"The 6th Mongolia London Business Festival & Business program" UK (Registration will close soon) www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com

Mongolian Business Database (MBD) is registering the Mongolian business participants to Mongolian-British Chamber of Commerce and Industry's "The 6th Mongolia London Business Forum" in April 05.2017 and business program which includes the opening of London Stock Exchange by Mr.Ts. Munkh Orgil, Foreign Minister of Mongolia, Sixth Mongolia London Business Forum at Bloomberg and the annual UK Parliamentary Tea with the All Party Mongolian Parliamentary Group 
The MBCC (www.mongolianbritishcc.org.uk) is a not-for-profit membership organisation established in 2009 to foster strong business links between Mongolia and the UK. Chaired by Mr John Grogan former British Parliament member, it aims to provide a professional and social environment for business people who wish to be introduced to, and become part of, the British-Mongolian business culture and community.
Please visit to following link for information in details and contact at contact@mongolianbusinessdatabase.com e mail, 77109911, 99066062 for the registration and inquiry.

Facebook CEO warns against reversal of global thinking www.reuters.com

Canada losing ground as mining investment destination www.mining.com

While optimism is slowly but steadily returning to the global mining industry, Canada doesn’t seem to be in a good position to benefit from the increasing number of companies ready to make new and significant investments.

Hanjin: Final curtain falls on shipping saga www.bbc.com

Hanjin Shipping used to be one of the world's top 10 shipping companies. But now it faces the final curtain.
Friday is the deadline for the firm to be declared bankrupt by a South Korean court after months of uncertainty.
Hanjin's collapse is the largest to hit the shipping sector and it sent shockwaves through the industry.
What went wrong?
For years, the global economic downturn had affected profits across the cargo shipping industry. It led to overcapacity, lower freight rates and rising debt levels.
The question was not whether a big shipping line would go under, but which one would be first. The questionable honour eventually fell to Hanjin, at that time South Korea's biggest shipper and number seven in the world.
Crippled with $5.4bn (£4.1bn) in debt in August 2016, the company failed to get any more money from its creditors. Hanjin went into receivership and applied for court protection.

There was still a chance for an investor or the government to come to the rescue yet it quickly became clear that any such hopes were futile.
"Stopping the credit line immediately results in an inability to purchase fuel, it immediately results in vessels not being able to go to port and it immediately results in all customers going to the competitors," explains Lars Jensen of Sea Intelligence Consulting.
What followed were long and painful months of sailors losing their jobs and investors losing their money.
No chance for a rescue?
With Hanjin's situation suddenly in limbo, its ships were stranded at sea. Most ports refused them entry, fearing they would not get paid for loading and unloading the cargo. Some ships were arrested while docking as debtors had issued warrants to get at least some of their money back.
Technically though, there still could have been a rescue - Hanjin needed to find an investor or convince the government to step in.

"There was likely a window of some 24 to 48 hours after the announcement where Hanjin could have been saved, but after that it was simply a snowball effect and it was unrealistic to bring back the company," says Mr Jensen.
The chaotic demise of the company's operations did little to shore up confidence. So over the following months, many of the better assets got sold off - ranging from vessels to cargo terminals in the US to its Asia-US route operations.
The buyers were other global shipping companies that were able to cherry pick what they wanted. "All the good assets have been sold, the carcass has been thoroughly cleaned up," says Greg Knowler, a maritime trade specialist at IHS.
After Friday's official bankruptcy, the court handling the liquidation process will proceed to sell off the remaining assets and give the money to the creditors.
For the seamen, the collapse of their company meant that almost all of them lost their jobs. Hanjin's ships had been crewed with South Korean officers and engineers and an international mix of seamen hired through agencies.

One of those now unemployed is captain Moon Kwon-do, who last year was stuck for months on the Hanjin Rome after it had been seized by creditors in the Singapore port.
"I will never sail again, I will abandon my life as a seaman," he says with bitterness and frustration.
Despite a lot of protests organised by unions, the government in Seoul did not step in to help. Yet there's doubt that saving Hanjin would have worked.
"If you're shipping cargo anywhere in the world - would you have gone with Hanjin after that?" asks Mr Knowler. The sudden suspension of all the company's vessels had led to supply chain disruptions around the world.
"I don't think it could have been saved," he concludes.
What now?
In fact, as dramatic as it was for Hanjin, for the rest of the industry the failure of one of the big players might have been a lucky break.
"This was a long time coming, it's what was widely needed," says Mr Knowler. "So from this perspective this was a good thing."
Hanjin's bankruptcy has a good chance of bringing global overcapacity in the sector down to a sustainable level.
"Everyone will be seen to have had a hard time in 2016," says Mr Jensen. Fellow shipping giant Maersk, for instance, earlier this month revealed a $1.9bn net loss for 2016 - just its second annual loss since World War Two.

"2016 was the bottom of the market, but the climb upwards towards a more balanced market will take two to three years to fully accomplish," says Mr Jensen.
Analysts agree that it is unlikely there will be another large carrier like Hanjin failing. South Korea is now left with Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) taking over as the country's biggest shipping company.
And while last year HMM was in as much financial trouble as Hanjin, the collapse of its fellow shipper means that it is now on a much safer footing, says Mr Knowler.
"There is absolutely zero chance that the Korean government will let another major shipping line - now their only major line - fail."

