Mongolia and Bhutan to increase cooperation www.news.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil met with his visiting Bhutanese counterpart Lyonpo Damcho Dorji here on Wednesday on bilateral cooperation.

Noting that Mongolia and Bhutan have a common historical and cultural base, both foreign ministers agreed that the two landlocked countries need to strengthen bilateral, regional and international relations.
Dorji said that Bhutan is ready to boost cooperation with Mongolia in the agricultural, tourism, and health spheres. He also suggested Mongolia to develop a route for Mongolian tourists to Bhutan and to enhance cultural exchange.

Abe meets Mongolian president www3.nhk.or.jp

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a meeting with Mongolia's new President Khaltmaa Battulga on an island in the south of Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok. It was their first meeting.

Russian Flight Attendants Win Aeroflot Discrimination Case www.themoscowtimes.com

Moscow City Court has ruled in favor of Russian flight attendants in their suit against Russia's largest airline Aeroflot from discriminating against large women, Russian media said citing the court’s press service.

North Korean workers dies after fall from 6th floor www.news.mn

A North Korean worker was killed at a building site Monday (4th of September) when he fell from a sixth floor window of an apartment, officials said. The 27 year-old worker fell to his death at 8:00 p.m. at the Delgerekh residential block in the Khan-Uul district of the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar.

Australian jailed for alleged fraud in Mongolia www.news.mn

The Mongolian Police and Prosecution Authorities finally completed the investigation of the criminal case committed by Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi, citizen of Australia and UK. The investigation took more than 2 years to finalize the fraud of Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi who used the mineral licenses of Mongolia and raised huge amounts of funds from foreign and domestic investors deceiving them that license holder company would be selling its shares at the international stock exchanges and who fled from the investors until today. Back in 2015, Monnis International LLC filed a claim to the Police Authority and investigation had been launched. The criminal court of Mongolia has issued its verdict on Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi’s fraud case in July 2017.

The Primary Criminal Court of Khan-Uul district deemed that Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi should be called as guilty for his actions committed repeatedly to deceive properties of others, swindling others, misleading others through hiding the truth about the situation. The court verdict includes penalties to be taken, including 11 year of imprisonment for his actions, to compensate loss of MNT31 billion incurred by Monnis International and to put restriction on the right of possessor to transfer the mining licenses of some deposits.

Foreign media was also publishing stories about Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi’s fraud on raising funds from highly reputable international investment funds, companies and individuals claiming that he would jointly own deposits in Mongolia and make IPOs. For instance, Malaysian media had been covering stories on Government’s Pension Fund of Malaysia whereas 4 billion ringgits were transferred to Gobi Coal of Mongolia and mysteriously disappeared.

He is the person who stepped into Mongolia as a foreign investor, expanded his network, obtained licenses for number of mineral deposits and raised immense funds without trading a single share at the stock exchange. Perhaps, investors invested their money were trusted not in Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi, but to Mongolian wealth and minerals. He obtained from the relevant authorities licenses for over 80 Mongolian mineral deposits through its offshore companies registered in BVI and its subsidiaries registered in Mongolia. Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi developed “on paper” projects and raised funds for coal mines in Shinejinst of Bayankhongor aimag, Zeegt in Gobi-Altai, iron ore deposit in Arkhangai and more. But until today the deposits were not utilized appropriately and no dividends were given to the investors who were long waiting for their profits. Basically, it was found that all the money he raised from the ghost projects were transferred to his offshore companies’ accounts.

Gobi Coal and Energy, registered at BVI raised over USD 180 million from investors. The list of investors who had trust in Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi’s story include over 100 foreign and domestic investors such as Aabar foundation of UAE, Pension Fund of Malaysian Government, World Capital Group of the USA, Origo Partners PLC of PRC, Mount Kellet international investment fund, Monnis International of Mongolia. Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi attested during the court session that an internationally recognized Aabar foundation invested over USD90 million into Gobi Coal company. Apparently he used his personal connections with Joseph Borkowski, an advisor to the Secretariat of the foundation as the sources confirm that Joseph Borkowski is one of four Board of Directors of Gobi Coal, BVI. It also raises a suspicion that the Aabar foundation has made its decision to invest into Gobi Coal not meeting and learning existing shareholders’ concern about the project.

Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi was kept telling to the investors that “license holder company’s shares would be sold on reputable stock exchange within one year” since 2008 but failed to take any steps forward as the financial activities of his offshore companies wouldn’t even comply with the minimum requirements of any stock exchange.

During the investigation it was also revealed that money raised on behalf of the offshore companies using the Mongolian wealth were transferred back and forth between the bank accounts to be shown that the money were invested in Mongolia. Moneys transferred to Mongolia from the offshore accounts were mostly spent as management fees, service fees, advisory fees, employee bonuses, and wages in incredible large amounts, however, most of them were transferred to the accounts of his wife D.Uranbileg based on the fake contracts and arrangements. The police also confirmed that over 20 companies with the same or similar names as his offshore companies were registered with Registry of Legal Entity in Mongolia all of which were established on his wife and her relatives’ names.

When the investors who carried the loss demand money from Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi, he had been providing the same comment to jeopardize the name and reputation of Mongolia telling them “the corrupted Mongolian state ceases our operations and kicking out the foreigners, it’s very risky to run a business in Mongolia. All of us facing losses”.

Although the foreign investment may gone down due to economic conditions and legal environment, perhaps 10-20 percent of foreign investment are gone away because of erroneous information and intentional actions of swindlers such as Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi pretended to be called as a foreign investor.

The Police investigation and the court’s decision on Mohammed Ibrahim Munshi’s fraud case prove that not every individual called to be a foreign investor can be trusted, as well as the relevant authorities and organizations must be attentive to disclose the true information about the swindlers playing with the trust and money of others and share the lesson learnt.

Ulaanbaatar Partnership - 2017 exhibition approaching www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Ulaanbaatar Partnership-2017 international exhibition, with aim to promote national products and to back domestic enterprises, will be held for the 42nd time on September 07-10 in the Misheel Expo Center. 

Copper price hits fresh 3-year high as output at world's top producer falls www.mining.com

December copper futures trading on the Comex market in New York made fresh highs on Tuesday after the world's number one producer of the metal reported a sharp drop in production.

APO training course on TQM for SMEs begins www.apo-tokyo.org

The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) is organizing a five-day training-of-trainers course on Total Quality Management (TQM) for SMEs, 4–8 September 2017 in Mongolia. The objective is to develop trainers and practitioners in member countries who are able to guide SMEs in improving management capabilities and productivity through systematic, effective TQM implementation.

Group Photo_Training of Trainers in Total Quality Management for SMEs_ 4-8 September 2017_Mongolia

The course is being held in Ulaanbaatar, supported by the Mongolian Productivity Organization. Twenty-three participants from 15 member countries are attending, including SME owners, quality managers, and consultants and trainers in SME development agencies, NPOs, and similar institutions involved in productivity and quality improvement for SMEs.

The course was inaugurated by APO Alternate Director for Mongolia and Mongolia Research and Training Center Executive Director for Human Development Dr. Sharav Munkhtseren. He reported that during the 25-year transition to a democratic society, the country’s economy had grown by more than 20-fold, reaching per capita GDP of about USD4,000 and developing country status. He also pointed out that the government was taking multiple steps for the development of local industries, including SMEs.

“With over 40,000 SMEs active in Mongolia, accounting for more than 20% of GDP, we have been able to focus more on them and create successful practices,” he said, adding that it was still imperative for the Government of Mongolia to train as many trainers as possible who specialized in strengthening institutions and organizations through productivity and quality management efforts in SMEs.

Dr. Munkhtseren hoped that the participants would benefit from the multicountry APO training course by networking with others, encouraging them to: “Share knowledge and experience, increase your skills, and make a great contribution to the productivity and quality movement.”

