China's main coal supplying province Inner Mongolia had 11.1 million tonnes of coal in stocks at 77 major power utilities, up 4 million tonnes from a year ago, enough for 17 days' usage, said director with the electricity branch of the region's energy bureau.

Inner Mongolia undertook the task of supplying 45.4 million tonnes of coal in April and supplying 29.5 million tonnes of coal in July to other provinces.

About 800 million tonnes of coal were dispatched during first eight months in the region, with daily figure at 3.3 million tonnes, rising 21% from a year ago.

Inner Mongolia's power transmission to other areas totaled 146.7 TWh over January-August, rising 9.8% from a year ago.

Inner Mongolia has also became the first province that generated over 100 TWh of power from new energy in China, with total production reaching 65.5 TWh during the first half of this year, up 21.2% on the year.

(Writing by Rebecca Liu Editing by Tammy Yang)

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At the invitation of Chairman of the State Great Khural G.Zandanshatar, Speaker of the Senate of Canada George J. Furey is paying an official visit to Mongolia on October 9-13.

Following the welcoming ceremony at the central square today, Chairman of the State Great Khural G.Zandanshatar and Speaker of the Senate of Canada George J. Furey paid their respect to the Statue of Chinggis Khaan. Then, Mr. George J. Furey signed the Book of Honored Guests at the State House.

After holding bilateral talks today with the Mongolian Speaker on the further expansion of Mongolia-Canada relations and cooperation, Speaker George J. Furey will pay a courtesy call on the Mongolian President and hold meetings with the Prime Minister and some Cabinet members.

The Canadian Speaker will also become acquainted with the operation of Oyu Tolgoi and visit a nomadic family.

The second Political dialogue between Mongolia and the European Union was held on October 7in Brussels.

The dialogue was co-chaired by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs B.Munkhjin and Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs of the European External Action Services Enrique Mora.

During the dialogue, the parties expressed their views on regional and international issues of mutual interest and discussed the issues relating to current global challenges such as climate change and the energy crisis.

The Political dialogue is an important mechanism for the effective implementation of the “Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Mongolia and the European Union, and the parties agreed to hold the next dialogue in 2023 in Ulaanbaatar.

Livestock accounts for more than 10% of the national gross domestic product and the industry employs 23% of the labor force. Animal numbers exploded in Mongolia in the wake of economic liberalization in the 1990s. When the country was under Soviet control, they were limited to around 25 million. Today that number has nearly tripled, to about 70 million.

Livestock numbers are so high that there is just no opportunity for the land to rest. According to a 2014 report by the Asian Development Bank, peak pasture growth is 75% of what it was 40 years ago and there are fewer highly nutritious plants. These changes affect livestock quality.

Between 1980 and 2000, for example, the average weight of sheep decreased by 4 kilograms (8 pounds), goats by 2 kilograms (4 pounds) and cattle by 10 kilograms (22 pounds). This, in turn, affects herders’ livelihoods, leading them to increase herd sizes to maintain their income and creating a vicious cycle of overgrazing.

Now, as of 2021, the Mongolian government has instituted a livestock tax of up to 2,000 togrogs (62 cents) per animal — with at least 80% of the collected revenue to be used for pasture maintenance.

Filipino- American Richard Buangan has taken his oath as the US ambassador to Mongolia, the US State Department has confirmed.

“I was honored to swear in Richard Buangan as @USAmbMongolia,” tweeted US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Tuesday. “Distinguishing himself through hard work, skilled diplomacy, and positive, collegial relationships, Ambassador Buangan will reinforce our pride as Mongolia’s Third Neighbor.”

US President Joe Biden appointed Buangan as ambassador to Mongolia last April.

Based on his State Department profile, Buangan joined the US Department of State in 1999 and was assigned to Israel, China, France and the Ivory Coast. He also served as an executive assistant to then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and more recently as the acting assistant secretary to the Bureau of Global Public Affairs from April 4 to June 30.

Born to a Filipino family in San Diego, California, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, and speaks four languages fluently.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention arrived in Mongolia for an official visit on 3-14 October 2022, to assess the country’s situation regarding the deprivation of liberty.

The delegation – comprising two members of the Group, Elina Steinerte and Matthew Gillett – will visit Ulaanbaatar as well as other parts of the country. They will meet Government officials, civil society groups and other relevant stakeholders during the visit.

The experts will also visit places of deprivation of liberty, including prisons, police stations and institutions for children, migrants and people with psychosocial disabilities, to gather information for their assessment.

The Working Group will share their preliminary observations at a press conference on 14 October 2022, at 12:00 local time, at the Conference Room of the UN House building, in United Nations Street 14, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Access will be strictly limited to journalists.

The Working Group will present its final report on the visit to the Human Rights Council in September 2023.

Rio Tinto Mongolia has today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mayor’s Office of Ulaanbaatar City and National Amusement Park LLC to undertake a restoration project in the National Amusement Park.

Under the partnership, Rio Tinto Mongolia will restore 10 hectares of land, between the Children’s Palace and the Sun Road, located in the western section of the National Amusement Park. The project will create a new green space, with additional facilities for people to enjoy recreational activities in a safe, clean environment.

National Amusement Park LLC will ensure free transfer of the land to public ownership and carry out commercial redevelopment on the adjacent six hectares of land, ensuring alignment with the overall concept and design of the park.

