1 MONGOLIA MARKS CENTENNIAL WITH A NEW COURSE FOR CHANGE WWW.EASTASIAFORUM.ORG PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      2 E-MART OPENS FIFTH STORE IN ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, TARGETING K-FOOD CRAZE WWW.BIZ.CHOSUN.COM PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      3 JAPAN AND MONGOLIA FORGE HISTORIC DEFENSE PACT UNDER THIRD NEIGHBOR STRATEGY WWW.ARMYRECOGNITION.COM  PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      4 CENTRAL BANK LOWERS ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST TO 5.2% WWW.UBPOST.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      5 L. OYUN-ERDENE: EVERY CITIZEN WILL RECEIVE 350,000 MNT IN DIVIDENDS WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      6 THE BILL TO ELIMINATE THE QUOTA FOR FOREIGN WORKERS IN MONGOLIA HAS BEEN SUBMITTED WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      7 THE SECOND NATIONAL ONCOLOGY CENTER TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN ULAANBAATAR WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      8 GREEN BOND ISSUED FOR WASTE RECYCLING WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      9 BAGANUUR 50 MW BATTERY STORAGE POWER STATION SUPPLIES ENERGY TO CENTRAL SYSTEM WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      10 THE PENSION AMOUNT INCREASED BY SIX PERCENT WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      КОКС ХИМИЙН ҮЙЛДВЭРИЙН БҮТЭЭН БАЙГУУЛАЛТЫГ ИРЭХ ОНЫ ХОЁРДУГААР УЛИРАЛД ЭХЛҮҮЛНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     "ЭРДЭНЭС ТАВАНТОЛГОЙ” ХК-ИЙН ХУВЬЦАА ЭЗЭМШИГЧ ИРГЭН БҮРД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГ ӨНӨӨДӨР ОЛГОНО WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГИЙН ОРЛОГО 2040 ОНД 38 ИХ НАЯДАД ХҮРЭХ ТӨСӨӨЛӨЛ ГАРСАН WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ЭРДЭНЭС ОЮУ ТОЛГОЙ” ХХК-ИАС ХЭРЛЭН ТООНО ТӨСЛИЙГ ӨМНӨГОВЬ АЙМАГТ ТАНИЛЦУУЛЛАА WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     Л.ОЮУН-ЭРДЭНЭ: ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГААС НЭГ ИРГЭНД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГИЙН ХАДГАЛАМЖ ҮҮСЛЭЭ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ENTRÉE RESOURCES” 2 ЖИЛ ГАРУЙ ҮРГЭЛЖИЛСЭН АРБИТРЫН МАРГААНД ЯЛАЛТ БАЙГУУЛАВ WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ORANO MINING”-ИЙН ГЭРЭЭ БОЛОН ГАШУУНСУХАЙТ-ГАНЦМОД БООМТЫН ТӨСЛИЙН АСУУДЛААР ЗАСГИЙН ГАЗАР ХУРАЛДАЖ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     АЖИЛЧДЫН САРЫН ГОЛЧ ЦАЛИН III УЛИРЛЫН БАЙДЛААР ₮2 САЯ ОРЧИМ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     PROGRESSIVE EQUITY RESEARCH: 2025 ОН “PETRO MATAD” КОМПАНИД ЭЭЛТЭЙ БАЙХААР БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     2026 ОНЫГ ДУУСТАЛ ГАДААД АЖИЛТНЫ ТОО, ХУВЬ ХЭМЖЭЭГ ХЯЗГААРЛАХГҮЙ БАЙХ ХУУЛИЙН ТӨСӨЛ ӨРГӨН МЭДҮҮЛЭВ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19    

Events

Name organizer Where
MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

NEWS

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World’s largest new diamond mine begins commercial production www.mining.com

Canada's Gahcho Kué mine, the world’s largest new diamond mine in the last 13 years, reached commercial production Tuesday, its owners De Beers Canada and Mountain Province Diamonds announced.

Located 280 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife, near the Arctic Circle, the mine is expected to produce around 54 million carats of rough diamonds over its 12-year lifetime.

