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    

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Events

Events

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

NEWS

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Gold price drops again as ETF investors, hedge funds flee www.mining.com

 
Gold was coming under renewed pressure in late trading on Tuesday as negative sentiment swamps retail and institutional investors in the yellow metal.
 
Gold for delivery in February, the most active contract on the Comex market in New York, hit a low of $1,127.30 an ounce, levels not seen since the beginning of February this year. Gold has now trimmed its year to date gains to just under 7%.
 
In July hedge funds or so-called managed money investors in gold futures and options built up long positions – bets on a rising price – to 28.7 million ounces, the highest on record.
 
Investors in physically-backed exchange traded funds also poured money into gold right from the get-go this year and when large scale speculators began to cut back on bullish bets in earnest in September, ETF investors kept on buying.
 
But that all changed following the election of Donald Trump. Net longs held by hedge funds are now down 78% or more than 22 million ounces while gross shorts have risen three-fold since September. And this time ETF investors followed suit, pulling some 216 tonnes from vaults since November 8.
 
The sharp rise in real yields on US government bonds and the relentless dollar rally since November 8 has been a key driver behind the changed sentiment towards gold says Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, in a new research note and trading strategy:
 
Investors have continued to liquidate longs and at this stage the price needs to rally back above $1,150/oz in order to escape the current steep downtrend.
 
The market remains oversold on the 9-, 14- and 30-day horizons, but so far there has been no let up in the long liquidation with $1,100/oz. being the next big level should $1,124/oz give way.
Higher interest rates boosts the value of the dollar and makes gold less attractive as an investment because the metal is not yield-producing and investors have to rely on price appreciation for returns.
 
The dollar measured against a basket of the currencies of major US trading partners has surged since the US elections hitting fresh 14-year highs above 100 on Tuesday.
 
The greenback's all-time peak of 164.7 was reached in February 1985. That coincided with a bottom in the price of gold of $284.25 an ounce.
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Speaker M.Enkhbold meets Prince Abdul-Rahman www.en.montsame.mn

 
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A visit of the Chairman of the State Great Khural of Mongolia, Mr M.Enkhbold to the gulf countries continued with a working visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is the first ever high level visit from Mongolia to Saudi Arabia.
 
He met with His Highness, the Prince Abdul-Rahman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh to discussed about the current state and future perspectives of bilateral cooperation.
 
Speaker M.Enkhbold said “Mongolia maintains active partnerships with the Middle Eastern countries. We should exploit all opportunities to draw investment and promote cooperation in the mining, construction and urban development sectors with Saudi Arabia, one of the most developed economies in its region. Collaboration in justice system is equally significant”, and informed that Mongolia is interested in receiving loan and financial assistances in these times of economic constraints in Mongolia.
 
His Highness said in response that Saudi Arabia aspires to build stronger ties with Mongolia. “Once the Kingdom’s foreign policy had been focusing on the relations with Europe. However, nowadays its foreign policy is aiming at developing mutually beneficial and equal relations with all countries of the worlds. Cooperation in trade and investment with Mongolia will be in our ambition. We are also aware of the economic situation of Mongolia. Therefore, the Speaker’s request will be considered carefully. It is our pleasure to help our friend Mongolia”, he said.
 
The Prince expressed interest in intensifying trade of meat and crops, and proposed to work together not only in the mining, the country has abundance of expertise in, but also in the agricultural sector. He pledged to send a research team to Mongolia to study the feasibilities of further bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
 
Prince Abdul-Rahman also noted the sides have to increase frequency of high-level visits.
 
Mongolia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia established diplomatic ties in 2007. The Prince and the Minister of Oil of Saudi Arabia have visited Mongolia for private purposes. In April of 2014, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia L.Bold paid a visit to Saudi Arabia.
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BOJ keeps policy, upgrades economic view www3.nhk.or.jp

 
The Bank of Japan has kept its current policy of monetary easing unchanged, while revising its view of the country's economic prospects upward.
 
BOJ policymakers wrapped up their 2-day meeting on Tuesday.
 
They said they decided to maintain their massive easing program to achieve a 2-percent inflation target.
 
The central bank upgraded its assessment of Japan's economy for the first time in a year and 7 months. It said a moderate recovery trend will continue.
 
The policymakers will stick to a framework introduced in September to achieve the inflation goal. That approach is aimed at managing short- and long-term interest rates.
 
The interest rate on a portion of deposits that commercial banks hold at the central bank will remain at minus 0.1 percent.
 
