AKIPRESS.COM - Hungry to get their hands on Central Asia’s rich base of rare earth metals, Western countries are trying to turn the area into their own personal resource colony, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk told reporters on the sidelines of the Astana international forum, Tass reported.

"This refers to the so-called rare-earth elements. Indeed if we talk about countries of Central Asia, about Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, these countries are rich in resources of this kind," Overchuk said. "We see at present that Western countries are trying to spread their tentacles here, seeking to ink relevant contracts. The region should be wary of these efforts, as it may just turn into a resource colony for Western countries," he noted.

"We are aware that certain contracts are being made and anticipate some initial processing stages. In general, certainly, high-tech production facilities will not be accommodated here, it is clear," the deputy prime minister said. "We are working within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union exactly on providing for even, socioeconomic development of the entire region on the whole. This is the difference in our approaches," Overchuk added.