Rio Tinto Group said it’s formed a joint venture with the Guinea government and Winning Consortium Simandou to develop infrastructure including a railway and port in a breakthrough that should help unlock the world’s biggest untapped iron ore deposit.

“The parties will now work on next steps including shareholding agreement, finalizing cost estimates and funding, and securing all necessary approvals and other permits and agreements required to progress the co-development of infrastructures,” Rio said in a statement.

Getting the massive Simandou project under development would be a second major win for Rio’s Chief Executive Officer Jakob Stausholm, after striking a deal with Mongolia earlier this year on Rio’s flagship copper project. Since taking the helm just over a year ago, the CEO has prioritized getting stalled projects moving, while rebuilding the company’s reputation after a series of missteps.

The latest agreement hands Guinea’s government a 15% “free-carry” stake in the infrastructure joint-venture, meaning Rio and Winning will bear construction costs. Efforts to develop Simandou have been stymied for years by a litany of disputes over ownership and infrastructure, and by political changes in Guinea.

Simandou offers a potentially huge new source of supply for Rio, the world’s largest iron ore producer, while China sees the project as key to easing its steel industry’s dependence on Australian output.

“The involvement of Rio Tinto would be definitely very positive for the Simandou project” given it is “a very experienced mining company in implementing large-scale, complex infrastructure projects around the world,” Philip Kirchlechner, director at Iron Ore Research Pty, said by phone. “However, it doesn’t at all remove sovereign risk in Africa,” he said, adding “the complexity of building a rail through very difficult terrain is also very challenging.”

Simandou is divided into four blocks, two of which are controlled by Winning — which is backed by Chinese and Singaporean companies — and the others by Rio Tinto in partnership with Aluminum Corp. of China and other Chinese companies. Winning and the Rio-led group will each have a 42.5% of the infrastructure company, with Guinea’s government holding the balance, Rio said.

Who pays?

China, the world’s top steel-producing nation, recently embarked on one of the biggest shake-ups of the global iron ore market in more than a decade by setting up a new state-owned group, designed to be a hub for huge overseas mine investments — including Simandou — and buying the steelmaking material from international suppliers.

Earlier this year, the two consortiums at Simandou struck a deal to jointly build the 600 kilometers of required rail lines linking the mine to a planned port. As part of the deal, the government received a 15% stake in the infrastructure, matching its ownership stake in the mines. Yet talks about how the rail line will be paid for had dragged on.

Negotiations had centered over whether the government should have to pay for its share of the rail and port building costs, according to people familiar with the situation. Rio and the Winning consortium had offered an interest-free loan to cover the government’s costs, while the government had pushed for the free-carry for its stake, the people said.

The railway could cost more than $10 billion, according to earlier estimates, although an updated cost forecast is not expected until after an agreement is struck. No monetary figures for the new joint venture were given in the statement.

Rio’s shares in Australia dropped as much as 1.5% before trading 0.7% higher by 2:03 p.m. Shanghai time.

The Guinean government had sought to force the hand of the companies involved. Earlier this month, the government ordered both consortiums to halt activity in the country, citing their failure to reach a deal on collaboration. Mining Minister Moussa Magassouba also said the country was prepared to develop the project without the two consortiums if an agreement wasn’t forthcoming.

(By Thomas Biesheuvel and Alfred Cang, with assistance from Ougna Camara, Winnie Zhu, Jake Lloyd-Smith and Martin Ritchie)

An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck the Russia-Mongolia border region on Friday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles), EMSC said.

Xuzhou, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province, has launched a new freight train service to Mongolia, and the train is expected to arrive in Ulan Bator on Aug. 1.

The freight train, fully loaded with 100 TEUs of goods, will pass through the border port of Erenhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region before reaching Ulan Bator within six days.

The train carried about 440 tonnes of goods valued at 1.4 million U.S. dollars, including motorbikes, aluminum empty cans and security doors.

Xuzhou's China-Europe freight train services have maintained a strong momentum this year, completing 230 trips from January to June, an increase of 91.7 percent year on year, and completing a trade volume of 277 million U.S. dollars. The city has launched such services with more than 50 cities in 20 countries along the Belt and Road.

China has been Mongolia's biggest trading partner and the top source of foreign investment for 18 consecutive years. The bilateral trade volume hit 9.12 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, up 35.3 percent year on year.

The signing ceremony of the protocol between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and UNFPA Mongolia for a maternal and child health project has taken place at UN House, Ulaanbaatar, today, July 29.

Through the signing on the project obligation form, which is based on the General Partnership Framework between both parties, Luxembourg contributes 5 million EUR for the project ‘Accelerating the progress towards the elimination of preventable maternal and perinatal mortality’ for the duration of 5 years from 2022 to 2027.

The Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has supported the Telemedicine for Maternal and Child Health Project in Mongolia for 12 years since 2007. The project has been implemented together with the Government of Mongolia and UNFPA with the aim to promote equitable access to quality maternal and newborn care.