Gahcho Kué was only the sixth diamond opened in Canada in the almost 19 years the country has been producing such gems.
Production ramp-up at Gahcho Kué, a joint venture between De Beers Canada (51%) and Mountain Province Diamonds (49%), began in August — a month before the mine’s official opening.

Thursday’s announcement marks an important operational milestone and also comes slightly ahead of schedule, the partners said in a joint statement.

"Today marks a significant landmark for De Beers in Canada as Gahcho Kué becomes an important contributor to the group's global production," De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver said in the statement.

The mine "secures Canada's position as one of the world's leading diamond producers," added Patrick Evans, President and CEO of Mountain Province Diamonds.

It’s estimated that Gahcho Kué will contribute $5.2 billion to the territorial economy until 2028, according to a socio-economic impact report prepared by De Beers.

Another reason why the mine's opening is important for Canada’s economy is the fact that two of the country's major diamond operations — Diavik and Ekati — are approaching the end of their productive lives. Gahcho Kué, although smaller than those mines, is expected to offset the production drop-off.

The mine, estimated to be one of the world’s 10 biggest diamond mines, is the sixth precious rocks operation opened in Canada in the almost 19 years the country has been producing diamonds.

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92.885 herders to receive incentive for wool supply www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Members of herder cooperatives and citizens with livestock receive monetary incentives for wool of sheep and camel, if they supply the raw materials to national factories, according to a Parliamentary resolution of 2011 and Government resolution of 2015.

A total of 92.885 herders and legal bodies with livestock in 21 provinces and Ulaanbaatar submitted their requests to get incentive for 20.599 tons of wool to Livestock Protection Fund under the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry.

Incentives of MNT22.6 billion have been transferred to herders’ bank accounts through Bank of Mongolia, after checking the data.

‘Legal environment to give incentives to livestock origin raw materials was created when the Parliament approved resolution No.30 on “Some measures to support national producers and increase jobs” in 2011. This action has brought many positive results. For example, a mechanism to supply wool to national processing factories has been developed, factories get to have sufficient raw materials and production of value-added wool products has been increased. And new processing factories of wool washing, wool thread, felt, insulation material for construction have been established” said director of Livestock protection fund B.Ganzorig.

The incentive amount of this year has increased by MNT3.3billion compared to last year’s. 413 thousand herders have received incentives of MNT112.7 billion for 71 thousand tons of wool since 2011.

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Bank of Mongolia issues main indicators www.en.montsame.mn

 
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Current and Capital account balance totaled to USD 2.4 million deficit which is USD 49.5 million decline compared to the same period of the previous year. The change was due to decrease by USD 43.9 million in goods and services account creating surplus of USD 19.4 million, and decrease by USD 5 million in income account creating deficit of USD 41.3 million.
 
Financial account had a surplus of USD 97.3 million which is declined by USD 303.3 million compared to the same period of the last year. According to the interpretation of 6thedition of Balance of Payments manual, Mongolia has a net borrowing during this period.
 
As of the first month of 2017, overall balance of payment deficit was USD 175.9 million, net error and omissions was -USD 76.2 million.
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Investors eager to snap up Snap shares after successful IPO www.rt.com

 
Snapchat parent company Snap begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the ticker name SNAP after the popular messaging app raised $3.4 billion in its initial public offering (IPO).
 
Snap’s offering was priced above the expectations at $17 a share. The IPO was oversubscribed by more than ten-times which means the shares could have been priced at as much as $19.
 
The stock price places the company's market value at around $24 billion. Snap was initially targeting $19.5 billion to $22.3 billion range.
 
According to Reuters sources, the company wanted to attract longer-term investors, like mutual funds, rather than hedge funds which could sell the shares quickly for a fast profit.
 
Snap became one of the highest-profile stock market debuts in years thanks to high demand from investors.
 
It is the most valuable American technology company to go public since Facebook nearly five years ago. Snap’s market value is more than double the size of rival Twitter.
 
Experts say the sale was well timed, as investors look for fresh opportunities after 2016 marked the slowest year for IPOs since 2008.
 
The Los Angeles-based company, Snap has enjoyed strong revenue growth in recent years, with earnings climbing nearly seven-fold in 2016 to $404.5 million.
 
