This policy paper extends the work carried out by the OECD Global Relations and Co-operation (GRC) Directorate on Advancing Security and Transparency for the Governance of Critical Raw Materials in Central Asia, funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). It was first presented in draft at the OECD Critical Minerals Forum on 28-29 April 2026 at the OECD Istanbul Centre.
The paper was prepared under the guidance of Mr Andreas Schaal and Mr Karim Dahou, respectively Director and Deputy Director of the OECD Directorate for Global Relations and Co-operation. It was drafted by Ms Céleste Laporte Talamon, Mr Egor Polishchuk and Ms Mariam Chkhikvadze, Policy Analysts in the Central Asia Unit of the OECD Eurasia Division. It was supervised by Mr Grégory Lecomte, Head of the Central Asia Unit of the Eurasia Division and reviewed by Mr William Tompson, Head of the OECD Eurasia Division. Mr Louis Maréchal, Senior Advisor on Minerals and Extractives at the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs of the OECD, also reviewed the paper and provided significant feedback.
The chapter “Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations in Central Asia’s mining sector” benefited from significant inputs provided by Ms Peline Atamer, Senior Policy Analyst and Head of the Sustainable Infrastructure and Green Growth Unit in the OECD Global Relations and Co-operation Directorate, and Mr Guy Halpern, Policy Analyst in the OECD Environmental Directorate. Mr Benjamin Katz, Sector Lead Analyst, Mr Luca Maiotti and Mr Andres Aponte, both Policy Analysts, from the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct, provided inputs to the social and governance component of the chapter. The chapter “Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Tax Risks in Central Asia’s critical minerals sector” benefited from the inputs of Mr Tomas Balco and Mr Andrew Viola, Senior Advisers, and Ms Jessica Rankin Dixon, Junior Adviser, in the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTP) and Mr Nicholas Dluzniak, Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) Expert.