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

64x64

ADB invests in elderly care services in China www.chinadaily.com.cn

 
BEIJING - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Monday it has approved a loan to pilot delivery of elderly care services in Yichang city in Central China's Hubei province.
 
The ADB program will help the city provide residential, community and home-based elderly care services through public-private partnerships (PPP).
 
The total cost of the project is $128.4 million, with the Yichang municipal government contributing $55 million and the private sector expected to invest the remaining $23.4 million.
 
In Yichang city, 20 percent of residents are over 60 years of age, among the highest in a country where the national average is 14 percent, according to an ADB statement.
 
"Yet, elderly care facilities and services available there remain inadequate," said Sofia Shakil, the ADB project team leader.
 
The elderly care facilities in the city currently have relatively poor standards, with many ill-equipped in terms of staff and basic care, said the bank.
 
The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
 
 
...


64x64

Bill Gates, investors launch $1 billion clean tech fund www.reuters.com

 
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and a group of high-profile executives are investing $1 billion in a fund to spur clean energy technology and address global climate change a year after the Paris climate agreement.
 
Gates launched the Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund on Monday along with billionaire entrepreneurs such as Facebook Inc (FB.O) head Mark Zuckerberg, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) Chairman Jack Ma and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) chief Jeff Bezos.
 
The fund seeks to increase financing of emerging energy research and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to help meet goals set in Paris, according to a statement by the investor group known as the Breakthrough Energy Coalition.
 
It marked the first major investment of the coalition formed in December 2015 to spur research, development and deployment of clean energy technologies.
 
"We need affordable and reliable energy that doesn’t emit greenhouse gas to power the future and to get it, we need a different model for investing in good ideas and moving them from the lab to the market," Gates told online magazine Quartz, according to excerpts of the interview published on Gates Notes.
 
Last year Gates helped launch a public-private partnership focused on scaling up investment in new and riskier clean technology that often faces steep hurdles to commercialization.
 
The election of Republican Donald Trump as U.S. President has raised questions about future government spending on clean energy research and development. Trump has called climate change a hoax invented by the Chinese but has also said he has an "open mind" on the issue.
 
“The dialogue with the new administration as it comes in about how they see energy research will be important...the general idea that research is a good deal fortunately is not a partisan thing,” Gates told Quartz.
 
On a call with reporters Monday, Gates said coalition members would continue to push the message to Trump that "even if you don't look at the climate change piece of this, investing makes sense."
...


64x64

IMF chief Christine Lagarde in negligence trial in France www.bbc.com

 
IMF chief Christine Lagarde has gone on trial in France for negligence over a compensation payment made by a state-owned bank to a businessman in 2008.
As finance minister of then-President Nicolas Sarkozy, she approved an award of €404m ($429m; £340m) to Bernard Tapie for the disputed sale of a firm.
Mr Tapie had supported Mr Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election.
She is accused of allowing the misuse of public funds, rather than corruption. She denies wrongdoing.
The case originates in the early 1990s, when Mr Tapie was a majority shareholder in sports goods company Adidas.
After launching a political career and becoming a cabinet minister in Francois Mitterrand's Socialist government in 1992, Mr Tapie had to sell the company.
In 1993, he sued Credit Lyonnais, a state-owned bank that handled the sale, alleging that the bank had defrauded him by deliberately undervaluing the firm.
Facing jail
By 2007, the long-running case was referred by Ms Lagarde to binding arbitration. A three-member panel awarded the compensation a year later, causing a public outcry.
Last year, after eight more years of legal wrangling, a French court ruled that Mr Tapie had not been entitled to compensation and should repay the €404m.
Ms Lagarde, 60, is now facing the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) on charges of "negligence by a person in position of public authority".
The court, composed mostly of politicians rather than judges, handles allegations of crimes committed by cabinet ministers in office.
Ms Lagarde was sent to trial by CJR magistrates even though prosecutors had argued that the case should be dropped. The trial is due to last until 20 December.
If convicted, Ms Lagarde could face one year in prison.
She replaced Dominique Strauss-Kahn as IMF managing director in 2011.
Mr Strauss-Kahn - also a former French finance minister - resigned following his arrest in New York on charges of sexual assault that were later dropped.
 
 
...


