After three months working in shearing gangs across New Zealand, four Mongolian sheep herders will soon return to their homeland with new knowledge and skills that have the potential to change their lives and reshape the shearing scene in their native country.

The four Mongolians herders - Budee, Baaska, Ama and Khanda – arrived in New Zealand in early January having done all their previous shearing using scissors, a time-consuming practice which limits the number of sheep that can be shorn in a day to about 30. With their trip wrapping up shortly, each of the herders is now shearing competently using an electronic handpiece and all four have achieved shearing personal bests of more than 250 sheep in a day – a feat which has previously only been achieved by one other Mongolian.

The visit to New Zealand was undertaken as part of the Share Mongolia programme – an initiative to introduce modern shearing techniques and equipment into Mongolia that took flight following a chance encounter between Rabobank agribusiness manager Paul Brough and local Mongolian farmers in 2019.

“While I was trekking through Mongolia in 2019, I came across a group of farmers who were shearing a herd of about 900 using scissors and they told me it would take them about a month to complete the job,” Mr Brough said.

“This really blew my mind given how much quicker this can be done with electronic equipment, and I thought to myself, there must be something I can do to help. So once I got back to New Zealand, I had a few discussions with some work colleagues and clients, and we looked into running some training that would help develop Mongolian shearers skills with modern equipment.”

With additional help from Zoe Leetch and Enkhnasan Chuluunbaatar from Golden Bay, and Roy Fraser from Colville – who have previously lived in Mongolia and provided valuable local insights – the Share Mongolia initiative was established in 2020 and an initial idea hatched to run some courses with visiting New Zealand shearers in Mongolia.

“These courses first took place in 2022 and worked out pretty well, and then we figured it might also be of benefit to get some of the Mongolians over this way so they could develop new skills and then take these back home,” Mr Brough said.

“With funding support from the Rabobank Community Fund, we were able to get the four herders over here and tee them up with work, lodgings and shearing gear. And it really has been quite phenomenal to see how quickly their shearing skills have progressed over the last few months.”

While the Mongolians were quick to adapt to their new role as international shearers, Mr Brough said, there were some initial challenges given the language barrier and the significant differences between everyday life in New Zealand and Mongolia.

“They come from a region in Mongolia that is one of the coldest places on earth – dropping to temperatures as low as -60 degrees Celsius in winter – and is more than 1000 kilometres from the nearest coastline,” he said.

“Prior to the tour, none of the group had been on a plane or a boat, used modern appliances like a dishwasher or washing machine and only one had ever been in water above their knees,” he said.

“So the first few days here there was definitely a bit of a culture shock. But with the help of an interpreter as well as from local farmers who gave up their time to show them around and get them familiar with New Zealand woolsheds, they adjusted pretty rapidly.”

During the trip, the Mongolians spent time working as part of shearing gangs in Piopio, Hawkes Bay and Wairoa.

“The modern shearing gear, sheep size and wool quantity on the New Zealand sheep were very new to these guys, but they had great support from their fellow shearers and shed hands which helped them progress,” Mr Brough said.

“At the weekends they entered shearing competitions, including the recent New Zealand championships in Te Kuiti and, towards the last part of the tour, they achieved some really impressive results.

“Another highlight of the trip was their visit to west Otago in early February where they participated in Shear 4 A Cause – an event run to raise money for a host of rural community-focused charities. They also got to experience a number of activities for the first time, including riding the luge in Rotorua and giving surfing a crack at Raglan as part of the weekly Surfing for Farmers programme.”

Mr Brough said he was really amazed at the Mongolians resourcefulness and how incredibly focussed on learning to shear and making money they were.

“While here, they saved every cent they made with two giving up smoking when they found out the price of our cigarettes compared to the price they pay at home. They didn’t once complain and only one has missed a day’s work – due to a sprained ankle,” he said.

“With their families tucked up in their Gers (traditional Mongolian tent) back home in -40-degree temperatures, it was pretty clear at times they were terribly missing them. But they stuck with it, and they’re very excited about the opportunities their new skills will open for them and their loved ones once they are back in Mongolia.”

Mobile shearing trailers

Mr Brough said the four herders were due to depart in the coming days and their prospects on their return would be greatly enhanced by the construction of two mobile shearing trailers which are currently being built for them in Mongolia.

“The Share Mongolia team are currently undertaking a fundraising drive to help buy shearing equipment for these trailers,” he said.

“We’re hoping to raise $8,000 for this equipment, and the plan is to set the four of them up so they can have their own business as travelling shearers.

