ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Malaysia is sitting on an estimated 16.1 million tons of rare earths, but roughly 70% of it lies inside permanent forest reserves — and the country's own fragmented governance may keep it from capitalizing on the rest.
Dr. Tricia Yeoh, Director of the Asian Institute for Policy and Engagement at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, joins Dustin Olsen and Daniel O'Connor to unpack her ISEAS paper, Ambition Without Alignment. She explains how land, licenses, and royalties sit with Malaysia's states while exports and security sit with the federal government — and why those two levels are increasingly pulling in different directions as foreign governments negotiate state by state.
In this episode:
- Why an estimated 70% of Malaysia's rare earths sit inside protected forest reserves
- How Malaysia's federal-state split divides control over land, royalties, and exports
- The three policy bottlenecks stalling the midstream and downstream
- Why the raw-rare-earth export ban both protects value and deters upstream explorers
- Why the case for a dedicated national rare earth office keeps getting stronger
- Why "pick the US or China" is the wrong question — and Malaysia's answer is "both"
Guest: Dr. Tricia Yeoh, Director, Asian Institute for Policy and Engagement (AIPE), University of Nottingham Malaysia
Rare Earth Exchanges is accelerating transparency in the rare earth and critical minerals supply chain. New episodes weekly.
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Disclaimer: Educational and informational content only. Nothing here is financial, investment, legal, or tax advice.
