Mongolia, a vast and sparsely populated country in East Asia, has long been known for its nomadic lifestyle. For centuries, the Mongolian people have roamed the steppes, herding livestock and living in traditional gers, or yurts. However, in recent years, the introduction of satellite internet has begun to change the way of life for many Mongolians.

Satellite internet has brought connectivity to even the most remote corners of Mongolia. In the past, nomadic herders would often have to travel long distances to access basic services such as healthcare and education. Now, with satellite internet, they can access these services from the comfort of their own gers.

One of the most significant impacts of satellite internet on Mongolia’s nomadic lifestyle is in the field of education. In the past, children of nomadic herders would often have limited access to formal education. They would have to travel to boarding schools in larger towns or cities, leaving behind their families and traditional way of life. However, with satellite internet, these children can now receive a quality education without having to leave their homes.

Satellite internet allows them to connect with teachers and classmates online, participate in virtual classrooms, and access educational resources that were previously unavailable to them. This not only provides them with a better education but also allows them to maintain their cultural identity and connection to their nomadic heritage.

In addition to education, satellite internet has also had a significant impact on healthcare in Mongolia. In the past, nomadic herders would often have limited access to medical services, especially in emergency situations. With satellite internet, they can now connect with healthcare professionals remotely, receive medical advice, and even have virtual consultations.

This has been particularly beneficial during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it has allowed herders to receive medical guidance without having to travel to crowded healthcare facilities. Satellite internet has not only improved access to healthcare for nomadic herders but has also helped to bridge the gap between urban and rural healthcare services in Mongolia.

Furthermore, satellite internet has also opened up new economic opportunities for nomadic herders. In the past, their livelihoods were primarily dependent on livestock farming and traditional crafts. However, with satellite internet, they can now access online marketplaces, sell their products to a wider customer base, and engage in e-commerce.

This has allowed them to diversify their income sources and improve their economic well-being. It has also helped to preserve traditional crafts and skills, as herders can now market and sell their handmade products to a global audience.

Overall, the impact of satellite internet on Mongolia’s nomadic lifestyle has been transformative. It has brought connectivity and access to essential services to even the most remote areas of the country. It has improved education, healthcare, and economic opportunities for nomadic herders, while also helping to preserve their cultural identity and way of life.

As satellite internet continues to expand in Mongolia, it is likely to further revolutionize the nomadic lifestyle and bring even more benefits to the people of this unique and beautiful country.

As part of the Official Visit, Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene attended the “Mongolia-China Trade and Economic Cooperation” Forum, which was jointly organized by the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in Beijing, and delivered the opening remarks.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene said, "In pursuit of the principle of being a 'Trustworthy, Reliable, and Long-Term Partner,' the Government of Mongolia has been carrying out legislative and institutional reforms to protect the interests of investors and improve the investment environment. There are over 7500 companies with Chinese investment in Mongolia. The Ministry of Economy and Development, along with the Foreign Investment Agency under this Ministry, has been established to gather complaints from investors, register them online, and promptly resolve the issues. All of these commitments aim to make the Mongolian investment policy clear and consistent." Lastly, the Prime Minister stated that the Government of Mongolia is ready to maintain mutually beneficial cooperation with investors in large development projects, valuing the long-term partnership.

The focus of the Prime Minister's official visit lies not only in the political sphere but also in elevating cooperation among investors, enterprises, and business communities to a new level. Within the scope of this focus, the Prime Minister held meetings with managements of Chinese state-owned companies, such as China Energy, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, Power China, China State Construction Group, and Norinco, to discuss the improvement of the Mongolian investment environment and maintenance of the long-term cooperation.

Twitter has applied a temporary limit to the number of tweets users can read in a day, owner Elon Musk has said.

In a tweet of his own, Mr Musk said unverified accounts are now limited to reading 1,000 posts a day.

For new unverified accounts, the number is 500. Meanwhile, accounts with "verified" status are currently limited to 10,000 posts a day.

The tech billionaire initially set stricter limits, but he changed these within hours of announcing the move.

Mr Musk said the temporary limits were to address "extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation".

He did not explain what was meant by system manipulation in this context.

"We were getting data pillaged so much that it was degrading service for normal users," Mr Musk explained on Friday, after users were presented with screens asking them to log in to view Twitter content.

The move was described as a "temporary emergency measure".

It is not totally clear what Mr Musk is referring to by data scraping, but it appears he means the scraping of large amounts of data used by artificial intelligence (AI) companies to train large language models, which power chatbots such as Open AI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard.