“Even though the Mongolian shearing season is relatively short, they should be able to work for about 60 days per year making $100 a day – significantly more than their previous best day where they made just $15.

“And, of course, there is potential for the farmers to further share their skills with local farmers so that they too can learn to use modern equipment.”

Mr Brough said the Share Mongolia programme would continue to support Mongolian herders and a number of further activities were planned for the coming months.

“In June of this year, a team of Rabobank clients and staff will travel to Mongolia to hold eight more shearing courses funded by the United Nations, the NZ Embassy (Beijing) and the Rabobank Community Fund,” he said.

“The goal is to train and equip another 120 herders to shear using electric machines. Other goals are to introduce wool sorting and wool presses to improve wool quality and transport. And we’re also planning a trail to test if electric shearing machines can be used to shear camels in the Gobi desert!.”

Rabobank New Zealand is a part of the global Rabobank Group, the world’s leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking. Rabobank has more than 120 years’ experience providing customised banking and finance solutions to businesses involved in all aspects of food and agribusiness. Rabobank is structured as a cooperative and operates in 40 countries, servicing the needs of about 10 million clients worldwide through a network of close to 1000 offices and branches. Rabobank New Zealand is one of the country's leading agricultural lenders and a significant provider of business and corporate banking and financial services to the New Zealand food and agribusiness sector. The bank has 32 offices throughout New Zealand.

Polish President Andrzej Duda paid a state visit to Mongolia from April 24 to 26. The visit has been in the works for some time; during his visit to Mongolia in 2022, Zbigniew Rau, the rotating chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and Polish foreign minister, stated that the Polish president’s visit has been planned for a long time.

Marcin Przydach, head of the International Policy Department of the Polish Presidential Office, emphasized that although Mongolia and Poland are geographically distant, both countries have important geographical and geopolitical positions.

During his visit, the Polish president praised Mongolia’s democracy and highlighted the role Mongolia could play in resolving the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. “Poland has for years observed and appreciated Mongolia’s efforts not only to build democracy in the internal arena but to ensure peace and security in the world,” Duda said.

Mongolia and Poland have had diplomatic relations for over 70 years. The total trade volume between the two countries is approximately $100 million. The majority of bilateral trade consists of wool and cashmere, knitted products, fruits and vegetables, consumer goods, and construction materials. Most of these goods are generally imported from Poland.

Overall, regardless of the remote impact of geography, cooperation between the two countries in many fields such as politics, education, culture, and humanitarianism is successfully developing. Poland has expressed its interest in jointly building a copper smelter and a fossil fuel power station, which is much needed in Mongolia.

The Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe, which counts both Poland and Mongolia as members, also enriches their bilateral ties. The OSCE is one of the largest regional organizations with a total of 57 member countries in Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

In 2004, Mongolia became the fifth Asian country to cooperate with the OSCE. After nearly a decade worth of efforts, Mongolia became a full member state in November 2012 – the first OSCE member located in East Asia.

The secretary general of the OSCE visited Mongolia in 2006 and 2012, meeting with heads of state, government, and some ministers, which promoted cooperation with the OSCE. Members of Mongolia’s parliament regularly participate in meetings of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, while representatives of Mongolia regularly participate in branch meetings and training sessions.

Since February 2022, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has become a cause of grave concern for the OSCE generally, and particularly for Poland, which borders Ukraine. The OSCE and many European countries have called on its member states to unite and overcome difficulties.

In 2022, as part of Europe’s diplomatic push linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, many ministers and representatives from European countries visited Mongolia. During his visit, Polish Foreign Minister and 2022 OSCE Chairman-in-Office Zbigniew Rau emphasized the importance of OSCE cooperation in Mongolia-Poland and Mongolia-OSCE relations.

During his own visit, Duda suggested that Mongolia and Poland face additional threats due to Russia’s invasion. Both countries know from experience what a world based on the use of force, rather than rule of law, looks like, he said. “At all costs, we cannot allow a return to that.”

In the future, Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa may visit Poland or other European countries to continue the recent flurry of Mongolia-Europe diplomacy. If so, Khurelsukh may also be interested in visiting Ukraine.

Since the Russian invasion began, more than 50 world leaders have visited Ukraine. Due to this crisis, it is currently difficult to travel to Ukraine by plane. All these leaders have traveled to Ukraine by train via Poland, and the Polish side is responsible for all security issues entering Ukraine. Duda has visited the war-stricken Ukraine region four times in the past. During his recent visit, the Polish president may have shared his experience and knowledge of the situation on the ground in Ukraine with Khurelsukh.

