China projects 6.5% growth in 2018 amid economic reform www.asia.nikkei.com

BEIJING -- China said on Monday its economy is expected to grow around 6.5% in 2018, highlighting the country's aim of accommodating slower growth to focus on reining in financial risks.

World's 5 largest gold nuggets that haven't been melted down www.rt.com

Gold has been an attractive asset throughout much of human history. Today's investors use it as a safe haven against market volatility. But where did gold mining start and what does the precious metal look like on extraction?
Humanity learned to extract gold centuries ago. The oldest known gold artifacts were reportedly found in the Varna Necropolis on the territory of modern Bulgaria. The graves allegedly date back to 4200 BC, which shows that gold mining might be at least 7,000 years old.

Stock Exchange weekly report /February 26- March 2/ www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ During the week spanning February 26 to March 02, 2018, MNT1,635,201,757 worth of securities were traded through 5 trading sessions on the MSE. The daily average MNT volume was MNT327.0 million.
1. STOCK TRADING:
A total of 97 companies’ 612,679 shares worth MNT584,636,717 were traded.
Most actively traded stocks: 
№ Symbol Securities Name Volume Amount
1 TTL TAVANTOLGOI 30,444 296,458,820
2 APU APU 167,685 111,206,456
3 GOV GOBI 2,005 45,859,860
4 MNP MONGOL POST 32,704 17,867,323
5 ITLS ITOOLS 139,250 17,066,570Most active brokerage firms:
№ Symbol Company Name Volume Amount
1 BDSC BDSec 252,279 436,025,403
2 LFTI Lifetime Investment 17,677 141,517,284
3 GLMT Golomt Capital 232,633 125,643,905
4 BUMB Bumbat-Altai 66,278 79,891,300
5 STIN Standart Investment 144,672 71,427,348
2. GOVERNMENT SECURITIES TRADING:
No government securities were issued on the primary market during the week spanning February 26 to March 02, 2018.
On the secondary market trading of Government securities, 10,073 units of securities were traded for MNT 1,050,565,040 through 14 trading sessions.
Most active brokerage firms for Government securities secondary market trading:
№ Symbol Company Name Volume Amount
1 BZIN Mirae Asset Securities Mongolia 19,488 2,034,091,880
2 BDSC BDSec 460 46,901,600
3 GAUL Gauli 198 20,136,600 
3. CORPORATE BONDS TRADING:
Most active brokerage firms for Corporate bonds secondary market trading:
№ Symbol Company Name Volume Amount

President Ts.Elbegdorj named new ICDP commissioner www.news.mn

The International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) has named former President of Mongolia Ts.Elbegdorj as its new Commissioner. In a welcoming address, said ICDP President Judge Navi Pillay said: “I am very happy that President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj is joining the members of the ICDP in our struggle to make the world free of the death penalty. Having been one of the leaders of the peaceful revolution that ended the dictatorship in 1990, Mr Elbegdorj was Mongolia´s Prime Minister in 1998 and again from 2004 to 2006 and President of Mongolia from 2009 to 2017.

Trump steel tariffs: IMF warns plan would hurt US www.bbc.com

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has joined criticism of Donald Trump's plan to impose a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on aluminium.

The body warned that such a move would hurt the US as well as other countries.

It said others could follow the US president's precedent by claiming tough trade restrictions were needed to defend national security.

Canada, the largest supplier of steel to the US, said tariffs would cause disruption on both sides of the border.

It is one of several countries that have said they will consider retaliatory steps if the president presses ahead with his plan next week.

If trade wars really were good and easy to win, the World Trade Organisation probably wouldn't exist.

Most countries believe that negotiations are best carried out and disputes settled through a rules-based system. Introducing trade barriers on a tit-for-tat basis has the potential to harm companies on both sides.

But that's unlikely to bother Mr Trump. His campaign rhetoric drew heavily on the perceived threat to traditional US industries from foreign interlopers acting unfairly. He's simply continuing in that vein.

And it's unlikely to register much with the steelworkers of Pennsylvania and Indiana. Concerned about their jobs and the future, many will welcome Mr Trump's comments.

How does the Trump administration respond?
Mr Trump tweeted on Friday morning that the US was "losing billions of dollars on trade" and would find a trade war "easy to win".

Critics argue that the tariffs would fail to protect American jobs and ultimately raise prices for consumers.

But US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross used a can of Campbell's Soup to defend the tariffs on Friday morning as "no big deal".

He told CNBC the duties would have a negligible effect on the price of a tin, amounting to less than a cent.

"Who in the world is going to be too bothered?" he asked.

Who else is unhappy?
Canada, Mexico, China, Japan and Brazil also say they are considering retaliatory steps.

The prime minister of Canada - which exports more steel to the US than any other country - slammed the tariffs as "absolutely unacceptable".

Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ontario he was "confident we're going to continue to be able to defend Canadian industry".

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said: "If all countries followed the example of the United States, [it] will undoubtedly result in a serious impact on the international trade order."

Kosei Shindo, chairman of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, said that the move would "create a negative chain reaction affecting not only steel but also other products considered to have national security implications".

Many US companies also expressed alarm, including beer brewers, which use aluminium for canned beverages.

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world's largest beer maker, warned that Mr Trump's plan was "going to put jobs at risk and would be against the US consumer".