64x64

Ireland labeled as one of world's worst facilitators of tax avoidance by Oxfam www.rt.com

 
The poverty charity Oxfam has described Ireland as one of the worst corporate tax shelters in the world. The report slams Ireland for not having adequate rules to prevent corporate tax dodging and for widely facilitating large-scale corporate tax avoidance.
 
Oxfam puts Ireland on par with Bermuda and the Cayman Islands when it comes to helping big business dodge taxes.
 
“Around the world, we are known as a country of good fun, bad weather and awful tax policies that facilitate worsening inequality by allowing some of the world’s richest companies to avoid paying their fair share to society. This is no badge of honor,” said Jim Clarken, CEO of Oxfam Ireland
 
Ireland is part of a toxic global tax system servicing the very wealthiest while ordinary people pay the price and lose out on essential public services, according to Clarken.
 
“From a national, European and international perspective, the game is up. Citizens everywhere have had enough. We need to get serious about making companies pay the tax that’s due and we need transparency about where and how profits are made and where and how they are taxed. We collect more detailed data about farm animals in this country than we do about the tax affairs of multinationals,” the CEO stressed.
 
Ireland is the six in a list of 15 countries lowering corporate tax rates and indulging “extreme forms of tax dodging” to attract investment, according to Oxfam.
 
Bermuda tops the list, followed by the Cayman Islands and the Netherlands.
 
Switzerland and Singapore were ranked in fourth and fifth place with Luxembourg, Curacao, Hong Kong and Cyprus completing the top ten.
 
The final five were the Bahamas, Jersey, Barbados, Mauritius and the British Virgin Islands.
...


64x64

Tokyo says no trade deals with Moscow in violation of international sanctions www.rt.com

 
The Japanese Trade Ministry says it will not sign any agreements with Russia that would compromise sanctions imposed on the country.
 
The announcement comes ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan on Thursday and Friday.
 
"We will never hurt G7 solidarity over the Ukraine issue. That's a prerequisite. We are making sure each item in the current cooperation plan is not infringing on sanctions," Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko told a news conference on Monday.
 
During the visit, the Russian president will meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the countries are expected to sign up to 30 agreements in energy, medicine, and other projects.
 
The heads of state are likely to discuss the issue of the Kuril Islands, the Russian territory part of which Tokyo regards as its own.
 
The islands have been part of the Soviet Union and later the Russian Federation since the end of World War II in accordance with the Yalta Agreement of 1945.
 
Japan has disputed Russia's right to the southernmost islands in the chain, which it calls the Northern Territories. Tokyo insists the post-war pact did not include these islands, as they were not part of the Kuril chain.
 
US geographers have traditionally regarded the territory as part of the Kuril chain. The Soviet Union and its successor Russia have insisted the whole group of islands was included in the Yalta treaty.
 
The islands in question are Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai.
 
"I will make an all-out effort to make progress on the territorial issue, even if it is just a step closer toward a solution,” said Abe on Monday.
...


64x64

China's richest man warns Trump of risk to jobs www.cnn.com

China's richest man has a stark warning for Donald Trump: thousands of American jobs will be at risk if he's prevented from buying U.S. companies.
Wang Jianlin, the billionaire chairman of real estate and entertainment giant Dalian Wanda Group, has made a series of high-profile Hollywood acquisitions in recent years and says he wants to invest more in the U.S.
But his growing clout has unnerved some U.S. lawmakers and prompted calls for tougher government scrutiny of such deals.
At an event in Beijing over the weekend, Wang shrugged off the concerns in Congress and said he's taking his case straight to the president-elect.
"I met the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, he said he will be meeting Mr. Trump soon and asked if I have any message I want to send," he said. "I told him that I've invested $10 billion along with 20,000 employees in the United States. 20,000 people might lose their jobs if anything goes wrong."

Wang's growing collection of U.S. entertainment businesses includes AMC Theaters (which is swallowing up Carmike Cinemas (CKEC)), movie studio Legendary Entertainment and a recent deal to buy Dick Clark Productions, which produces the Golden Globes and other awards.
He told CNNMoney in September that he still wants to buy one of Hollywood's "Big Six" studios, which includes the likes of 20th Century Fox (owned by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox (FOX)) and Warner Bros (owned by CNN parent Time Warner (TWX)).
Wang said at the weekend that the objections from Congress were just one view among many.
"I think we need to wait until after Mr. Trump takes office to see what his attitude is toward Chinese entertainment companies," he said, adding that Trump "needs to understand" that Hollywood movies are relying on the Chinese market for growth.