In addition, Khurelsukh gained experience visiting conflict areas during his tenure as prime minister from 2017 to 2021. In 2019, he visited South Sudan, which was experiencing civil war, and had exchanges with Mongolian peacekeeping personnel. It should also be emphasized that after the conflict began, Mongolia’s former President Elbegdorj Tsakhia has visited Ukraine multiple times.

Mongolia is a country that values peace and prosperity. In the past, Ulaanbaatar has attempted to serve as a mediator between the conflicting parties in other crises – for example, hosting talks in Ulaanbaatar to resolve the Korean Peninsula crisis. Although playing the role of mediator in peace and ceasefire negotiations is not the highest priority goal in Mongolia’s foreign policy, the current situation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict highlights the importance of Mongolia’s potential participation in the relevant mediation work.

The political elite of Mongolia have private relationships in both Russia and Ukraine. Among the four presidents of Mongolia who have studied abroad, two received education in present-day Russia, and the other two received education in Ukraine (Elbegdorj at the Lviv Higher Military and Political School, and Bagabandi at the Odessa National Institute of Food Technology). In addition, many elites who received education in these areas during the former Soviet Union continued to express their concerns about the crisis in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy himself has a personal connection to Mongolia: He lived with his parents in the industrial city of Erdenet in northern Mongolia for about four years when he was child. On February 21, at the request of Zelenskyy, Khurelsukh had a phone conversation with the Ukrainian president. This indicates that Mongolia, which has friendly relations with all parties involved in the conflict, may hold some form of peaceful ceasefire negotiations in Ulaanbaatar.

Neighboring China also proposed 12 points for a peaceful ceasefire in February, and Chinese President Xi Jinping indicated further action toward this end in his recent phone call with Zelenskyy. Perhaps Mongolia will also communicate with China on this matter in the future.

GUEST AUTHOR

Chuluunbaataryn Sumiya

Chuluunbaataryn Sumiya is an economist and expert on international issues. Sumiya is currently working as a non-resident fellow at the Institute of International Studies, Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

Ding Liren has become China's first men's world chess champion, after defeating Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Ding, 30, won a rapid-play tiebreaker after 14 first-stage games at the World Chess Championship in Kazakhstan.

He succeeds Norway's Magnus Carlsen, the five-time champion who said he was "not motivated" to defend his title.

Carlsen accused a US opponent of cheating last year in a row that rocked the chess world. He remains number one in the rankings.

Ding's victory makes him the 17th winner of the world chess tournament, while Nepomniachtchi, who had previously made a grand final, fell at the final hurdle for a second time.

Ding said he was "quite relieved" after his victory, according to comments shared by FIDE, the International Chess Federation.

"The moment Ian resigned the game was a very emotional moment. I couldn't control my feelings. I know myself, I will cry and burst into tears. It was a tough tournament for me."

His victory was celebrated by chess fans and patriots in China, which is a growing chess power.

"One Ding to rule em all," tweeted fellow grandmaster Anish Giri after Ding's victory.

China's General Administration of Sport, a government department, also posted a warm congratulatory message, praising Ding for "winning glory for the motherland and its people".

A native of Wenzhou, China's "chess city", Ding triumphed in dramatic circumstances in Astana, the Kazakh capital.

The opening 14 games were played over three weeks. Ding and Nepomniachtchi each won three, with eight draws.

For the tiebreaker, each player had only 25 minutes to make their moves, plus an additional 10 seconds for each move played. Ding clinched victory in winning the fourth quick-fire game.

The 2m euro (£1.8m; $2.2m) prize money will be split 55-45 between the two players.

Ding was able to compete against Nepomniachtchi due to Carlsen's abstention. Ding had finished second at the Candidates Tournament, which players must win to challenge the world champion.

In 2009, he became China's youngest chess champion at national level.

Within 12 years, he had become the highest-ranked Chinese player in the world rankings, reaching second place.

Ding was undefeated in classical chess for 100 games from August 2017 to November 2018. This was the longest unbeaten streak in top-level chess history until Carlsen surpassed it in 2019.

His triumph reflects China's growth in the global chess scene.

China has dominated women's chess tournaments since the 1990s, when Xie Jun became the first Chinese person to claim a world title in 1991 in the women's game.

No Chinese player had ever previously won the World Chess Championship, in which both men and women can compete.

President of France Emmanuel Macron will visit Mongolia at the end of May.

Mongolia and France may sign several agreements on cooperation and development during the French President's working visit to the country.

For example, Russia and France are world leaders in yellow powder or uranium enrichment technology, while countries such as China and Mongolia have large uranium reserves. The French company "Badrah Energy" is mining uranium in Dornogovi province.

