National minerals policies that ensure security of supply of important raw materials and ensure the sustainability of the extractive operations as well as their products are crucial to economic policies.

Therefore it is important that each country has such a policy and ensures that it includes considerations and objectives of other relevant policies, such industrial and trade, environment energy and climate change policies, health and safety and consumer protection policies, as well as regional development and employment policies.  However, it is also important that raw material policies are not jeopardised by uncoordinated policy making in the afore-mentioned areas.

And whilst it is important to update and modernise  raw materials policies and adapt them to developments of the country it should be noted that raw material investments are long-term investments and therefore are sensitive to frequent, quick and unpredicted  changes.