Building on the experience and expertise of previous 12-year innovative project, the new project is focusing to contribute to ending preventable maternal deaths, ending unmet need for family planning and end gender-based violence using innovative technological advances and advocating for family planning and comprehensive sexuality education.

During the signing, Dr. Justine Coulson, Country Director for UNFPA Mongolia and Representative for UNFPA China, highlighted, “This new phase of the project will build on past achievements and continue to address the cause of preventable maternal and perinatal death with a focus on data driven policy, capacity building amongst health workers and engagement with local communities to ensure women proactively seek health services when they need them.”

Minister for Development Cooperation Humanitarian Affairs, and Minister of the Economy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Mr. Franz Fayot said, “I would like to encourage you all to further develop synergies. This new phase of the project is all about how we can find more synergies,” with regard to Luxembourg-funded projects implemented by bilateral and multilateral partners. Minister Fayot also highlighted that the gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights is of particular interest to Luxembourg.

The signing ceremony was attended by Mr. Bold Luvsanvandan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Ms. L.Bolormaa, Officer in charge of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Franz Fayot, Minister for Development Cooperation Humanitarian Aid of MFEA, Mr. Christophe Schiltz, General Coordinator for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of MFEA, Mr. Manuel Tonnar, Director of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of MFEA, Mr. Robert de Waha, Deputy Managing Director of LuxDev, Ms. Anika Bruck, Asia and Gender Desk of MFEA, Mr. Frederic Rouffe, Programme Officer of LuxDev, Ms. Anne Nicolas, Press Officer to the Minister of Economy of Luxembourg, Ms. Justine Coulson, Country Director for UNFPA Mongolia and Representative for UNFPA China (who participated virtually), Dr. Khalid Sharifi, Head of Office of UNFPA Mongolia, and Dr. L. Oyunaa, Assistant Representative of UNFPA Mongolia.

After the signing, Head of Office of UNFPA Mongolia Dr. Khalid Sharifi confirmed the commitment of UNFPA Mongolia to the efficient and effective implementation of the project, before thanking the Government of Luxembourg for their continued support to improve health care in Mongolia.

UNFPA in Mongolia

UNFPA Mongolia began supporting the Government of Mongolia in the late 1970s providing equipment and training to the Central Statistics Office to undertake the Population and Housing Census of 1979 – and again in 1989. Support to maternal and child health began in the early 1990s and included training for medical personnel and the provision of modern contraceptives.

The first comprehensive Country Programme between the Government of Mongolia and UNFPA officially started in 1992 and focused on the delivery of family planning services and information and the promotion of population data use to support government development policies and programmes.

UNFPA’s 6th Country Programme in Mongolia was launched in 2017, with a specific focus on youth participation, realizing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of youth, and addressing GBV. The current Country Programme is supporting Mongolia to achieve the SDGs and is closely aligned and implemented with other UN agencies under the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2017-2022.

Representatives of the Mongolian wool and cashmere industry participated in the 'Premiere Vision Paris' exhibition, a global event for fashion trendsetters, and presented the current situation and further development of sustainable production. Dr. U. Sarangoo and Mrs. B. Dulguun, members of the STEPECOLAB project team of AVSF Mongolia, funded by the European Union, took part in this exhibition.

Mr. M. Dondogdorj, Head of the Light Industry Policy Implementation Department of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Light Industry, Mrs. D. Altantsetseg, Executive Director of Mongolian Wool and Cashmere Association (MWCA), Mrs. B. Battsetseg, Head of the Certification Department, Dr. Ts. Enkh-Amgalan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mongolian National Federation of Pasture User Groups of Herders (NFPUG) and Mrs. Ts. Altantuya, Director of the National Association of Mongolian Agricultural Cooperatives participated in the exhibition. Also, representatives of 10 companies including Gobi ​​Corporation, Cashmere Holding, Snow Fields, Khanbogd Cashmere, Nans Cashmere, Munkhbumuud, Gobi-Erdene Cashmere, Gurvan Sor, Uguuj Shim, and Goyol Cashmere, which are leaders in the sustainable production of cashmere participated in the exhibition to introduce and promote Mongolian wool and cashmere products to major foreign brands and buyers in order to increase the industry competitiveness.

Introduced its national standards and promoted its achievements in sustainable production

The participation under the name of Mongolian Wool and Cashmere Association in the exhibition held at Nord Villepinte in Paris on July 5-7 made it one of the important points. This is because Mongolian wool and cashmere industries have highlighted their achievements and efforts to develop sustainable production from the herder’s field to the consumer's hands. In doing so, they showed the unique advantages of Mongolian wool and cashmere, innovative solutions in raw material preparation and production, and the achievements made within the framework of environmentally friendly and sustainable development policies in line with global standards.

Visitors to the Mongolian exhibition booth were very interested in the national standards MNS 6891:2020 'Responsible Nomads', MNS 6926:2021 'Guidelines for Sustainable Textile Production', and the demonstration of the animal raw material tracking system /RMTS/. About 400 visitors visited Mongolian booth during the exhibition days, and many organizations and individuals expressed their interest in cooperating with the factories in the future.