In simple terms, data scraping is the pulling of information from the internet. Large language models need to learn from masses of real human conversations. But the quality is vital to the success of a chatbot. Reddit and Twitter's huge trove of billions of posts are thought to be hugely important training data - and used by AI companies.

But platforms like Twitter and Reddit want to be paid for this data.

In April, Reddit's chief executive Steve Huffman told the New York Times that he was unhappy with what AI companies were doing.

"The Reddit corpus of data is really valuable," he said. "But we don't need to give all of that value to some of the largest companies in the world for free."

Twitter has already started charging users to access its application programming interface (API), which is often used by third party apps and researchers - which can include AI companies.

There are other potential reasons for the move too.

Mr Musk has been pushing people towards Twitter Blue, its paid subscription service. It's possible he is looking at a model where users will have to pay to get a full Twitter service - and access to unlimited posts.

Signalled by a blue tick, "verified" status was given for free by Twitter to high-profile accounts before Mr Musk took over as its boss. Now, most users have to pay a subscription fee from $8 (£6.30) per month to be verified, and can gain the status regardless of their profile.

According to the website Downdetector - which tracks online outages - a peak of 5,126 people reported problems accessing the platform in the UK at 16:12 BST on Saturday.

In the US, roughly 7,461 people reported glitches around the same time.

Initially, Mr Musk announced reading limits of 6,000 posts per day for verified accounts, 600 for unverified accounts, and 300 for new unverified accounts.

In another update Mr Musk said "several hundred organisations (maybe more) were scraping Twitter data extremely aggressively".

He later indicated there had been a burden on his website, saying it was "rather galling to have to bring large numbers of servers online on an emergency basis".

A server is a powerful computer that manages and stores files, providing services such as web pages for users.

Adam Leon Smith from BCS, the UK's professional body for IT, said the move was "very odd" as limiting users' scroll time would affect the company's advertising revenue.

Mr Musk bought the company last year for $44bn (£35bn) after much back and forth. He was critical of Twitter's previous management and said he did not want the platform to become an echo chamber.

Soon after taking over, he cut the workforce from just under 8,000 staff to about 1,500.

In an interview with the BBC, he said that cutting the workforce had not been easy.

Engineers were included in the layoffs and their exit raised concerns about the platform's stability.

But while Mr Musk acknowledged some glitches, he told the BBC in April that outages had not lasted very long and the site was working fine.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi paid a working visit to Mongolia on Friday and Saturday, as she met with Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh and also paid a courtesy visit to Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh.

Overall, Retno's visit to Mongolia highlighted the increasing of bilateral relations between the two countries.

"The Mongolian government has provided confirmation regarding plans to reopen the Mongolian Embassy in Jakarta. This commitment was conveyed directly by the President of Mongolia," Foreign Minister Retno said in a video statement on Saturday, July 1, 2023.

Retno and Batmunkh have also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on increasing cooperation between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries. The signing of this MoU will be a strong foundation for the two countries to enhance bilateral relations.

In the economic field, Indonesia and Mongolia agreed to continue to seek cooperation, including in trade and investment.

For investment, after a bilateral meeting with the Foreign Minister of Mongolia, an MoU was signed between Modena Indonesia and Nomin Holding Mongolia regarding the distribution channel for household appliances made by Modena Indonesia for the Mongolian market. This is Indonesia's first investment in Mongolia with a value of around USD 22 million.

"For trade, I conveyed the importance of agreeing on trade facilitation and reducing trade barriers, especially pharmaceutical and electronic products. The two Foreign Ministers also agreed to increase the intensity of KADIN relations between the two countries," said Foreign Minister Retno.

The fourth point, said Retno, is increasing collaboration in the tourism sector, including the promotion of Indonesia's five priority tourist destinations. Also discussed was the capacity building and participation of women in UN peacekeeping operations or in peace missions under the UN.

Indonesia has offered cooperation with a UN peacekeeping training center. In the sense that in Indonesia, there is a training center for UN peacekeepers which is quite good. Therefore, Retno offered this cooperation with Mongolia.

Indonesia and Mongolia are two major and active contributor countries to UN peacekeepers, including women peacekeepers.

"I also convey the priority of Indonesia's chairmanship in ASEAN. Mongolia is a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). I convey the hope that the Mongolian Foreign Minister will be able to attend the ARF meeting on 14 July 2023 in Jakarta," said Retno.

"We encourage the focus of ARF to be expanded from confidence building measures (CBM) to preventive diplomacy to ensure regional peace, stability and security, especially in the Indo-Pacific region," she said.

(WIL)

The copper price rose on Friday despite slow demand recovery in China and concerns over global economic growth.

