Qatar joins U.S.-led AI supply chain coalition that includes S. Korea, Japan

▲ This photo, released by South Korea's foreign ministry, shows senior officials from South Korea, the United States, Japan and other countries attending the Pax Silica summit in Washington on Dec. 12, 2025. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Qatar-Pax Silica coalition

Qatar joins U.S.-led AI supply chain coalition that includes S. Korea, Japan

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- Qatar on Monday signed a document to participate in a U.S.-led coalition for supply chain cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI), critical minerals and other areas, joining South Korea and six other signatories to the group.

The State Department said that Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg and Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Trade Affairs Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Sayed signed Doha's accession to "Pax Silica," an economic security initiative that was launched last month as Washington seeks to counter China's growing heft in advanced technologies.

With Qatar's entry, the coalition now consists of eight members: the United States, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Britain, Israel and Singapore.

"Together, the United States of America and Qatar affirm a new geopolitical consensus that economic security is national security, and national security is economic security," the department said in a media note.

"Qatar's leadership and commitment to investing in secure energy, advanced technology, and critical minerals supply chains make it an indispensable partner in this effort, placing Qatar in the vanguard of nations that will drive the next stage of global economic growth," it added.

The grouping comes as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is pushing to enhance America's global "AI dominance," ensure stable supply chains for critical minerals and counter China's control over those strategically vital resources, amid an intensifying rivalry between the two superpowers.

Pax Silica draws from the Latin "pax", which means peace, stability and long-term prosperity, while silica refers to the compound refined into silicon, a chemical element key to the computer chips that enable artificial intelligence, according to the State Department.

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