The minister met recently with a delegation from UNESCO Bangkok to discuss ways that the organization can collaborate with the ministry to improve higher education policy in Mongolia.

“Quality assurance and accreditation are the key instruments to improve the quality of higher education and solve the skills mismatch in the job market,” said Minister Tsogzolmaa.

On 29 March, she met the delegation, led by Dr. Libing Wang, Senior Programme Specialist in Higher Education and head of UNESCO Bangkok’s Section for Educational Innovation and Skills Development (EISD), to discuss how the organization can support Mongolia’s efforts to strengthen these two key policy areas.

Since its transition from a planned to open-market economy, Mongolian higher education has expanded rapidly, with the number of higher education institutions growing from 14 to 95, and the gross enrolment ratio at the tertiary level increasing from 14% to 69%. As is the case with most countries, the quantitative expansion has come with quality challenges.

Recognizing this, the Mongolia National Council for Education Accreditation (MNCEA) designated 2018 as "Internal Quality Assurance Year", and invited UNESCO Bangkok’s collaboration.

Dr. Wang said UNESCO would provide technical support for quality assurance in higher education, and asked for Mongolia’s active participation in higher education events, such as the Asia-Pacific Seminar on MOOCs for Higher Education in June as well as the Asia-Pacific Meeting on Education 2030 (APMED) in July. He also strongly encouraged Mongolia to ratify the Asia-Pacific Regional Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education (Tokyo Convention) in order to boost cross-border mobility, which will the country develop students’ competencies and global competitiveness.

UNESCO is committed to supporting Member States’ efforts to improve the quality of their higher education systems as an integral part of advancing the goal of the global education agenda to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

The number of pre-school and elementary school aged children is forecast to increase over the coming 10 years by more than 30%. In addition to the acute shortage of kindergarten capacity in the capital city Ulaanbaatar the limited number of existing kindergarten are becoming more and more expensive every year.

The visit is important for strengthening friendly relations between Mongolia and Switzerland, consolidating economic and trade cooperation as well as extending cultural and humanitarian sector interaction.

During the visit, the two foreign ministers held negotiations and signed cooperation agreements. In addition, the two sides discussed cooperation issues in politics, agriculture, food, science, road and transportation.

Switzerland's cooperation with Mongolia started in 2001; initially providing humanitarian aid for herders who had lost livestock in weather-related disasters. This assistance was extended in 2004, since which date the Swiss Cooperation Office has implemented projects and programmes worth over CHF 100 million in Mongolia.

At the meeting, Managing Director Er.Chan Kok Siong and Executive Director Dr.Tham Lai Leng introduced about the company’s activities and cooperation possibilities with Mongolia in road and constructional sectors.

MEINHARDT Infrastructure Pte Ltd is a subsidiary of MEINHARDT Group, and is an engineering consultancy that provides multi-disciplinary services for civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and geotechnical with various integrated engineering expertise in Singapore and offices in the region and participates in mainly infrastructure projects in areas of energy, transportation, master planning and infrastructure design. Its recent projects include The Gardens By The Bay, which is one of the three water front gardens designed and built on approximately 54 hectares of reclaimed land, The Marina Coastal Expressway which is below the Marina Bay crossing, Marina Bayfront Bridge, Biomass Cogeneration Plant, Downtown Line Singapore etc.

The authorities of the company also met with deputy Governor of the capital city P.Bayarkhuu and CEO of Mongolian Railway State-owned Shareholding Company B.Tsengel.

The sides underlined possibilities to cooperate in Ulaanbaatar city planning, road and bridge maintenance, waste management and water supply facility.

Founded in 1955, Meinhardt’s current global network includes Asia, Australia, Europe, US, Middle East and North Africa represented in 42 offices worldwide with headcount of more than 3800 professionals, projects on smart cities, ports, water and waste environmental engineering etc.

M.Unurzul

Representatives of 130 companies from 20 countries are participating in the Expo that will run until April 6. The event is considered of great importance for Ulan Bator to strengthen projects that generate value-added products and jobs, the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry said in a statement.

The ministry highlighted that this sector is growing rapidly followed by construction, transport and energy thanks to open cooperation with companies, the strengthening of public-private partnership and the confidence of investors in applying a policy that provides a legal stable environment.

The Mongolian mining sector makes up 90 percent of exports, 77 percent of industrial products, 22 percent of Gross Domestic Product and 64 percent of the foreign investment.

The procedure deals with the issuance of grants for projects that aim to produce innovative products and services through the introduction of new technology.

The Cabinet sees that the adoption of the procedure will help bring intellectual properties into economic circulation and advance the development of production of value-added innovative products.

The procedure states that the amount of a single grant will not exceed 40 percent of the total finance of the project and be less than MNT 60 million.

Those eligible to nominate a project include a citizen of Mongolia, all registered enterprises, businesses, scientific organizations, universities, higher education institutes and vocational training institutes.

The grant will be approved based on an assessment of experts, who will be appointed by the corresponding minister.
Kh.Amina

During its regular meeting on April 4, the Cabinet framed a draft resolution on its decision, which will be submitted to the Parliament in the near future.

According to the resolution, the fund required for distribution of the benefit starting from April 1 will be included in the 2018 Budget of the General Budget Administrator and will be allocated in the annual Budget starting from 2019.

The 80 percent coverage of the Child Allowance benefit will add 228 thousand children to the current list of benefit recipients, making the total number 860 thousand.

It has been estimated that MNT 41 billion will be needed to cover 80 percent of the registered children. The Cabinet sees that it is possible to distribute the benefit without making amend to the 2018 State Budget.
Kh.Aminaa

During the visit, it is planned that the two prime ministers will discuss cooperation in agriculture, light industry, tourism, road and infrastructure projects.

In Ulaanbaatar, the Turkish Prime Minister is expected to met Mongolian President Kh.Battulga and M.Enkhbold, Speaker of Parliament.

Open bidding will be announced on the lands approved by the selection. Within the frames of the amendments to Minerals Law of Mongolia, the exploration licenses will be granted only through biddings. Consequently, the highest bidder from companies seeking to obtain a license will be appraised from the scale of up to 45 points and their experience and ability will be evaluated from up to 55 points.

Presently, the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry is studying the opportunity to grant exploration licenses through application procedures, instead of bidding.