However, its net loss widened 38 percent last year. The company faces intense competition from larger rivals such as Facebook's Instagram as it grapples with decelerating user growth. The number of people using Snap’s app slowed in the second half of 2016, according to Bloomberg.
 
Snap is the parent company of popular photo sharing app Snapchat which is beloved by teenagers and people under 30 for applying bunny faces and vomiting rainbows onto selfies.
 
The company, which launched in 2011, allows users to send pictures and videos which then disappear after 10 seconds. The company says it has 158 million users daily with 2.5 billion snaps sent each day.
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Mongolian Ambassador presents credentials to Queen Elizabeth www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ On March 1, S.Bayar Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland presented his diplomatic credentials to the Queen Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace.

Mongolia and the United Kingdom established diplomatic relations in 1963. Ambassador S.Bayar is the 13th Mongolian Ambassador to the UK, who presented diplomatic credentials since the establishment of the diplomatic relations.

Following the ceremony to present diplomatic credentials, Ambassador S.Bayar introduced the staff of the Embassy of Mongolia in London to the Queen Elizabeth II and talked about bilateral relations and collaboration between Mongolia and the UK.

Previously, Ambassador S.Bayar served as an Ambassador of Mongolia to the Russian Federation and is 25th Prime Minister of Mongolia.

 
 
 
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E.Bat-Uul to enter race for Presidential election nominee www.en.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Today, a well-known politician and former mayor of Ulaanbaatar city E.Bat-Uul announced that he is going to enter a Democratic Party (DP) race to determine the nominee for the upcoming Presidential election.
 
According to a revised rule of the party, its National policy committee will convene and candidates for the presidency rally will be officially announced.
 
The nominee from the DP for the Presidential election will be selected through a poll involving all members of the party, similar to how the party had elected its leader.
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Bitcoin tops gold for first time ever www.bbc.com

 
For the first time, a unit of the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin has exceeded the value of an ounce of gold.
It peaked at $1,265 on Tuesday while a troy ounce of gold stood at $1,233.
The current high is attributed to surging demand in China where authorities warn it is used to channel money out of the country.
The past months' surge is a major reversal for Bitcoin, which plummeted in value in 2014 after the largest exchange collapsed.
The value of Bitcoin has been volatile since it was first launched in 2009, and many experts have questioned whether the crypto-currency will last.
Earlier this year, Chinese authorities cracked down on Bitcoin trading in an attempt to stop money flowing out of the country illegally.
But the closer scrutiny from Beijing only briefly sent the currency lower. After it had soared to record highs in January, it has since picked its steady rise in value.
How Bitcoin works
Bitcoin is often referred to as a new kind of currency. Yet like all currencies its value is determined by how much people are willing to exchange it for.
To process Bitcoin transactions, a procedure called "mining" must take place, which involves a computer solving a difficult mathematical problem with a 64-digit solution.
For each problem solved, one block of Bitcoins is processed. In addition the miner is rewarded with new Bitcoins.
To compensate for the growing power of computer chips, the difficulty of the puzzles is adjusted to ensure a steady stream of new Bitcoins are produced each day.
There are currently about 15 million Bitcoins in existence.
To receive a Bitcoin, a user must have a Bitcoin address - a string of 27-34 letters and numbers - which acts as a kind of virtual post-box to and from which the Bitcoins are sent.
Since there is no register of these addresses, people can use them to protect their anonymity when making a transaction.
These addresses are in turn stored in Bitcoin wallets, which are used to manage savings.
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Venezuela running out of cash www.rt.com

 
The Central Bank of Venezuela says the country is down to just $10.5 billion in foreign reserves. At the same time, Caracas has to meet debt obligations of $7.2 billion this year.
 
The country had nearly $30 billion in reserve five years ago. In 2015, it was down to $20 billion. According to economists, the trend can't go on much longer, but it’s not easy to predict how long it would take Venezuela to reach the bottom.
 
"The question is: Where is the floor? If oil prices stagnate and foreign reserves reach zero, then the clock is going to start on a default," says Siobhan Morden, head of Latin America fixed-income strategy at Nomura Holdings, as quoted by CNN Money.
 