They also maintained their target for the bank's annual purchase of Japanese government bonds at about 80 trillion yen, or roughly 680 billion dollars. That's so the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds will be at around zero percent.
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Chinese builder in $3.4b agreement for UK homes www.chinadaily.com.cn

 
China National Building Materials Group Corp struck a 2.75-billion-pound ($3.41 billion) joint venture deal on Monday to open six highly cost-efficient pre-fabricated house-building factories in the United Kingdom, capable of producing 25,000 homes a year.
 
The new homes built by the joint venture will reduce construction costs to a target of 400 pounds per square meter, significantly less than the 1,000 pounds per sq m average in the UK market. It came at an opportune time when the UK government is making policy plans to increase affordable homes.
 
CNBM partners with the UK's housing association Your Housing Group and renewable energy specialist Welink to construct the factories for modular units. CNBM will provide 2.5 billion pounds in funding, and 250 million pounds from YHG.
 
Shou Peng, chairman of CNBM, said: "The key to unlocking the opportunities to address the housing needs of the UK is through the development and delivery of an industrialization strategy at significant scale."
 
The CNBM deal was welcomed by the UK's International Trade Minister Greg Hands, who hailed it as an endorsement to the UK's attractiveness to foreign investors.
 
He said: "This deal has the potential to benefit local communities across the country, creating jobs, boosting local economies and creating homes."
 
Stephen Haigh, chief executive of YHG and UK chief executive of the new joint venture, said the new project will help the UK government achieve its housing aspirations.
 
The deal comes at a time when modular construction is the new buzzword in the construction industry. This technique produces standard room units inside factories which can readily be assembled on construction sites, to save construction time and costs.
 
China has led the field in modular construction techniques by leveraging on its domestic housing market scale, and some Chinese firms have already expanded into the UK's modular construction market, one example being the Shenzhen-based CIMC Modular Building Systems, having done more than 10 UK projects for clients including InterContinental Hotels Group and Hilton.
 
The CNBM consortium partners are looking for factory sites across England. The first factory, in Liverpool, is expected to receive planning permission in January. A research and technology center is being built in Gloucester by YHG to pioneer new development.
 
The project will deliver 2,000 homes next year, ramping up production after that to 25,000 homes annually by 2022. The entire project is expected to create 1,000 new jobs.
 
The modular units to be made are based on designs by the Spanish firm Barcelona Housing Systems, notable for their energy efficiency and affordability.
 
The UK government said it plans to create a 2.3-billion-pound Housing Infrastructure Fund, to deliver infrastructure for up to 100,000 new homes in high-demand areas.
 
Haigh added his team will work with local authorities, offering the consortium's development model as solution to their house building and development needs.
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Nike's basketball business leads profit rebound www.bbc.com

Nike, the world's leading sportswear manufacturer, has posted better-than-expected profits following a rebound in its basketball business.
Profits rose 7.3% to $842m (£681m) in the three months to November, while revenue jumped 6.4% to $8.18bn.
Nike's basketball category and the Jordan brand accounted for about 15% of Nike's wholesale revenue in 2016.
"Basketball is back," Nike president Trevor Edwards told analysts on a conference call.
He added the basketball division was expected to return to growth by the end of the current financial year that concludes in May 2017.
Nike, the world's largest sports footwear-maker, has released new lines such as the Jordan 31 and Kobe A.D that have proved popular with consumers.
It has been facing stiffer competition from rival Under Armour, which has a top-selling line by NBA star Stephen Curry.

Nike's sales in North America, its biggest market, rose 3% in the second quarter and were up 12% in Greater China.
The US firm stopped issuing future orders for deliveries - previously a key measure for analysts - starting in the latest quarter.
Nike shares rose 1.8% to $51.79 in New York on Tuesday but have fallen 17% this year, making the company one of the Dow's worst performers.

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Linde, Praxair agree $65 billion merger outline, ambitious cost savings www.reuters.com

 
German industrial gases group Linde (LING.DE) and U.S. suitor Praxair (PX.N) have agreed an outline for a $65 billion-plus merger, with the combined company to be run out of the United States by Praxair's chief executive.
 
The agreement, unveiled on Tuesday, comes after Praxair provided new assurances to Linde over jobs and corporate governance in Germany, sources have said.
 
As part of the agreement on key aspects of the planned all-share merger, existing Linde and Praxair shareholders would each own about 50 percent of the combined company.
 
The merged group will target $1 billion in cost savings, the two companies said in a joint statement, although some analysts said that figure looked overly optimistic.
 
"The transaction would unite Linde's long-held leadership in technology with Praxair's efficient operating model," the companies said.
 
