The potential emergence of a seabed mining industry has important ramifications for the diversification of critical mineral supply chains, revenues for developing nations with substantial terrestrial mining sectors, and global geopolitics. In this report, the authors present the results of a multi-pronged examination of each of these issues, exploring the likelihood and magnitude of their impacts to better inform planning and policymaking. The goal of their analysis was to evaluate the potential for seabed mining to diversify critical mineral supply chains, the opportunity and appetite for doing so, the factors influencing the viability of a seabed mining industry, and the broader implications of establishing a global seabed mining industry. They used several methods to accomplish these objectives, including a literature review, expert interviews, economic modeling, and an expert workshop. The authors found that the emergence of a seabed mining industry would introduce a new source of supply for critical minerals that are key elements for energy transition and defense technologies, and this would present several opportunities and challenges for the United States in terms of diversifying critical mineral supply chains away from China, cooperating with allies and partners, working with developing nations, and addressing environmental, regulatory, and security concerns. They offer several recommendations for the U.S. government to address these issues.

The Sukkur–Multan motorway (M5) in Pakistan, which connects the city of Sukkur in northern Sindh with the city of Multan in southern Punjab, opened in 2019. In this report, the authors examine the private and social effects that the M5 has had on the two cities’ religious tourism sectors since its opening. Using key business performance indicators (KBPIs), the authors assess selected components of the religious tourism supply chain through in-person interviews with regional service providers. The authors then aggregated provider responses to infer key social performance indicators and compare them with national averages. Through this research, the authors seek to understand how new supply chains develop around a transport corridor and affect the value added at each node of the supply chain. The authors found that positive private and social benefits resulted in both cities from the reshaping of the supply chain with the opening of the M5. Specifically, private benefits include an increase in access provided by the motorway, investments in online services, and specialization within the supply chain. The public benefits of the M5 include an improvement in the economic growth of the Sukkur and Multan districts relative to the country and an improvement in the economic growth of the poorer city, Sukkur, relative to that of Multan.