Trump's position on Chinese investment in the U.S. isn't clear. His campaign rhetoric focused mainly on the trade in manufactured goods between the world's two largest economies, accusing China of taking American jobs by not playing by the rules.
The president-elect has threatened to label Beijing a currency manipulator and slap tariffs of as much as 45% on Chinese products coming into the U.S., raising the risk of a trade war.
But experts say there are more pressing concerns like China's restrictions on foreign investment -- including in media and entertainment -- and policies that tend to favor domestic firms.

Even before his inauguration next month, Trump has already strained the relationship between Washington and Beijing by questioning the U.S. government's long-standing approach to the sensitive topic of Taiwan.

...


64x64

Iran seals $17bn contract with Boeing in first deal in 40yrs www.rt.com

Tehran has agreed to buy 80 passenger planes from US aircraft maker Boeing and plans to close another for dozens of jets from Airbus. The $16.6 billion deal between Iran and the US is the biggest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The agreement includes 50 narrow-body 737 MAX aircraft, and 30 long-haul 777s (15 777-300ER planes plus 15 777-9 jets), according to Boeing. The planes will be delivered to Iran over ten years with the first in 2018.

The deal was confirmed on Sunday following a memorandum of understanding signed in June. It is expected to help Iran modernize and expand its aging commercial aircraft fleet after decades of international sanctions. Boeing’s last airplane deliveries to Iran were 747 jumbos in 1977.

An unnamed Iranian official told Reuters the deal was subject in part to further agreements on financing, adding that the money from the deal would not pass through the US financial system.

The new contract will support almost 100,000 jobs in the US aerospace industry, Boeing said.

The pact keeps Boeing in the race with Europe’s Airbus, which in January agreed to sell 118 aircraft to Iran in a deal valued at about $25 billion at list price.

According to a Reuters’ source, Iran’s national carrier IranAir is at the "very final stage" of completing a deal with Airbus. It is expected to involve a first batch of 50-60 jets, and will be finalized in the next couple of days, the official said.

Iran is a critical market for Boeing in its rivalry with Airbus, a defense analyst at Lexington Institute, Loren Thompson told Bloomberg.

"Boeing can’t compete with Airbus if it can’t sell to places like Iran and China," Thompson said. "Selling to Iran is a business imperative for Boeing."

...


64x64

China bans North Korean coal- but only till January www.rt.com

Fresh UN sanctions against North Korea aimed at punishment for a nuclear test in September will be honoured by China, the reclusive regime's most important trading and diplomatic partner.

In a statement on its website on Saturday, China's Commerce Ministry said it will temporarily ban imports of coal from North Korea as part of a UN Security Council resolution that has the goal of deterring Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear weapons program.

“To implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 2321, according to the People’s Republic of China’s Foreign Trade Law, imports of coal produced in North Korea temporarily will be stopped,” said the statement, which effectively curtails 557 million pounds of coal or $700 million compared to 2015 sales.

North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

The sanctions imposed in late November aim to cut North Korea's annual export revenue by 25%. A key part of the UN resolution is limiting the sale of North Korean coal to China, the only known country that currently buys it – to around 7.5 million tonnes a year (or $400 million, whichever is lower). That represents a drop of about 60%. Coal is North Korea's top export earner and one of its only sources of hard currency. The resolution by the 15-member Security Council also bans the export of North Korean copper, nickel, silver, zinc, as well as statues which are mainly exported to African countries, according to Reuters.

Up to the end of October, China imported 18.6 million tonnes of coal from the totalitarian state, a nearly 13% rise from 2015.

The three-week ban will remain in effect until the end of the year. Coal shipped before Dec. 11 will be allowed to enter China.

There is speculation that suppressing the amount of coal imported by China will keep a fire lit under the price of coking coal, which has tripled in value since July and quadrupled over the past year – though recently come off the boil.

MINING.com reported that Chinese coal imports more than doubled from a year ago, to 27 million tonnes worth $1.7 billion during the month November. According to Asia Times, the total volume of coal imports for the first 11 months is up 9.2% compared to last year.

Trade figures released on Thursday reported by Asia Times also show China imported just under 92 million tonnes of iron ore in November, up 13.8% month on month and the third highest volumes on record.

...