However, according to the Mongolian media, Emmanuel Macron may make a proposal for cooperation in the uranium sector on a large scale, and offer to invest in the development of the nuclear energy.

Now Mongolia depends on Russia in terms of electricity. UN head António Guterres raised the issue of Mongolia's independence from Russia in energy field during his visit to the country last year. He stated that the UN would provide political support for the construction of the Egiin-Gol hydroelectric power station. After his visit, several prominent EU officials expressed their readiness to support and raise this issue when visiting Mongolia. Macron can also discuss the energy independence of Mongolia from Russia and investment in the construction of a nuclear power plant.

During the visits of Prime Minister Oyuun-Erdene to Germany and Korea and the visit of Polish President Andrzej Duda to Mongolia, it was shown that all countries are interested in mining rare earth elements in Mongolia. French President Macron may also make a request to buy rare earth elements from the country.

Mongolia has been cooperating with France in the field of emergency services and public transport in recent years. France supplied the Emergency Situations Agency with helicopters and trained pilots. The mayor's office is also cooperating with a French company in the development of public transport. It is expected that during Macron's visit, a number of cooperation agreements between Mongolia and France may be signed.

Minister of Finance B.Javkhlan announced today that the outstanding balance of the "Gerege" bond has been fully paid off, totaling USD 368 million.

Minister B.Javkhlan stated "- The total amount of this bond is USD 800 million. The Government of Mongolia has entered into multilateral loan agreements since 1990. Seven Government bonds have been issued so far. The first bond, called "Chinggis" was issued in 2012 to finance largest projects. Since then, one bond was issued in 2015 and two bonds in 2016, which were spent for offsetting the budget deficit. While, we have issued "Khuraldai", "Gerege", and "Nomad" bonds since 2017 for refinancing the previous bonds due to the repayment difficulties.

“The Government has received a total of USD 2.9 billion of debt from the six bond packages. These bond payments have been made through two methods. The Government has made a direct payment when the amount is affordable for the state budget, otherwise, we have refinanced, extending the repayment period and reducing the bond interest rate,” said Minister Javkhlan.

Touted Mongolian knockout artist E.Tsendbaatar (5-0, 3 KOs), signed to DiBella Entertainment earlier this year, will make his Broadway Boxing debut.

E.Tsendbaatar grew up on the countryside steppes of the Mongolian grassland, living a nomadic lifestyle with his family, herding horses and livestock, which helped him to develop his lauded strength. His admiration for boxing began by watching Mike Tyson fights as a child and he had his first amateur bout at age 10.

As an amateur, E.Tsendbaatar was a two-time Olympian, competing in the 2016 Rio Games and 2020 Tokyo Games. Accumulating an impressive 147-41 record, E.Tsendbaatar won 11 Mongolian National titles, as well as gold medals at the AIBA Asian Championships twice, the 2018 Asian Games, and a bronze medal at the 2019 AIBA World Championships. He turned pro in September 2018 in China and made his US debut earlier this year in his first fight under the DiBella Entertainment banner.

On February 23, E.Tsendbaatar earned a thrilling third-round stoppage victory against Giovanni Gutierrez, at Sony Hall, in Times Square, New York City. He is now trained by Manny Robles out of Legends Boxing Academy in Los Angeles, CA.

He returns to Sony Hall tonight to take on fellow southpaw Edy Valencia Mercado (20-9-6, 7 KOs), of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, in an eight-round bout. “E.Tsendbaatar is a beast. He’s a fearless fighter with real knockout power and swagger. He has the potential to become a world champion. Together with his managers, Max Alperovich and Bulgantamir Enkh-erdene, we will provide him with the right opportunities to get there,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “I’m thrilled that his Broadway Boxing debut will be seen by a worldwide audience on DAZN.”

A total of 12 pilots of Mongolian State Airlines will receive the training on Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Biman.

In the first batch, the pilots are undergoing the described training. For this, necessary approvals have already been taken from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.Biman has the distinction of training foreign pilots in state-of-the-art Dreamliners for the first time among SAARC countries, the release also said. Biman Bangladesh Airlines has ushered in a new horizon in South Asian aviation history by providing line training to foreign pilots on the state-of-the-art Dreamliner 787.

The program began on Friday with the training of one Mongolian Airlines pilot on the Dhaka-Sylhet-London route, said a press release. Biman Managing Director and CEO Shafiul Azim inaugurated the training program at the Dhaka airport this morning. Biman has globally acclaimed flight safety standards for which foreign airlines have gained confidence in Biman