the world’s critical mineral supply chain amid China-US trade tensions, a senior Asian economist said. Critical minerals – essential raw materials for the production of hi-tech gadgets, cars and aerospace equipment – will make the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) supply chain “more resilient and sustainable”, said Yasuto Watanabe, director of the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO). The...