Mr Trump has lamented the decline of the US steel industry, which since 2000 has seen production drop from 112m tons to 86.5m tons in 2016.

The number of employees working in the sector has fallen over the same period from 135,000 to 83,600.

But experts say far more Americans work in industries that depend on steel products than are employed in steel plants.

Steel mills in 2015 employed about 140,000 Americans, according to census data.

But 6.5 million Americans work for manufacturers who make things using steel.

Green Climate Fund offers 100 thousand household accommodations www.gogo.mn

Smoke-free Ulaanbaatar Forum – 2 was held by Bloomberg TV Mongolia and Capital City Governor’s Office yesterday. It addresses the country’s urgent problem of smoke.

The forum touched upon clean air topics during the panel discussions of New Planning, Made in Mongolia and Accessible Funds, and involved representatives of the government, non-government organizations, private sectors, banking and financial sectors, as well as public representatives to discuss measures taken, to be taken in the future and various ways to resolve the problem. The AQI of Ulaanbaatar is currently around 2 - 5 thousand, which exceeds the hazardous level. The incidences of respiratory diseases in Ulaanbaatar alarmingly increased including a 2.7-fold increase in respiratory infections per 10,000 population in the last 10 years. Pneumonia is now the second leading cause for underfive child mortality in Mongolia.

Purevdavaa Davaakhuu, Advisor to the President of Mongolia in charge of policies on environment, urban and rural developments and issues of air pollution, sees that the reasons of air pollution are centralization, poverty and unemployment.

He stressed that ger district, which produces 80 percent of the air pollution as they fuel raw coal, is growing in size. He made a critical address towards several government policies, "Policy on regional development was mistaken as it did not address development of satellite towns. It needs to have renewed longterm urban planning that includes establishment of satellite towns around metropolis of Ulaanbaatar,” remarked Mr Purvedavaa.

He added that MNT19-32 billion were accumulated to the state budget from the tax on smoke producing sources since 2008. But small portion of the amount were allocated to reduce the smoke related problems. Last year, a total of MNT17 billion was collected to the budget from taxex on smoke producing sources. Although, MNT5 billion was allocated to the actions on air pollution reduction, only MNT4.5 billion were spent for the purpose.

Furthermore, the Mayor of Ulaanbaatar city has made decisions to stop consumption of raw coal and stop domestic migration to ger districts in Ulaanbaatar from rural areas in order to reduce centralization.

Other panelists suggest that it is important to improve living standard by reducing unemployment. “The effectiveness of the expenditure for reducing smoke should be evaluated with numbers of generation of workplaces that used technology achievements,” highlighted MP Uchral Nyam-Osor. He adds that there is a need to support the development of industrialization and entrepreneurship. He then added that there is a need to address the problem and solve in integrated way by producing sound laws, such as the amendments to the Law on Legal Status of Ulaanbaatar, regarding the satellite towns.

Another panelist, Dulamkhorloo Baatar, Editor-in-Chief of the Official Gazette, urges to take resolute measure. “I believe that there is no family with children of early age, who have been sick and hospitalized because of respiratory diseases. Therefore, their parents have to ask for leave of several hours to several days from their employees,” she remarked.

Mrs Dulamsuren requires that the government should make clear policy and provide environment for implementing programs and projects presented regardless of the party. Naidalaa Badrakh, Head of Green Climate Fund Project Team, informs that there is no problem finding financial sources to fund eco-friendly and greenhouse gas reducing projects.

Green Climate Fund GCF is a financial mechanism under the UNFCCC which helps fund climate finance investment in low-emission, climate-resilient development through mitigation and adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries. They have a ready to implement project that will provide 100 thousand households with energy and insulation efficient houses worth MNT25-40 million utilizing eight percent mortgage loan program for up to 10 year term. He called to involve interested parties to implement this project. Currently there are 216 thousand households living in the ger district.

Oyunbayar.N

Constitutional Court: Nationalization of EMC will require compensation www.gogo.mn

About a year ago, the Parliament issued the 23rd resolution and reached a decision to nationalize the 49 percent ownership of Erdenet Mining Corporation (EMC). Considering this action as a violation to the Constitution of Mongolia, some people have appealed to the Constitutional Court. Accordingly, the Constitutional Court proceeded a ruling yesterday and confirmed the 23rd resolution of the Parliament did not violate the Constitution.

ROSATOM and Nuclear Energy Commission of Mongolia Signed Memorandum of Cooperation on Centre of Nuclear Science and Technology Construction www.globalenergyworld.com

The Memorandum was signed in Moscow during the Russian-Mongolian intergovernmental commission. On behalf of the Russian side the document was signed by ROSATOM’s Deputy Director General for International Relations Nikolay Spassky. The government of Mongolia was represented by secretary of National Energy Commission Gun-Aajav Manlaijav.

Mongolia Mining 2018 to highlight non-ferrous metals www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The 2018 Mongolia Mining international mining & oil expo will be held on April 4-6 in Ulaanbaatar, focusing on non-ferrous metals.

Putin wants Russia's economy growing faster than global average www.rt.com

The growth rates of the Russian economy should exceed global figures, which is the basic condition for a breakthrough, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his address to the Federal Assembly.