The UN members presented an implementation course of the Vienna Program of Action for LLDCs (2014-2024) in their countries and highlighted the necessity of making efforts in improving infrastructure, business environment, strengthening private and public entities, producing VAT included products, financing infrastructure sector and increasing studies on investment and technical assistance.

O.Enktsetseg informed about the Mongolian Government’s policies and actions for implementing in the frameworks of the Vienna Program of Action and presented the national implementation progress and its priorities.
"Mongolia aims to join international and regional agreements to facilitate trade and transport, actively participating in regional economic integrations, and is cooperating with the two neighbors within the frames of ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, said O.Enkhtsetseg. She then informed that the Government decided to establish the Investment and Research Center for the Economic Corridor program and the National Committee on Trade Facilitation to ensure the implementation of WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.

O.Enkhtsetseg further noted that the Mongolian Government of Mongolia is holding an international forum entitled 'Regional Transport and Logistics Cooperation' on October 19-20 in cooperation with United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

The Hywind project, built by Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA and Masdar Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co., has five turbines floating 25 kilometers (16 miles) off the coast of Peterhead, near Aberdeen. The project has a capacity of 30 megawatts and cost about 200 million pounds ($263 million) to construct.

“This marks an exciting development for renewable energy in Scotland,” said First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. “Hywind will provide clean energy to over twenty thousand homes and will help us meet our ambitious climate change targets.”

Wind turbines have been installed on seabeds since the 1990s. Taking them offshore typically increases wind speeds and reduces complaints from neighbors, but it has also been limited to relatively shallow seas. Floating turbines are expected to open the industry up to new markets like Japan, the U.S. west coast and Mediterranean, where seabeds drop off steeply from the coast.

“Hywind can be used for water depths up to 800 meters, thus opening up areas that so far have been inaccessible for offshore wind,” said Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice president of the New Energy Solutions business area at Statoil.

Batteries

Some of the energy generated by the turbines in the sea will be stored in batteries. Statoil has installed one of its Batwind lithium devices, which can store 1 megawatt-hour of power. This will help steady the flow of power generated by the wind farm.

The cost of conventional offshore wind farms has been plummeting in recent years. The U.K.’s latest renewable energy auction saw prices drop to 57.50 pounds per megawatt-hour, less than a third the cost of new nuclear in the U.K. Rummelhoff expects floating offshore wind to follow a similar trajectory.

“Statoil has an ambition to reduce the costs of energy from the Hywind floating wind farm to 40 to 60 euros per megawatt-hour by 2030,” she said in a statement. “Knowing that up to 80 percent of the offshore wind resources are in deep waters where traditional bottom fixed installations are not suitable, floating offshore wind is expected to play a significant role in the growth of offshore wind going forward.”

The Hywind project receives government support in the form of renewable obligation certificates. It gets 3.5 ROCs, which currently adds up to about 140 pounds per megawatt-hour, according to Statoil spokeswoman Elin Isaksen. This is on top of the U.K.’s wholesale power price which has averaged 48.75 pounds per megawatt-hour over the past year.

The Government and non- governmental organizations, unions, activists and scientists as well as companies producing eco-products will participate in the event.

The event will concentrate on activating actions to respond air pollutions in urban places, increasing public involvement, determining long, medium and short-term policies and actions that have to be implemented by the Government and on drawing up a proposal of actions in ensuring citizens’ right to live safely.

Prior to the forum, three panel meetings take place in Ulaanbaatar, namely; ‘Air-pollution in ger districts and decisive actions’ on October 18, ‘Motor vehicle emissions and decisive actions’ on October 19, and ‘Decentralization and decisive actions’ on October 20.

The Erdenet-Ovoot line is part of the Northern Rail Corridor, a project connecting the national rail network from Erdenet to Aspire’s Ovoot Coking Coal Project and onto the Mongolian-Russian border town of Arts Suuri. Through the connection with the existing national railway, it also provides a direct route to the Chinese market for Russian freight forwarders. Moreover, the Russian government plans to link the rail from Arts Suuri to the Trans-Siberian Railway at Kyzyl, creating a potentially vital international rail link.

Contract
The first stage of the feasibility study was completed in January this year. In conclusion, the costs of the project were estimated at 1 billion Euros, minus contingencies. The second and last stage of the study is expected to be completed by the end of March 2018. In addition to the line between Erdenet and Ovoot, the study also paves the way for the eventual extension of the line to Arts Suuri.

