Mongolia’s environment and tourism minister said his country shares a common historical background with Türkiye, adding: "We invite the Turks to their ancestral lands."

Bat-Erdene Bat-Ulzii spoke to Anadolu Agency about relations between the two countries in the Turkish capital Ankara, where he came for the Türkiye-Mongolia Business Forum.

Saying that his visit is important for strengthening bilateral ties, Bat-Ulzii underlined that they want to increase the number of flights between the two countries.

He added that his country will work to start direct flights from Türkiye to the region where the monumental Orkhon inscriptions – the oldest-known Turkic writings, dating back to the eighth century – are located.

Some 2,600 people from Türkiye visited to Mongolia in 2021, the minister noted, pointing to how the two countries share a common historical past, as revealed through archaeological excavations.

"Almost everyone in Türkiye wants to visit Mongolia,” Bat-Ulzii said, adding that authorities frequently hold meetings to boost touristic trips between the two countries.

Munkhbat Jamiyan, deputy chairman of the Mongolia-Türkiye Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, also said: "Historically, our relations are thousands of years old, not just a few years. We’re friends, our history is common, and there’s a 30-year inter-parliamentary relationship."

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1969, and gained new momentum with the opening of reciprocal embassies in Ankara, Türkiye and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 1996-1997. Over 100 bilateral agreements have been signed so far to strengthen the legal basis of bilateral cooperation.

In 2011, Mongolia honored Türkiye with “third neighbor” status, along with the US, EU, Japan, South Korea, and India.

* Writing by Seda Sevencan in Istanbul

The Secretariat of the State Great Khural of Mongolia today organized the “Budget-2023” public discussion at the State House.

Being held for the first time, the discussion brought together the members of the cabinet and the parliament and more than 700 online and in-person participants, including ambassadors, economists, and researchers.

At the beginning of the discussion, it was emphasized that citizens' opinions were taken for the 2023 budget through the "E Parliament" and "D Parliament" electronic systems.

Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene presented in detail the policies and concepts adopted by the government in developing the 2023 budget, the features of the 2022 budget year, the external and internal factors faced by the society and the economy, and the measures to be taken to avoid the economic crisis in the future.

The 2022 budget was mainly targeted at the recovery of the economy to overcome the pandemic crisis, highlighted the Prime Minister.

This year, the conditions have been created to carry out the budget reforms that have been talked about for many years. However, we have to take into account that the 2023 budget is being discussed at a time of geopolitical uncertainty and during a time when the acceleration of the post-pandemic economic recovery is most necessary.

According to the Prime Minister, the government also paid attention to achieving four major policy results. First of all, it is the most important thing for Mongolia in the coming years to ensure the macro balance of the economy and keep the economic growth stable at 5-6 percent. The government also paid particular attention to bringing the inflation rate, which currently stands at 15 percent, to single digits and limiting price increases. Emphasis was placed on changing the way budget deficits created debt, reducing unnecessary spending, gradually reducing welfare, and balancing the balance of payments, or inflows and outflows of foreign currency. In particular, the next year's budget was developed to take concrete policy measures against the increase in the prices of goods and products, currency reserves, and the depreciation of the MNT.

During the discussion, the Government Head also presented in detail the implementation of the Austerity Law and the intensification of the "New Revival Policy". He also expressed his views on the measures being taken by the government to bolster the revitalization of priority sectors, and major projects planned to dramatically reduce traffic congestion.

Minister of Economy and Development Ch.Khurelbaatar informed the participants about the pre- and post-pandemic economic situation, the factors affecting the increase in the exchange rate and decrease in reserves, and the possible risks. Due to the slowing down of economic growth, rising inflation, and decreasing employment, conditions for stagflation have been created today, and inflation is expected to be higher than the target level in the next year as well. Therefore, next year, in order to intensify economic growth, the government will implement policies to ensure macroeconomic stability and support exports and the private sector, and it will be possible to increase GDP growth to 5 percent.

Finance Minister B.Javkhlan presented the external factors that will affect the economy in 2023, the results of the Austerity Law, the tax policies that are going to be supported, the possibilities to introduce a "results-based" salary system, and the fact that the government's external debt will be paid with no difficulties according to the schedule.

The Finance Minister underscored that it is estimated to save MNT 1 trillion in 2023 by implementing the Austerity Law. He further informed that the budget deficit will be reduced from 5.1 to 2.8 percent.

In terms of macroeconomics, we aim to increase quality exports, increase economic growth by 5 percent, reduce inflation to below 10 percent by the end of the year, and maintain our credit rating, said the Finance Minister.

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the declaration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty – a day devoted to reaffirming our commitment and shared responsibility to end poverty.

Mongolia, like many other countries, has made great strides in reducing poverty and improving standards of living. But what stands out in the case of Mongolia is how much the pace of poverty reduction has fluctuated in the past decade.

The Mongolia 2020 Poverty Report: a Decade of Progress and Stagnation in Poverty Reduction, a joint report released last month by the National Statistics Office of Mongolia and the World Bank, shows that poverty in Mongolia fell by 17 percentage points between 2010 and 2014. But after the 2016 recession, the pace of poverty reduction decreased significantly and has since stagnated. The pandemic-induced economic downturn had tangible impacts on employment, incomes, and poverty especially in late 2020 and into 2021.

Many countries in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region have emerged from the pandemic on a robust economic recovery trajectory, but Mongolia stands out as having made slower progress. Following a sharp decline in 2020, the economy made a strong rebound in early 2021. But it has since shown signs of stagnation. In EAP countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia, exports, driven by buoyant external demand, have been an important engine of growth during the post-pandemic era. Yet, exports in Mongolia continue to be muted since China reinstated border restrictions in mid-2021, which have persisted into 2022.

