China's ICBC opens office in Mongolia www.news.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, Sep. 5 (Xinhua) -- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) opened its Mongolia representative office in Ulan Bator on Tuesday.

The opening ceremony was attended by Choijilsuren B., minister of finance of Mongolia, Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Xing Haiming and President of ICBC Gu Shu.
At the ceremony, Gu said Mongolia is an important country along the Belt and Road Initiative.
He noted that China and Mongolia signed cooperation agreements under the initiative in May, which would bring huge opportunities for the two countries' cooperation in industrial capacity and finance.
Gu also said that ICBC always attaches great importance to the Mongolian market, adding that with ICBC's internationalized service network and diversified business lines, its Mongolia office will proactively devote itself to market research and project organization, and strive to become a bridge for China-Mongolia economic and trade exchange.
In recent years, China and Mongolia have witnessed rapid development in political mutual trust, economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. China has remained Mongolia's largest trading partner and a major investor in the country for several years. In 2014, the two established a comprehensive strategic partnership, a more advanced form of bilateral relationship China holds with another country.
Over the past years, ICBC has taken the initiative to adapt to consumer demands for diversified financial services, closely followed China's foreign trade and investment moves to refine its overseas business layout, and has been an obvious enhancement in its capability to provide service globally.
Currently, the bank has established overseas institutions in 44 countries and regions worldwide, and extended its presence in 20 African countries indirectly through holding shares of the Standard Bank of South Africa.

China cracks down on cryptocurrencies with ban on initial coin offerings www.rt.com

Beijing has outlawed raising funds through launches of token-based digital currencies or so-called initial coin offerings (ICOs). The ban means trading and usage of all cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, could now be illegal in China.

Three countries hold meeting on economic corridor establishment www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The second expert-level trilateral meeting on implementation of the Program on Establishing Economic Corridor among Mongolia, China and Russia was held in Moscow, Russia on August 29, 2017.

Mongolia Foreign Direct Investment: % of GDP www.ceicdata.com

Mongolia's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) registered a growth equal to 6.1 % of the country's Nominal GDP in Mar 2017, compared with a growth equal to 3.7 % in the previous quarter. Mongolia's Foreign Direct Investment: % of Nominal GDP data is updated quarterly, available from Mar 2000 to Mar 2017. The data reached an all-time high of 50.5 % in Dec 2011 and a record low -145.3 % in Jun 2016. CEIC calculates Foreign Direct Investment as % of Nominal GDP from quarterly Foreign Direct Investment and quarterly Nominal GDP. The Bank of Mongolia provides Foreign Direct Investment in USD. The National Statistics Office of Mongolia provides Nominal GDP in local currency based on SNA 2008. The Bank of Mongolia average market exchange rate is used for currency conversions. Nominal GDP prior to Q1 2010 is based on SNA 1993.

Mongolian President to hold meeting with Moon and Putin www.news.mn

Mongolian President Kh.Battulga will hold summit talks with leaders of South Korea and Russia during his visit to the Russia Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.

KAMCO to conduct financial consulting project in Mongolia www.news.mn

The Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) and Financial Access (FA), which is a financial consulting firm headquartered in the Netherlands, have been selected as the preferred bidders for the Asian Development Bank’s consulting project for the recovery and stabilisation of the banking industry of Mongolia.

Caa1 - the lowest credit rating in Mongolian history www.mongolia.gogo.mn

ULAANBAATAR (GoGo Mongolia) - In Nov 2016, Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") downgraded Mongolia's government long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to Caa1 from B3. 

Several green lights have turned on in Mongolian economy since then. Specifically, current account deficit stood at 358 million USD, meaning that it has dropped by 37 percent or 212 million USD from the same period of last year.
Goods and services account deficit dropped by 470 million USD and had a surplus of 248 million USD. Moreover, the balance of financial account had a surplus of 313 million USD. 
Mongolia has received 645 million USD foreign investment in the same period of last year while as of Jul 2017, foreign investment amounted 313 million USD which decreased by 332 million USD compared to the same period of last year. 
Meanwhile, the total balance of payments deficit was 48.8 million USD as of July 2017. A year ago, this amount was 41 million USD.
However, Caa1 ratings have not moved up and it is the lowest credit ratings in Mongolian history. 
"Invest Mongolia 2017" conference which is being held in Ulaanbaatar during Sep 4-5 raised this issue. Private sector representatives noted that with the Caa1 rating, it is almost impossible to attract investment from foreign countries. If one could find investment, the cost would be high. The biggest banks of Mongolia including Trade Development Bank, Khas and Khaan are determined their credit rating separately. However, their ratings are directly affected by the country`s rating. 
The Government pays for providers of credit ratings such as Moody`s, Fitch and S&P. Thus, private sector representatives recommended inviting representatives of these organizations to introduce the latest economic data and move the rating up. If Mongolia still has the Caa1 rating, Western investors consider Mongolia as a high-risk country to invest.

Russian firm seals energy exploration deal to drill South African shelf www.rt.com

Russia’s geological research company Rosgeo and South African national oil company PetroSA have signed an offshore drilling agreement on the sidelines of the of the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China.

The deal is worth an estimated $400 million over the next 10 years.

Finland to get rid of coal by 2030 www.mining.com

The director general of Finland’s energy department, Riku Huttunen, announced that the country will introduce legislation to phase out coal and increase carbon taxes.

Boeing declares victory in Airbus subsidies dispute www.bbc.com

US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has won a victory in a long-running dispute with European rival Airbus.

The World Trade Organization has reversed on appeal a ruling that Boeing received some state aid to help build its newest aircraft, the 777X.
"The WTO has rejected yet another of the baseless claims the European Union has made," Boeing said in a statement.
However, Airbus said ‎"the 'game' is far from over" as other complaints over alleged aid are still to be resolved.
The two aviation giants have been locked for years in a sprawling set of disputes at the Geneva-based WTO.
Last year, the WTO backed a European Union complaint that Boeing got tax breaks to site a production facility in Washington state.
The US, acting on behalf of Boeing, appealed the decision and secured an outright victory that is not subject to further appeal, the WTO ruling said.
According to Airbus, Washington state has given Boeing tax breaks worth about $9bn (£7bn) and which were sufficient to shut out imports.
However, Boeing said the tax breaks amounted to no more than $1bn.
The WTO's appeals body has now ruled that the tax breaks were not explicitly to prevent free trade, removing them from its most severe category of banned aid known as "prohibited" subsidies.
However, the trade dispute is not over. Brussels and Washington have two larger cases pending at the WTO, centred on multiple claims and counter-claims about illegal subsidies for their respective aviation industries.
Boeing's general counsel, J. Michael Luttig, said in a statement: "The latest of the false claims Airbus and its government sponsors have made has now been rejected by the WTO.
"The EU and Airbus, meanwhile, continue to be in flagrant breach of WTO rulings and must eliminate the massive illegal subsidies the WTO said a full year ago had not been addressed, or risk US sanctions against European exports."
Airbus, which estimates it has lost $100bn in sales because of Boeing subsidies, said: "Boeing illegal subsidies are still illegal and need to be removed. The 'game' is far from over."