Alongside rivals Air Liquide (AIRP.PA) and Air Products and Chemicals Inc (APD.N), Linde and Praxair are struggling with slower growth in demand from clients in the manufacturing, metals and energy industries.
 
That has already led to consolidation in the industrial gases sector with Air Liquide buying Airgas Inc for $13.4 billion.
 
Linde shareholders will receive 1.54 shares in the merged company for each of their shares, the two groups said. Praxair shareholders will get one share in the new holding company for each Praxair share.
 
The main terms of the proposal had been flagged by Reuters earlier this month.
 
The new entity, representing a combined $30 billion in 2015 revenues before antitrust sell-offs, will have a dual listing in New York and Frankfurt.
 
Praxair's previous approach for Linde failed in September partly because of disagreements over where to locate key activities and who would run the business.
 
The two sides have now agreed that Praxair chairman and CEO Steve Angel will become CEO, based at Praxair's current headquarters in Danbury, Connecticut. Linde's supervisory board Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle, will take the role of chairman of the new group.
 
The company will be domiciled outside of Germany in a member state of the European Economic Area - which comprises the European Union as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
 
"Corporate functions would be appropriately split between Danbury, Connecticut and Munich, Germany to help achieve efficiencies for the combined company," Munich-based Linde and Praxair said in their statement.
 
Germany's powerful IG Metall union has said it would support the merger after workers were given assurances such as maintaining Linde's two biggest sites in Germany.
 
CULTURAL COMPLEXITY
 
Bernstein analyst Jeremy Redenius said the cost savings target of $1 billion would be difficult to achieve.
 
"We think the $1 billion synergies number is overly optimistic considering the cultural complexity of the combination and anti-trust related gases business divestitures that could total $5 billion of annual sales," he said.
 
That echoed concerns previously voiced by analysts such as Equinet's Knud Hinkel, who said a sizeable amount of disposals for antitrust reasons would likely strengthen rivals.
 
Investment bankers have flagged possible divestments to ease antitrust concerns in the United States and Brazil for Linde and in Germany for Praxair, making it difficult to achieve the cost cutting targets with a smaller revenue base.
 
Linde and Praxair declined to comment on possible divestments.
 
Praxair's finance chief Matthew White has previously made clear that cutbacks were the main driver behind its acquisition strategy, telling analysts last month: "We buy on synergies, we're not going to buy on assumptions of growth."
 
Once remaining secondary aspects of the deal are hammered out, the deal's fate will lie with regulators and Praxair and Linde shareholders.
 
Perella Weinberg and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) advised Linde, while Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) advised Praxair. Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) provided a fairness opinion to Linde's supervisory board.
 
 
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Mongolbank improves terms of purchasing gold www.en.montsame.mn

 
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Central Bank of Mongolia has resolved to fix the price for gold to be purchased on the domestic market at the latest fixed prices of London Gold Fix.
 
Before that, Mongol bank had bought gold on the domestic market at latest announced prices at the London bullion market, but after deducting a certain sum from each ounce.
 
As a result of the decison made in consideration of the current trends on global financial markets and domestic market, the Central Bank is forming more favorable environment for gold miners, sellers and individuals to sell their gold.
 
The London Gold Fix involves gold dealers from London's five biggest bullion banks establishing a common transaction price for a large pool of purchase and sale orders.
 
The participating bullion banks will be acting both on their own behalf and for those customers of theirs who have issued limit orders for them to trade at the London Gold Fix price. No-one knows what the Gold Fix will be before it is declared.
 
The Gold Fix establishes the price at which the gross amount of gold on buy orders matches the gross amount of gold on sell orders - across all the participating banks.
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Lloyds snaps up MBNA for £1.9bn www.theguardian.com

 
Lloyds Banking Group is to spend £1.9bn on MBNA, a credit card business owned by Bank of America, as the bailed-out lender continues its recovery from the financial crisis.
 
The UK bank’s first major acquisition since its £20bn rescue by the taxpayer during the 2008 crisis will give it a 26% share of the credit card market and allow it to produce £100m annual savings within two years.
 
Lloyds, 7% owned by the taxpayer, would not comment on the implications for the workforces of the two operations, which employ a combined 2,700 in Chester.
 
MBNA – one of the UK’s largest credit card issuers, with 7 million customers including its own brands and the official cards of several major football clubs – has been on the market for some time. Lloyds had been battling against US private equity group Cerberus, HSBC and Santander UK for the operation.
 