Copper for delivery in September was up 1.89% on the Comex market in New York, touching $3.76 per pound ($8,272 per tonne). Since the beginning of the year, however, the metal is down 1%.

The most-traded August copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 2.4% on a quarterly basis.

“China’s economic recovery after covid-19 has disappointed with hopes for a demand boost now fading,” said ING analyst Ewa Manthey.

“We remain cautious heading into the second half of the year with sluggish demand from China pointing to lower prices.”

China factory activity declined for a third straight month in June and weakness in other sectors deepened, official surveys showed on Friday, adding pressure for authorities to do more to shore up growth.

“There is no end in sight in the near future to the gloomy sentiment surrounding China’s economic recovery,” Commerzbank said in a note.

(With files from Reuters)

The Khaan Quest 23 multilateral military exercises conclude in Mongolia today.

Peacekeeping was the focus of these exercises with over 1,100 military personnel from 25 countries, including China, India, the US, and South Korea; with Laos participating for the first time. Participating personnel obtained certification for deployment on UN peacekeeping missions through these exercises.

Russia is notably absent from these exercises, likely due to the presence of Western countries as the Eurasian strategic environment becomes increasingly fraught. Amid this tension, China and Russia continue aligning closer to each other against the West. A Sino-Russian bloc potentially threatens Mongolia’s traditional post-Soviet ‘balance-of-power’ policies which call for the landlocked nation to maintain strategic relations with ‘third neighbors’—the US, India, Japan, and others. It aims to prevent an over-reliance on Beijing and Moscow—China buys 82% of Mongolian exports while Russia supplies almost 100% of its gas. While Mongolia enhances its UN credentials through these exercises—which are now touted by Ulaanbaatar as one of the signature UN training exercises in the world, Khaan Quest 23 also serves to maintain bilateral relations with the US and other ‘third neighbor’ countries.

These exercises are likely to grow in medium-term importance as Mongolia seeks to balance China and Russia with the West.

On June 30, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia B. Battsetseg held a meeting with the Federal Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany Annalena Baerbock and exchanged views on bilateral cooperation and international relations.

The Parties discussed the mutual goal to bring the current Comprehensive Partnership to Strategic Partnership, and effective and timely implementation of the issues agreed during the Official Visit by the Prime Minister of Mongolia to the Federal Republic of Germany in October last year.

The 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Germany will mark in 2024. In this regard, the Parties agreed to reciprocate high and highest-level visits to advance the level of the bilateral relations and intensify the cooperation between the two countries in anticipation of the anniversary.

Noting the intensified dialogues with aims to increase trade and investment, and implement large projects and programs between the two countries, the Ministers explored further opportunities to develop joint factories in order to ensure economic independence and improve the livelihood of citizens of the two countries.

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) plays an important role in training Mongolian students in German higher education institutions. Thus, the Ministers agreed on accelerating the negotiation process to revive the Government scholarships.

Mongolia and Germany have been actively cooperating within the framework of the United Nations and other international organizations. In this context, the parties reaffirmed their intention to further strengthen the cooperation and collaborate on common goals aimed at ensuring peace, security, and sustainable development for the people of the world, including protecting the environment, mitigating climate change, and ensuring food security.

June 29, the organizing committee of the National Naadam Festival provided information about the preparation process for the festival.

On this occasion, the Secretary of the Organizing Committee, I.Baatarkhuu said, “To get tickets for tourists, tourist companies apply to the Ulaanbaatar Tourism Department and gets distributed according to the request. In connection with the government making 2023 “The Year of Visiting Mongolia”, the number of tickets for tourists is increased by around 400. The Central Stadium has 11,000 seats, and to accommodate more people, it was decided to sell two-day tickets separately. This means that those watching the wrestling tournament do not need to buy tickets for the first day. Unless the Central Stadium is enlarged, the issue will continue to prevail.”

630 SERVICE PERMITS TO BE GRANTED DURING NAADAM FESTIVAL

A total of 630 trade and service permits are planned to be issued during the Naadam Festival. Specifically, 95 pavilions for food and non-food trade and 195 pavilions for food production and services (khuushuur), totaling 290 pavilions, will be set in the Central Stadium. It includes:

For Bayanzurkh District: 70 pavilions for food production and services and 25 pavilions for food and non-food trade;

For Khan-Uul District: 55 pavilions for food production and services and 23 pavilions for non-food trade;

For Chingeltei District: 70 pavilions for food production and services and 25 pavilions for non-food trade;

10 pavilions for digital services for tourists;

12 pavilions for the Department of Small and Medium Enterprise­s (SMEs).