See the full article with the graphics at the link

After a more than two-year absence due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, 27 Peace Corps trainees arrived in Mongolia on October 18, 2022. They will complete 14 weeks of pre-service training (PST) before being sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers. During PST, trainees will participate in an intensive program focused on the development of a variety of language, technical, and cross cultural competencies necessary for successful Peace Corps service. Upon their successful completion of PST, these trainees will become English Education and Community Development Volunteers.

Peace Corps Volunteers are an important way the United States and Mongolia continue to build strong people-to-people ties. Since 1991, over 1,500 Peace Corps Mongolia Volunteers have served in education, environmental, health, agriculture, community enterprise development, and youth development sectors. In support of Mongolia’s strong partnership with Peace Corps, Volunteers will collaborate with secondary schools, universities, colleges, vocational schools, and a host of organizations and stakeholders while working and living in their communities of service.

Mongolia confirmed 14 new COVID-19 cases on October 19.

12 of them were contacts in Ulaanbaatar, and 2 were recorded in the regions. No imported cases were found.

2,131 people have died from coronavirus in total.

Within the framework of the construction project on the natural gas pipeline connecting Russia and China through the territory of Mongolia, basic procedural adjustments to energy will be made in Mongolia.

Furthermore, it was planned to build a large power gas station capable of releasing reserved power in a short time and maneuvering. The state-owned ‘Erdenes Mongol’ LLC reports that the new station will optimize the structure of energy sources, decrease the imported energy, and open the possibility of making the use of natural gas regular in Mongolia. It is expected that the implementation of this project will create 13,000 jobs and increase the budget revenue and will create resources to finance medium and long-term development programs.

The natural gas pipeline with a length of 962 km will pass through 6 aimags and 23 soums of Mongolia, connecting Russia and China. The company is estimating to build natural gas pipeline at a depth of 1.5-1.8 meters underground, and it will need five compressor stations built along the route. B.Tsevegjav, the head of the Integrated Management Strategy Department of ‘Erdenes Mongol” LLC says that the project’s total investment is estimated at USD 8 billion.

‘Erdenes Mongol’ LLC has detailed the natural gas pipeline route in cooperation with a limited-purpose company.

The IMF predicted growth for Asia and the Pacific at 4 percent this year and 4.3 percent in 2023, with both below the 5.5 percent average over the last two decades.

Still, they are higher than the fund’s forecasts for Europe and the U.S. The IMF is expecting growth of 3.1 percent in 2022 and 0.5 percent in 2023 for the euro area; and 1.6 percent growth this year and 1 percent next year for the U.S.

“High debt economies such as Maldives, Laos and Papua New Guinea, and those facing refinancing risks, like Mongolia, are also facing challenges as the tide changes,” the IMF said. Mongolia wants to issue a bond to manage forthcoming foreign debts. There are three bonds issued by Mongolian Government and Development bank of Mongolia matures between May and December 2023.

As for China, it would likely see a recovery this year and might post a 3.2% growth in 2022 before accelerating to 4.4% in 2023 — assuming its Covid-zero policies are loosened gradually, the IMF said.

Despite the fact that Mongolian Mining Corporation stock rose 10 percent last week, insiders who sold USD 791 thousand worth of stock in the previous 12 months are likely to be better off. Selling at an average price of USD 3.96, which is higher than the current price, may have been the best move for these insiders because their investment would have been worth less now than when they sold.

Insiders own 7.0 percent of Mongolian Mining shares, worth about HKD 151 million. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it’s enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

The President of Mongolia, U.Khurelsukh, worked at the factories in the food industry within the framework of the ‘Food Supply and Security’ national movement.

‘Tsaluut Impex’ LLC meat-processing factory can sort and process 1,250 head of livestock per day. It can deep-freeze 60 tons of meat daily and has a warehouse to store 500 tons. The products are sold in well-known chain stores and supplied to mining and other enterprises. The factory exports to Iran and Central Asian countries and is planning to export to China in the future.

Most of the meat on the market is hand-produced which lowers the hygiene and quality requirements. Therefore, the leaders of ‘Tsaluut Impex’ LLC consider supporting industrial preparation for the meat process. For example, they offered the option of supplying meat to government organizations, schools, and kindergartens from meat processing factories. They also stressed the need to provide financial support to the factories.

About 270 meat processing factories and workshops are registered nationwide.

3.4 percent of all meat prepared in 2021 was processed by domestic factories.

‘MCS Coca Cola’ LLC manufactures and markets 150 types of beverages, water, juice, and tea, of 21 brands and provides jobs for 950 people. Within the framework of the ‘Sugar Reduction Program’, the company has been working to reduce 1-2 types of flavors every year starting from 2018.

The company has put an industrial wastewater recycling facility and smokeless stoves that work by gas into operation in the past.

Executive director L.Myagmarjav introduced the company’s goal of recycling all plastic bottles of drinks sold by 2030 to realize the “World without Plastic Waste” program.

Due to transportation, border, and customs issues, difficulties arise in enforcing the clause of the Food Law, which states that “2/3 of the shelf life of imported food must be valid”. Therefore, it is necessary to consider amending this law to distinguish imported raw materials for food from finished products.

The President, U.Khurelsukh, said that he believes in national industries and wealth creators to significantly contribute to meeting domestic needs with 19 types of products in the next five years and then achieve the goal of becoming an exporting country. In this regard, he noted that the government is improving the legal environment, providing long-term, low-interest loans, and supporting them with tax policies