SMEs are the backbone of all economies, including APO members. Representing an average of 95% of all businesses and providing more than 50% of employment, SMEs serve as the dominant driving force in accelerating economic growth. However, they face challenges while competing with larger firms, which have more financial muscle allowing quicker adaptations to changing technologies and quality management processes.

The APO course is aimed at creating a better understanding of the impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution on SME management and business performance while training participants in how to implement and integrate TQM with other quality initiatives and standards.

Field visits will supplement the classroom format of the course conducted by three APO-assigned international experts: Aggregator Japan Managing Director and Consultant Yukitoshi Tanno; Malaysia Productivity Corporation Deputy Director General Ab. Rahim Yusoff; and Cosmiqo International Pte. Ltd. Founder and Director Dr. Niak Wu Koh from Singapore.

Invest Mongolia - 2017 conference concludes www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The 11th annual Invest Mongolia 2017 Conference closed Tuesday the Shangri La Hotel.

Organized by the Frontier Securities, the Conference gathered 1,100 investors and 130 foreign and Mongolian delegates, who delivered 15 presentations and over 30 discussions.

On the second day the conference, the participants held discussions issues of the infrastructure, renewable energy and corporate governance. During the panel discussion concerning the infrastructure development in Mongolia, businessmen noted that there is a need for optimal financing for the public-private partnership (PPP), which is in line with international standards. They highlighted the fact that companies suffered a loss in the public-private partnerships in the infrastructure sector in recent years and the private sector should not be a loser for executing work with their funding.

The panel discussion touched upon issues, such as, what is the most important infrastructure for Mongolia now?; Importance of international standard PPP now at the time when the Government has no budget to finance; Infrastructure projects in the pipeline: UB Utility, Railway and Road expansion. Especially, when, who and how the railway to China should be financed? The extension of the Grid and the heating of the Ger district; and The bottleneck of the transportation by trucks to the Chinese border and the possible solutions to enhance competiveness of the mining industry. 

Participants underlined the importance of sustaining investment and using investment effectively as well as protecting interests of investors within law.

The two day conference also ran Ambassadors' Panel, where ambassadors shared their views on the challenge for Mongolia to reach out to the world, what can foreign countries do to assist Mongolia to increase FDI? and what does IMF program mean for donor countries?

Ambassador of Japan Takaoka Masato: 
- Mongolia successfully made its first free trade agreement with our country. Within the scope of the Mongolia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, customs duties will be eliminated or reduced by stages on 5700 types of goods of 97 groups from Mongolian side while on 9300 types of goods in 97 groups from Japan. To implement the agreement The Japan-Mongolia Joint Commission was established and is working with 13 subcommittees set up. However there are works anticipated to be realized at policy-making level. Specifically, Mongolia should establish one-stop-shop for investors. This will allow investors to have integrated information. Credibility of information, I think, will increase confidence of investors. 

Ambassador of the United States Jennifer Zimdahl Galt: 
- Different options should be found out to solve a problem. We support Mongolia for implementing the International Monetary Fund Program. The United States established a Transparency Agreement with Mongolia. I hope this action will progress further. When government has stable and right policy then investment will flow in continuously. In addition, investors should be provided with reliable and accurate information. 

Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Oh Song: 
- 20 years ago, our country involved in the IMF program and it gave positive signals in economy, banking and financial sector. The IMF program in Mongolia means a great opportunity. Mongolia should implement the program properly. 

Most ambassadors highlighted necessity of providing with transparent information, stable policy and favorable investment condition for attracting investment.

Coal claims 40% share in total exports, trade turnover rises 34% www.mongolianminingjournal.com

The National Statistical Office reports that foreign trade turnover at the end of July reached $5.9 billion, showing an YoY increase of 33.9% or $1.5 billion. In the same period, exports increased by 38.5% or $979 million to stand at $3.5 billion, while imports rose by 27.5% or $504 million and reached $2.3 billion. The foreign trade balance grew 67% YoY, and showed a surplus of $1.2 billion.