As for 10 January, 2018, mutton rose by 0.2-0.27 percent or MNT 10-14 per kg, beef by 0.16-0.26 percent or MNT 10-20 kg; horse meat is currently averaging MNT 4900.

The equipment worth USD 114 million 382,400 was provided by the World Health Organization, making it possible for the primary medical units to conduct tuberculosis diagnosis and hepatitis C virus tests in their localities.

Based on tuberculosis report from provinces, the equipment will be distributed to primary medical units in Uvs and Sukhbaatar aimags initially.

Within the ‘Whole Liver Mongolia’ program, hepatitis B, C tests are being conducted among the population, financed by the Health Insurance Fund. On the national level, the program has reached 353,445 people, who make up about 47.1 percent of the target group.
Kh.Aminaa

In a meeting held at the South Korean presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, the visiting Mongolian prime minister said his country fully supports Moon's initiative to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

"The Mongolian government will continue to support the policy initiatives you, Mr. President, have proposed to reduce tension and establish peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," Khurelsukh said, according to Cheong Wa Dae pool reports.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) shakes hands with Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh in a meeting held at his office in Seoul on Jan. 15, 2018. (Yonhap) South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) shakes hands with Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh in a meeting held at his office in Seoul on Jan. 15, 2018. (Yonhap)

Moon proposed the countries work together to upgrade their ties into a "comprehensive partnership," noting they shared a long history of friendship.

"South Korea and Mongolia are very close ethnically, historically, culturally and geographically. They both pursue common goals of democracy and market economics," he told the Mongolian prime minister. "Also, they share a common goal of peace in Northeast Asia."

Khurelsukh arrived here earlier in the day for a three-day visit. He is set to attend a joint business forum and meet other Korean leaders before heading home on Wednesday. The Moon-Khurelsukh meeting also involved Mongolia's Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar and other visiting officials, including lawmakers.

Monday's meeting came about four months after Moon and his Mongolian counterpart Khaltmaagiin Battulga agreed to increase exchange and cooperation between their countries in a bilateral summit held on the sidelines of a regional economic forum in Vladivostok, Russia, in September.

South Korea and Mongolia established diplomatic ties in 1990.

The conference patronized by Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga as a vice-President of the International Association for Mongol Studies opened with remarks of Ambassador of Mongolia to India G.Ganbold, ICCR President V.Sahasrabuddhe, IF director Dhruv C.Katoch and JNU vice-chancellor J.Kumar, Montsame reported.

At the conference, Mongolian and Indian researchers and scholars including Prof D.Purevjav, director of International Institute for the Study of Nomadic Civilizations, and Prof Sharad Soni, chairperson of the Centre for Inner Asian Studies, School of International Studies, JNU held discussions under the topics on Mongolia-India relations and Mongolian script and historical cultural memorials.

Jointly organized by Mongolia’s Embassy to the Republic of India, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and India Foundation (IF), the conference also touched upon issues on broadening bilateral relations and cooperation in trade, economy, agriculture and health sectors and scheduled to organize the next conference in Ulaanbaatar city.

Alongside the main event, an exhibition was opened to display books, photos and magazines on Mongolia published in the past two years in India.

Chairman Bill Ford said the car maker would have 40 hybrid and fully electric vehicles in its range by 2022.

It comes as countries around the world put more pressure on car makers to rein in carbon emissions.

General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen have already outlined ambitious plans to offer more electric vehicles.

Speaking at the Detroit Auto Show on Sunday, Mr Ford said the focus would be on electrifying existing Ford models without naming any specific cars.

He said the firm would offer 16 fully electric vehicles by 2022 and 24 plug-in hybrids.

Mr Ford told reporters: "We're all in on this and we're taking our mainstream vehicles, our most iconic vehicles, and we're electrifying them.

"If we want to be successful with electrification, we have to do it with vehicles that are already popular."

Stephanie Brinley, a senior automotive analyst at IHS Markit, said it was part of a bigger trend of car makers investing in electrification.

"Part of it is about tougher regulation but also the expectation that electric vehicles will support autonomous driving.

"The big question is how quickly consumers will adapt, as electric is only 1% of the market right now.

"Changing that will take better infrastructure on our roads, but also having more electric vehicles available."

Competitors investing
Last year, America's biggest carmaker GM said it would add 20 new battery electric and fuel cell vehicles to its range by 2023.

Volkswagen said in November it would spend $40bn on electric cars, autonomous driving and new mobility services by the end of 2022 - doubling a previous commitment.

Ford's $11bn investment pledge is much higher than a previously announced target of $4.5bn by 2020 and was spearheaded by new chief executive Jim Hackett.

During the Detroit show, Ford teased the release of its first performance electric vehicle - the Mach 1 - without giving any details about how it would look or its spec.

The SUV will be inspired by a Mustang sports car of the same name, made in the 1960s and 70s, and will be released in 2020.