Nation to curb fast growing steel prices www.chinadaily.com

The Chinese government is encouraging steel companies to sign long-term contracts with coal and downstream steel consuming companies while improving their product quality.

IFRC calls for aid for Mongolian herders www.nhk.or.jp

Red Cross officials are calling for emergency aid for nomadic herders in Mongolia who are facing a serious food shortage and livestock losses due to extreme winter conditions.

Samsung Group and Lee Jae-yong www.nhk.or.jp

The Samsung Group was founded in 1938 in Daegu in the southern part of the country by Lee Byung-chull, the late grandfather of the arrested Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

Samsung vice chairman arrested www.nhk.or.jp

South Korean authorities have arrested the de facto head of the Samsung Group on suspicion of bribery and other charges.

The Suspense Is Now Over For Russia’s Political Elite: Putin Is Running www.themoscowtimes.com

Late in 2016, things did not look so rosy for Vladimir Putin. The Russian economy was in decline, the country was isolated on the global stage, and the president was a figure shunned by Western nations. Some commentators even began to entertain the possibility that Putin would use the opportunity to exit the political scene.

Since then, the unexpected election of Donald Trump has punched holes in the anti-Putin front.

“With Trump as a potential powerful ally, Putin is a kind of half-emperor of the world,” says political analyst Gleb Pavlovsky. “His re-election now has a global aspect.”

For Russia’s elite, the election picture is, finally, clear: Putin is running, and he will be in office until at least the time of the next elections in 2024.

“It would be good if Vladimir Putin comes out with his vision by next December – what the nation will look like politically and economically by 2024,” a senior Russian official said on Tuesday, Feb. 14.

This election will be one of continuity and no change. There will be no new challengers. Russia’s most prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny announced he would battle Putin for the presidency last December. But in an accelerated and disputed court case earlier this month, he was sentenced to five-years probation. From the Kremlin’s perspective at least, he is barred from running.

Instead, Putin will face a manufactured opposition, consisting exclusively of members of the old guard. The RBC newspaper has reported that parliamentary party leaders Gennady Zyuganov, Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Sergei Mironov will all run. All three follow the Kremlin’s lead and agenda. Grigory Yavlinsky, the long-time leader of centrist opposition Yabloko party, also announced that he would run.

Every one of these candidates has run more than twice. 2018 will be Zhirinovsky’s sixth presidential election.

Search for the Enemy

At first glance, the 2018 election should present little challenge to the sitting president. The street protests and dissent that characterised his last presidential election in 2012 are a distant memory. The nation is seemingly coming to terms with Putin’s everlasting rule. Without competition or obvious alternatives, Putin’s approval rating remain at record-highs.

Yet there are some signs this election may not be as straightforward as the Kremlin expects. The challenge is avoiding boredom. The faces are the same. The conclusion is foregone. There is no drama, no fight, and, consequently, no reason to go out and vote.

Putin cannot allow this, says political analyst Nikolai Petrov. “The nature of his rule has changed, and even 70 percent of the vote at 70 percent turnout will not be enough,” he says, referring to the legitimacy benchmark reportedly set by the Kremlin.

Five years ago, on Feb. 23, 2012, Vladimir Putin addressed tens of thousands of his supporters at Moscow’s largest stadium Luzhniki. There, he recited lines from Borodino, a famous poem by 19th century writer Mikhail Lermontov that every Russian knows by heart.

“Is Moscow not behind us? / By Moscow then we die,” he screamed. “The battle for Russia is not over!”

In 2013, Putin identified the enemy as Russia’s big city middle class, unhappy as it was with his return to the presidency. In 2018, he will also need to defeat an “unexpected adversary,” says Pavlovsky.
Only this time around, finding one won’t be so easy.

Putin’s Dilemma

At this stage of his rule, Putin faces a dilemma, says Petrov. He can either move further ahead to full scale authoritarianism, or start liberal political and economic reforms. Moving in any direction will be difficult.

Former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and his associates are now formulating Putin’s new economic program. Kudrin has pulled few punches in his recent statements regarding the Russian economy. The first draft of his program might be ambitious.

But few establishment voices expect Putin to change the system. “Some of Putin’s ideas at this campaign may look fresh, and he might even use the term ‘reforms’ but there will be no break with the past,” the Russian economist and former government official Evgeny Gontmakher told The Moscow Times.

Putin’s forthcoming presidential campaign will instead be aimed at maintaining the status quo.

“Russian business has a stake in Putin’s new presidential term. We are not expecting new slogans and we do not want them to change,” Alexander Shokhin, the head of Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the biggest Russian business lobbying body, said in an a recent interview with state television.

Government officials are equally phlegmatic about the potential for dramatic changes.

“Live for today — that’s our window of opportunity,” one senior official told the Moscow Times.

EU brings relief to Mongolian herders affected by extreme winter www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ In response to the particularly harsh winter which has struck large parts of Mongolia since November, the European Commission is providing over 115 000 EUR in humanitarian funding to bring immediate relief to the most affected families. The aid will directly benefit 5000 most vulnerable individuals in some of the country’s worst-hit provinces, namely Khuvsgul, Selenge, Uvs and Zavkhan.