45 food and non-food trade pavilions, 200 gers of food and production services (khuushuur), and a total of 245 points of trade and services will be organized in the Khui Doloon Khudag, horse racing area. It includes:

For Songinokhairkhan District: 80 pavilions for food production and service and 20 pavilions for food and non-food trade;

For Bayangol District: 40 pavilions for food production and services and 10 pavilions for food and non-food trade;

For Sukhbaatar District: 40 pavilions for food production and services and 10 pavilions for food and non-food trade;

For Mongolian Games Complex: 40 pavilions for food production and service and five pavilions for food and non-food trade.

It is planned to set 50 handicrafts, souvenirs, and cultural goods shops and 45 games, and a total of 95 points and services in the culture and art area of the Khui Doloon Khudag.

Requests for trade in crafts, souvenirs, cultural goods, and games services will be accepted through the online registration system at www.service.ulaanbaatar.mn until June 30 at 5.00 p.m.

NAADAM FESTIVAL PARKING FEE COSTS 21,000 MNT

For the second year, tickets for the opening and closing of the festival, the national wrestling tournament, and parking fees for parking at the Central Stadium and Khui Doloon Khudag will be issued digitally. One person can get five tickets.

Starting from July 1 at 11:00 a.m., citizens can purchase their parking fees by logging into the www.enaadam.mn website. The delivery service will be handled by Mongol Post Company, and citizens can pick up the ticket at their nearest post office or home delivery.

The price of a parking permit is 21,000 MNT, and it has the following types.

“M” red – Khui Doloon Khudag;

“M” blue - Khui Doloon Khudag, public;

“G” green – the Central stadium, Khui Doloon Khodog and public.

Observations:

Before getting tickets and fees, it is necessary to create an account at www.enaadam.mn. When doing so, register your phone number, personal information, and delivery address;

Up to five parking fees are issued per person;

Fees are paid in one hour. This will not increase the burden on banks and payment systems;

By July 10, Mongol Post Company will deliver the tickets to registered addresses of citizens and to post offices. Shipping charges will be added;

Qpay tools can be used for payment;

There are several reasons why citizens' orders may not be confirmed. For example:

Delays in payment processing due to your payment not being successful or due to bank transactions or internet outages;

The order confirmation period has passed;

Incorrectly entered payment value (in case of payment by account);

Please note that early payment is not guaranteed. The successful payment status must be checked.

The Government of Mongolia has declared 2023-2025 as the "Years to Visit Mongolia" and is especially supporting investment and tourism and promoting Mongolia internationally. As part of the official visit of Prime Minister of Mongolia Oyun-Erden to China, the "Welcome to Mongolia" event was organized on June 29 in Beijing.

The Prime Minister attended the event's opening and delivered a speech, saying "The basis of friendly relations between countries is mutual trust and cooperation between people. "This official visit focuses on strengthening mutual trust between people and enterprises."

“At the Mongolia-China business forum, I stated that the private sector investment was USD 600 million or CNY 3 billion. However, by the time we arrived at this event, the investment has reached USD 2.8 billion or CNY 20 billion as the memorandums of cooperation had been signed. The investment issue of the Bichigt-Khuut-Choibalsan Railway along the eastern vertical axis of Mongol has been resolved, and the loan agreement for the Erdeneburen Hydropower Plant has been also fully resolved. This is proof that the bridge for mutual trust and new revival has been fortified,” he emphasized.

During the "Welcome to Mongolia" event organized within the framework of the official visit by Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erden, the "Four Seasons" concert that showed the connection between the history and culture of Mongolia was presented to more than 350 representatives of business, tourism, art, and culture of China.

Mongolia aims to receive one million tourists in 2023, and it is estimated to welcome 400,000 tourists from China.

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna will visit Ulaanbaatar on June 29 and 30 at the invitation of the Mongolian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Battsetseg Batmunkh.

Minister Colonna will take part in a foreign ministers meeting on feminist diplomacy and women’s rights that is being organized by Mongolia and co-sponsored by France and Germany.

The Minister’s visit is also intended to follow up on President Macron’s May 21st state visit, which was the first visit to Mongolia by a French head of state. To this end, Minister Colonna has been invited to attend bilateral meetings by Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh and Battsetseg Batmunkh.

Building on the dynamic created by the two heads of state in May, the Minister’s visit will allow France to deepen its partnership with Mongolia. This partnership aims to strengthen the two countries’ sovereignty and strategic autonomy in key sectors such as energy, critical metals, telecommunications, security and agriculture.