The US firm also unveiled a more fuel-efficient version of its Ranger pick-up truck, the Ranger 2019.

The SUV will have a 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine, 10-speed auto transmission and automatic emergency braking.

While shipments were down 11% in December, the full-year totals rose 5% to 1.075 billion tonnes, exceeding a billion tonnes for the second year, according to Reuters trade data.

“Big miners have expanded their production and shipments while China’s crackdown on illegal furnaces that use scrap for production in the first half spurred demand for seaborne iron ore. Appetite for imported iron ore from Chinese steel mills remains strong,” Hellenic Shipping News quoted an analyst with CRU in Beijing, Saturday.

The need for foreign iron ore is explained by China's aggressive campaign to clamp down on polluting domestic steel mills; higher-grade ore limits emissions and boosts productivity. China's position as the largest consumer of seaborne iron ore has moved prices considerably. Global prices jumped 46% last year while Chinese iron ore prices were up 16%.

While the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute said it sees iron ore demand and steel output continuing to increase this year, Australia, one of the country's top importers, said Monday it expects prices to fall to $51.50 a tonne in 2018, a 20% drop from last year. This is due to increased world supply and less Chinese demand.

On Friday the prediction appeared to ring true, with the benchmark price for 62% fines falling 1.3% to $78.05 a tonne – the biggest decline since December 27. The weakness was due to slowing demand for steel product, according to Business Insider Australia.

Mitsubishi appears to be considering local production.

Vietnam's appetite for cars is growing as its middle class class expands. But the increase in air pollution from cars and coal-fired thermal power stations is forcing the government to pin its hopes on electric vehicles, which cause less environmental damage.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and Mitsubishi Motors will sign a memorandum of understanding on Monday afternoon. The two will jointly study electric vehicles deemed suitable for Vietnamese roads, traffic conditions and available charging infrastructure.

Prior to the study, Mitsubishi will supply Vietnam with the Outlander plug-in hybrid vehicle.

Mitsubishi Motors aims for 50% growth in ASEAN auto sales
In Vietnam, electric and hybrid vehicles are rare. But since the country has a 200-plus-volt system, it is easy to charge the vehicles at home, according to both the government and Mitsubishi. Because of Vietnam's narrow roads, the government thinks Mitsubishi Motors' compact electric vehicles, such as the i-MiEV, are a good choice.

Vietnam Electricity recently opened the first charging station in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang. Vingroup JSC, the country's leading real estate company, which has been working to produce the first national vehicle, is also developing an electric vehicle.

Vietnam aims to become a leading industrial nation by 2020, with the auto industry slated to be one of its main pillars. New auto sales fell by 10% year-on-year to 272,750 units in 2017 from a record 300,000 units in 2016.

The sharp drop was attributed to the abolition of import tariffs in January 2018.

But the wealthy and the middle class are buying more cars. The Ministry of Industry and Trade expects new auto sales to more than double to 600,000 units annually in 2025.

At the meeting, the sides discussed about talks and projects agreed previously in agriculture sector and accomplishments of actions. They also exchanged views on expanding bilateral cooperation and implementing joint projects to introduce new technology in animal husbandry and veterinary. In this scope, the sides agreed to implement a project ‘Capacity-building of Mongolia’s veterinary sector’ from 2019.

In the sidelines of the meeting, S.Korean side visited the Institute of Technology of Mongolia, where they got familiar with operations of a small-sized milk and meat processing enterprise which was established under the 2012-2015 joint project ‘Improvement of production technology of animal-related products and hygienic control system in Mongolia’. They also shared views on keeping outcomes of the project stable. As a part of the project activity, students who major in meat and milk processing technology and the staff of the enterprise are being trained to improve their capacity.

In 2003, the Agriculture ministries of Mongolia and the Republic of Korea established a protocol of cooperation. With a purpose to implement the protocol, a joint committee was set up in 2004 to define directions of cooperation and joint projects and activities.
M. Unurzul

According to the BoM, the campaign will run until May 31, 2018.

At the launch ceremony, the Governor of BoM Bayartsaikhan Nadmid addressed “The balance of relations between banks and herders has been disturbed. Same goes to insurance companies and herders. We reached a conclusion we must focus on balancing the relations between these organizations and the people. Therefore, we are planning to prepare a draft Law on Financial Consumer Protection within the campaign period. I will personally be held responsible for submitting the draft to the Parliament. The final product of this campaign will be a draft law. As a result, Mongolian people nd the financial organizations will benefit from it.”

According to the Legal Department of the BoM, the BoM has implemented a consumer protection project in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank and is now launching a campaign as a result of the project. Since the BoM is responsible for regulating the banking sector, the main partners will be commercial banks. The BoM has set an objective to cooperative with 14 commercial banks in the following 5 months and take types of actions.