64x64

Venezuela to swap highest denomination banknotes for coins www.bbc.com

 
The Venezuelan government has announced it will replace the country's highest-denomination banknotes with coins within 72 hours.
It hopes swapping the 100-bolivar notes will help to stop smuggling and tackle shortages of food and other items.
President Nicolas Maduro says gangs operating in border areas will not have time to repatriate the notes.
His critics dismissed the move as the latest desperate attempt by Mr Maduro to tackle the economic crisis.
"When ineptitude governs! Who would possibly think of doing something like this in December amid all our problems?" opposition leader Henrique Capriles wrote on Twitter (in Spanish).
Others argued it would be impossible to swap all the 100-bolivar notes in circulation in the time allotted.
The 100-bolivar note has lost most of its value over the past few years and is now worth about 2 US cents (£0.015).
Venezuela, which is facing a serious economic and political crisis, has one of the world's highest inflation rates.
"I have given the orders to close all land, maritime and air possibilities so those bills taken out can't be returned and they're stuck with their fraud abroad," said Mr Maduro on television.
Earlier this month, the central bank said that six new bills ranging from 500 to 20,000 bolivars would come into circulation on 15 December.
The government last published figures for inflation in December 2015, putting it at 180%, but the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that next year's prices will rise by more than 2,000%.
In India, a similar move to scrap high-value bank notes last month has caused major disruption.
...


64x64

Foreign Minister discusses energy security with OSCE Secretary General www.mongolia.gogo.mn

 
On the sidelines of his participation in the 23rd Meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia Ts.Munkh-Orgil met with his counterparts from Hungary, Switzerland, Belaurs, Poland, Austria, Germany, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Georgia, in Hamburg, Germany.
 
Minister Ts.Munkh-Orgil invited Mr Peter Szijjarto, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, to the ceremony for launching the “Biocombinat” state-run industry modernization project with assistance of the Government of the Republic of Hungary, to take place in January.
 
The Mongolian FM conveyed Mongolia's proposal on adding the quota of Hungarian government scholarships for Mongolian students and training agricultural professionals for the additional quota. The Hungarian FM confirmed that it is possible and the sides agreed on signing a Memorandum of Understanding on the cooperation by the end of 2016.
Mr Munkh-Orgil also said Mongolia is interested in involving Hungarian companies in technological modernization and constructions at the sewage treatment facility of Ulaanbaatar, and agreed on studying the feasibilities for resolving financing with loan from Hungarian Ex-Im Bank.
 
During the meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation D.Burkhalter, the sides agreed on formalizing an intergovernmental visa waiver agreement for diplomatic passport holders. Studying possibilities for freeing ordinary passport bearers from visa was also concerted. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia extended gratitude for the fact that the issue of continuation of the development aid to Mongolia through the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development has been discussed by the Swiss parliament.
 
As for the meeting with the Polish FM Witold Waszczykowski, the latter said the Polish government is taking efforts for re-opening its embassy in Mongolia. The sides agreed to restore the regular mechanism for economic cooperation and to attach more importance to the implementation of projects with export loans from Poland, as well as on promoting the Department of Mongolian studies in the Warsaw University.
 
Minister Ts.Munkh-Orgil congratulated Mr S.Kurz, the Austrian FM, on Austria's victory in the election for chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2017. They discussed about the priorities Austria is assuming as the chair of OSCE and ways of effective utiliziation of Austrian Government’s soft loan to Mongolia.
FM Ts.Munkh-Orgil asked his counterpart to resolve the social insurance issues of the Mongolian nationals, who are returning home after studying and working in Austria and Poland.
 
The foreign ministers of Mongolia and Belarus concerted exchanging high-level visits in 2017 in order to broaden the bilateral economic ties. The Belarusian FM pledged support the Eurasian Economic Union’s Committee meeting for an issue of forming a research team on establishing Free Trade Agreement between Mongolia and the EEU.
 
Mr Munkh-Orgil exchanged opinions with Mr F.Steinmeier, the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, on widening bilateral economic cooperation and wished success to Mr Steinmeier as he is running for president of Germany, in the election to take place early 2017.
 
With the OSCE Secretary General, Mr Lamberto Zannier, the FM Ts.Munkh-Orgil discussed about strengthening the law enforcement of Mongolia and energy security and put forward a request to employing Mongolian representatives for the OSCE.
...