As part of the contract, NR has committed to considering CGGC for the design, procurement and construction phases and if it does not award these contracts, to compensate the Chinese company. CGGC will in turn assist NR in the search for investors for the Northern Rail Corridor and planning for the extension.

International Economic Corridor
Aspire has said the Northern Railway will open up significant new opportunities for various industries, small business, the community and local economy in northern Mongolia, while in the meantime integrating Russian rail planning, China’s Silk Road and Mongolia’s rail policy to create an international Economic Corridor, facilitating increased levels of trade between the three nations and the wider Asia-European economies. The 1,520 millimeter-gauge line will be open for bulk and intermodal freight trains, but could also be used for passenger services.

“Precious metals remain a relevant asset class in modern portfolios, despite their lack of yield,” analysts at Goldman Sachs wrote, as quoted by Bloomberg.

“They are neither a historic accident or a relic,” and are still relevant despite new assets like cryptocurrencies, they said.

As uncertainty in markets grows, the price of gold rises, they explained. In the long term, gold will gain because of the continuing demand in emerging markets, particularly in China.

Goldman analysts used several criteria to compare gold and bitcoin, including durability, portability, intrinsic value and unit of account. In three categories gold is better, losing to bitcoin only in portability.

“While both require expertise for correct long-term storage, gold wins because cryptocurrencies are vulnerable to hacking through online wallets or the user’s computer or smartphone, are subject to regulatory risk, and network and infrastructure risk during a crisis,” they said.

“Transferring bullion can be expensive, given its weight, need for a high level of security and high import taxes in some countries, such as India. In contrast, it’s much faster and cheaper to move bitcoins,” Goldman analysts added.

Gold has a limited amount, while it is difficult to control supply in case of cryptocurrencies; gold is better at keeping its purchasing power, and has much lower daily volatility, they said.

This year, bitcoin has rallied about 600 percent, starting the year at less than $1,000 and jumping to near $6,000. Gold prices have risen 12 percent. Bitcoin’s total values is approaching $100 billion, more than the market cap of corporations like Bayer, Goldman Sachs and Nike.

"A temporary committee to increase teachers' salary has demanded to raise monthly base salaries of teachers by the end of 2017. However, the Government has not responded clearly to this demand for the past two months," the news agency reported.

"If this issue arises in another country, it will be a national security issue. Therefore, we want the government to discuss this issue for 15 days. If the government does not accept our requirements, teachers will go on strike," says BoD member of the temporary committee to increase teachers' salary A.Sanjmyatav.

In particular, U.Enkhtuvshin was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and G.Zandanshatar as Head of the Cabinet Secretariat during the morning session of the meeting. 

As the meeting resumed in the afternoon, the Parliament appointed N.Tserenbat as Minister of Environment and Tourism, N.Enkhbold as Minister of Defense, and D.Tsogtbaatar as Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

The Parliament is discussing the appointment of Ch.Khurelbaatar as Minister of Finance, and is yet to adopt a decision. 

The Parliament meeting will continue tomorrow.

For 2017, it predicted an average copper price of $2.77 per pound, markedly higher than its previous estimate of $2.64.

Cochilco also forecasted Chile's copper output to fall 4 percent from 2016, to 5.27 million tonnes, due primarily to a 43-day strike at BHP Billiton Ltd's Escondida mine in Chile, the largest copper mine in the world, earlier this year.

In 2018, however, with Escondida operating at full capacity, the state commission predicted output will rise 7.8 percent, to 5.74 million tonnes.

Cochilco Vice President Sergio Hernandez attributed higher near-term copper prices to a surge in Chinese demand, a result of higher-than-predicted growth of 6.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, but warned there were signs that growth was unsustainable.

"There is a high degree of consensus that this trajectory of growth is unsustainable in the medium term … which could lead to adjustments in the future," Hernandez said at a news conference.

China is by far the most important market for Chilean copper. Fluctuations in demand there, particularly in copper-intensive areas such as real estate, have a strong impact on the Chilean economy, where copper-related activity can account for up to 15 percent of gross domestic product.

For every one cent increase in the average annual price of copper, Chilean exports grow nearly $125 million and tax revenues increase by $60 million, according to official estimates.