Nearly $7.7 billion of the country’s remaining reserves is in gold, according to the latest financial report for 2016. Venezuela had to ship gold to Switzerland to foot debt bills last year.
 
Dwindling reserves are only exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the country. The economic blow has led to food and medical shortages, as well as skyrocketing prices.
 
Inflation is expected to rise to 1,660 percent this year and 2,880 percent in 2018, according to the IMF. Among the key factors boosting inflation experts see the crashing bolivar, huge government spending, poor management of the country's infrastructure, as well as high level of corruption.
 
However, oil prices averaging $55 remain the major problem for the country’s economy. As the largest holder of reported oil reserves in the world, Venezuela produced over 2.4 million barrels of crude and condensates per day at the end of the last year, according to ministry data. Oil shipments make up more than 90 percent of the country's exports.
 
All in all that makes it more and more difficult for Caracas to pay debts and import food, medicine and other essentials for its citizens. The country's imports dropped 50 percent from a year ago, according to Venezuelan research firm Ecoanalitica.
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Russia may begin new gas supplies to China in 2018 www.rt.com

 
Deliveries of Russian natural gas to China via the so-called eastern route or the Power of Siberia pipeline could start next year, according to Gazprom’s Deputy Chairman Alexander Medvedev.
 
"We expect that the date of supplies [launch] will be agreed with the Chinese side next year," Medvedev told TASS.
 
He added that they could agree to start deliveries if the pipeline system is ready for imports and exports.
 
Medvedev also said Gazprom is confident China will want gas supplied via the western route and is continuing negotiations with Beijing.
 
According to him, there is no doubt China will have a growing demand for gas, particularly due to the environmental factor in the coal-dependent country.
 
The Power of Siberia pipeline is one of the biggest Russia-China projects. The deal took more than a decade to negotiate.
 
In May 2014, Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a $400 billion 30-year framework to deliver 38 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to China annually.
 
CNPC Vice President Xu Wenrong said in October the eastern route will become operational by 2020. Russia's ambassador to China, Andrey Denisov added the pipeline construction was on schedule.
 
According to Gazprom, 115 kilometers (71 miles) of the pipeline's 3,000 kilometers across Russian territory were constructed in 2015.
 
Russia will be one of the main providers of the natural gas increasingly needed by China. The two countries plan to build another pipeline - Power of Siberia-2 or the western route that will deliver another 30 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas.
 
Beijing may increase imports of gas to 190-270 billion cubic meters per year as it aims to shift from coal to eco-friendly energy, said CNPC International Department head Li Yueqiang.
 
According to him, in 2015 China used 200 billion cubic meters of gas, of which a quarter was imported.
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Mongolia caps size of new 7-year US dollar bond issue at $600m www.nasdaq.com

By Daniel StantonSINGAPORE, March 2 (IFR) - The Government of Mongolia [MGMG.UL], rated Caa1/B-/B-, has capped the size of new US dollar seven-year bonds at $600 million and given guidance for a new money component alongside an exchange offer. Holders of $476 million of Development Bank of Mongolia's [DEVBM.UL] state-guaranteed March 2017 bonds <XS075556730=TE> agreed to exchange them for new sovereign bonds. These will be exchanged at par for new bonds yielding 8.75 percent, the minimum yield that was indicated for the offer. Since the old DBM bonds were issued under Regulation S and were not sold in the US, while the sovereign bonds are being sold under 144A/Reg S, it has been decided to allow new investors to buy into the offering. Guidance for the new money tranche has been indicated at 8.25 percent area, meaning that those investors will pay a premium to face value. The combined size of both tranches is capped at $600 million, since $580 million is needed to redeem the DBM bonds on March 21. Credit Suisse and JP Morgan are managing the transaction, which will price today. Mongolia reached a funding agreement with the International Monetary Fund on February 19, without which it had been expected to struggle to repay the DBM bonds. (Reporting by Daniel Stanton; editing by Vincent Baby) ((daniel.stanton@thomsonreuters.com; +65 64174548; Reuters Messaging: daniel.stanton.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

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