Rio Tinto Mongolia Executive Director Kh.Amarjargal said: “This green development project will create a new, vibrant and sustainable public space, which supports recreation, community cohesion and social connection across the city. Rio Tinto Mongolia will take on the overall project management responsibilities and work together to deliver this transformational public-private partnership. The project underscores our commitment to contributing to society and sustainable development in Mongolia.”

Governor of the Capital City and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar D.Sumiyabazar said: "A key objective set out in the Vision 2050 policy document ratified by the Parliament is around green economy and ensuring sustainability and digital transformation in developing Ulaanbaatar and other urban areas. Within this framework, we are working on a range of initiatives to increase the green space in the city and enable a more pleasant environment for the public. We are excited to be working with Rio Tinto to restore the land in the National Amusement Park into a recreational space for everyone to enjoy. I would like to thank Rio Tinto for their contributions and support in improving the quality of life for people and enhance community engagement in the city. Going forward Ulaanbaatar must achieve global benchmarks in terms of green space, which is important to supporting the physical and mental wellbeing of people.”

During the implementation phase, the project will seek to maximise community engagement and engage national companies to undertake the construction work.

The project is expected to run for four years, with the construction work taking place in the first year followed by maintenance activities. Rio Tinto Mongolia will oversee the relevant tender processes for the project activities, including design and construction.

The parties will now work together to proceed to next steps of the park restoration project, with an aim to commence construction activities within the first half of 2023.

Korean blockbuster Peninsula, Japanese anime Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train and recent Cannes thriller Hunt, directed by and starring Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae, are among almost 160 titles Filmbridge has released in Mongolia since the distribution company was launched in mid-2019.

“Not a lot of content made it to Mongolia legitimately before. The market was unregulated and infested with pirates,” says Filmbridge co-founder Tsogtbayar ‘Tsogo’ Namsrai. “Our goal is to bring in as much content as possible, giving audiences access to commercial foreign films in a legitimate way.”

Soon after the launch of the company, which is based in Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar with offices in the US and Australia, came lengthy cinema closures due to the pandemic. “We turned Covid to our favour,” says Tsogo. “Cinemas became empty when Hollywood studios withdrew their films. We supported them with titles, helping them stay in business.”

It was during such rare circumstances without big Hollywood competition that Filmbridge mounted its first theatrical release, Korean zombie horror Peninsula, which became a runaway success in Mongolia. The company’s box-office hits now include action thriller Greenland, sci-fi disaster film Moonfall and Russian fantasy feature Upon Magic Roads, as well as Paramount kids titles Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and Clifford The Big Red Dog. It has also re-released classic titles such as The Godfather trilogy and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

A strong result was expected for Demon Slayer The Movie, but the pandemic cut short its release after five days. Still, the film was proof of the strong demand for popular Japanese anime among young Mongolians who queued through the night ahead of the film’s opening in the capital’s Imax theatre.

Despite a population of just 3 million people, the Mongolian market is youthful and growing. To better reach these audiences, Filmbridge has hired young marketing staff who are given free rein to promote the films in a way that can speak to their demographic. The company’s social media has been growing fast, with almost 40,000 Facebook followers to date.

Word of mouth

While all its releases come with Mongolian subtitles, Filmbridge has started to dub family animations, such as The Queen’s Corgi and Bigfoot Family, in the local language. “The dubbed animations have helped bring back a lot of families to cinemas,” says Tsogo.

Filmbridge has also gone to great lengths in legalising the market, taking pirates to court and educating the public that piracy is a crime. To make legitimate online viewings readily available, the company is set to launch SVoD streaming platform Filmax in the second half of 2023. It already has nearly 800 titles in its collection, including new films, library titles, documentaries, drama series and Japanese anime series.

The bulk of the collection is Korean content. “We have all the library titles from Contents Panda, K-Movie, Megabox and most of the titles from Lotte and CJ,” says Tsogo. “We also have all the library titles from Voltage Pictures.” In terms of new films, the company also has output deals with Contents Panda, K-Movie, Lotte, Lionsgate, STX Entertainment and Luminescence Film.

The Filmbridge co-founder is pleased the company’s effort has helped put Mongolia on the map as a standalone territory, claiming that “sales agents used to package us with Southeast Asia, but not anymore”. The company has invested in new free-to-air Popcorn TV Mongolia, taking up a 50% stake, and owns a 50% share in Animax Mongolia, a streaming platform that specialises in Japanese anime.

Tsogo has served as a producer on several Mongolian films including Remember Me, The Woman, The Gladiolus and Big Brother, which are represented by his sales company Mongol Films Distribution. He is now determined to initiate projects and fund them through Filmbridge. Its first project, suspense thriller Disorder by debut director B Batdelger, is in post-production for delivery next year, while a further two projects are in development.

“On the production side, our plan is to make five to 10 films a year,” adds Tsogo. “They will be commercial films made on low budgets but with good production values and content that can cross over and travel internationally.”

Filmbridge

Filmbridge

FilmBridge is a Mongolia film distributor. Created in 2019, and starting with Peninsula, they introduced indie cinema in the country, overwhelmed by studios propositions until then. They worked hard to clean the country from privacy, and introduced new marketing techniques towards a young population. They recently launched an OTT service in Mongolia, and their first production just wrapped.