A firewall against claims for payment protection insurance (PPI) was thought to be crucial in securing the deal. The misselling scandal has already cost Lloyds £17bn – more than any other bank – and Lloyds said its exposure to MBNA’s bill was capped at £240m, indicating Bank of America will pick up the tab for anything above that threshold.
 
The deal is expected to complete in the first six months of 2017, during which time the government is expected to sell the last of its shares in Lloyds.
 
Lloyds was the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 by mid-afternoon, up about 2.5% to 64p. The government is selling off its remaining stake at prices below the 76.3p average price at which taxpayers paid to take a 43% stake during the crisis.
 
António Horta-Osório, the Lloyds chief executive, said the MBNA name would be retained as part of the bank’s multi-brand strategy. Among its brands are Halifax, Bank of Scotland and car finance lender Black Horse. It also, he said, “advances our strategic aim to deliver sustainable growth as a UK-focused retail and commercial bank”.
 
Lloyds paid for the business out of its reserves, which sparked some concerns that it might not be able to pay a special dividend to shareholders. The bank insisted its payout policy was not altered. “Nothing has changed,” said George Culmer, Lloyds’ finance director.
 
The transaction further focuses Lloyds on the domestic market at time when the UK is preparing to exit the EU. Joseph Dickerson, a banking analyst at Jefferies, said the deal was “a very good use” of Lloyds’ excess capital and that the terms looked attractive.
 
Dickerson said that a special dividend “is now unlikely but the MBNA acquisition looks a better use of excess to us”.
 
The deal will increase Lloyds’ market share of credit cards from 15% to 26%, making it second only to Barclaycard in terms of size.
 
Culmer acknowledged the deal was subject to competition approval but he said a recent study had found the credit card market was “healthy and competitive”.
 
The bank has a 25% share of current accounts, 22% of retail deposits and 21% of mortgages.
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VW strikes another US emissions scandal deal www.bbc.com

 
Volkswagen has struck a deal with the US authorities over some 80,000 VW, Audi and Porsche cars with 3-litre diesel engines.
The agreement is another step towards allowing the German car maker to put the emissions cheating scandal behind it.
In June VW agreed to a $15bn (£12.1bn) settlement for another 475,000 vehicles affected by the scandal.
The new agreement will cost Volkswagen an estimated $1bn, US authorities said.
US District Judge Charles Breyer said owners of the 3-litre cars made between 2009 and 2016 would get "substantial compensation" for having them fixed or repaired.
However, there were some remaining issues to be resolved and another hearing will be held on Thursday, he said.
VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said the deal was "another important step forward in our efforts to make things right for our customers".
The firm admitted in September 2015 to installing secret software in 475,000 US 2-litre diesel cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests and make them appear cleaner in testing than they really were. They emitted up to 40 times the legally allowable pollution levels.
The $15bn settlement in June covered those vehicles, including an offer to buy them all back.
The US Justice Department said VW had agreed to contribute another $225m to a fund to offset excess diesel emissions.
In a separate filing, California's government said the company would increase the number of electric vehicles it sells in the state.
Robert Bosch, the German engineering firm that made the software for the VW diesels, has also agreed in principle to settle civil allegations at a cost of about $300m.
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Facebook faces fine for misleading EU in WhatsApp takeover www.rt.com

 
The European Commission has found Facebook guilty of providing misleading information before winning approval to buy the WhatsApp messenger in 2014.
Before the merger Facebook told the European competition watchdog it would not be able to establish "reliable automated matching between the two companies’ user accounts."
 
According to the Commission, the technical possibility to match ID's existed in 2014 and that the firm "intentionally or negligently" submitted misleading information, breaking European merger rules.
 
"The Commission's preliminary view is that Facebook gave us incorrect or misleading information during the investigation into its acquisition of WhatsApp," said the EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager.
 
Facebook has until January 31 to respond. The company may be fined up to one percent of annual sales. Facebook earned $3.69 billion on $17.93 billion in revenue in 2015, The objections from Brussels will not hurt the merger itself, sealed in 2014 for $22 billion.
 
"We respect the Commission's process and are confident a full review of the facts will confirm Facebook has acted in good faith," a Facebook spokeswoman said.
 
"We've consistently provided accurate information about our technical capabilities and plans, including in submissions about the WhatsApp acquisition and in voluntary briefings before WhatsApp's privacy policy update this year," she added.
 
Facebook is the second US tech giant recently fined by Vestager. On August 30, Apple fined €13 billion after a European investigation had concluded Ireland provided the iPhone maker with a favorable tax rate. It allowed the company to pay one percent on EU profits in 2003 down to 0.005 percent in 2014.
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