Expand the scope of promotion activities in France and other countries of the European Union

During these days, distinguished guests such as H.E. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the Republic of France, Ms. U. Nyamkhuu, Economic Attaché Mr. T. Bayarjargal, and former representative of AVSF in Mongolia, Mr. Guillaume Tuati, visited.

In addition, the embassy in France received the participants and discussed the issue of cooperation and expansion of the scope of promotion of Mongolian wool and cashmere in France and European Union Member States. Representatives of the industry attended workshops and talks on sustainability, footprint and eco-certification in the wool and cashmere sector according to their needs, explored the next possible exhibition and yarn, fabric and color trends for 2023-2024 and visited Tex World.

Important meetings were held to bring economic and business relations between Italy and Mongolia to a new level

Moreover, during these days, a delegation led by Mr. B. Purevdorj, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Mongolian-Italian Parliamentary Friendship Group, and representatives of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, MWCA, the Mongolian Sustainable Finance Association and the manufacturers of Mongolian wool and cashmere, paid a visit Italy. On this occasion, they met with Mr. Ettore Rosato, Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives, one of the highest legislative bodies of the Republic of Italy, and other representatives. The participants organized business meetings with representatives of state-owned and private companies such as ACIMIT, Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, its member organizations and loan guarantee, financial SACE group, European Brokers Assicurazioni Srl company and SIMEST of the savings and loan group, Loro Piana SpA Group and Falconeri Srl Company, the best brands of the Italian knitting and textile industry successfully and introduced about the production activities with advanced technology.

The EBA Financial Company, which is officially accredited by the SACE Group under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Italy expressed its interest in cooperating with the Mongolian Wool and Cashmere Association by signing a Memorandum of Understanding to identify the optimal financing solution for the implementation of the medium and long-term program for the development of the wool and cashmere industry in Mongolia. The representatives held an official meeting with the management of companies such as Autefa - Octir and Bigagli, the leading brands of Italian textile equipment production, and agreed to cooperate in the supply of equipment that is primarily needed by Mongolian wool and cashmere industry companies and enterprises according to an integrated plan.

In this context, Italian financial guarantee groups and companies, such as SACE, SIMEST, and EBA, have discussed loans of up to 5 million euros for each purchase on preferential terms for a period of 3-5 years. The fact that we were able to reach a mutual agreement after discussing the above issues is the most important result of the work carried out within the framework of the visit, and it has become an important step in bringing the economic and business relations between the two countries to a new level.

The opportunity to expand the markets to the Member States of the European Union has opened, and the development of the industry has been brought to a new level

The representatives of the Mongolian wool cashmere industry joined this exhibition and participated as a team not only advertised that they are different from other foreign competitors but also opened the opportunity to expand the market in the countries of the European Union and contributed to the development of the industry to a new level. Previously, companies participating in international exhibitions only advertised their brands and products, but this time, they highlighted that Mongolia is an independent country, and it was innovative that when scanning the QR code of the sample products, the names and photos of the herders who supplied the raw materials, as well as the information about the protection of the environment, pastures, and animal welfare were displayed and shown on the map. Showing that it is environmentally friendly and waste-free, the packaging displayed at the exhibition was made from cashmere and wool waste, the brochure was made from eco-paper, and the wrapping threads were made from hair, wool, and cashmere fiber waste. Also, visitors interested in the exhibition were presented with anklets made of industrial waste cashmere, highlighting the Mongolian national content. The representatives agreed that it is really important to place the flag of Mongolia when participating in international events to highlight that Mongolia is an independent country and clarify its national identity. Most importantly, the participants concluded that they were able to give the main message to the European market that Mongolia where the cashmere sector is the second largest driving force of the economy is “a country that is engaged in sustainable production, can trace its origin, and can process raw materials from healthy animals and pastures with 40 years of technological experience and produce final products”.

P. Narandelger

SEBI signed a pact with Mongolia's Financial Regulatory Commission for mutual cooperation and technical assistance in the area of securities market rules.

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday said it has entered into a pact with Mongolia's Financial Regulatory Commission for mutual cooperation and technical assistance in the area of securities market rules.

The objective of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) is to strengthen cross-border cooperation in the area of securities regulation, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a statement.

The pact will facilitate mutual assistance, contribute towards the efficient performance of the supervisory functions, help in sharing technical domain knowledge, and enable effective enforcement of the laws and regulations governing the securities markets, it added.

Sebi has signed bilateral MoUs with securities regulators of various jurisdictions. It is also a signatory to the International Organization of Securities Commissions' multilateral MoU and enhanced multilateral MoU.

The Russian government has issued an order for the shares held by Norway’s energy company Equinor and France’s TotalEnergies in a major oil field, to be transferred to the project’s operator, state-run Zarubezhneft.

The European companies decided to pull out of the Kharyaga oil project due to international sanctions against Russia. Equinor held a 30% stake in the field, and Total owned 20%. The terms of the equity transfers have not been disclosed.

Both firms had been part of the Kharyaga onshore oil development, located in Russia’s Arctic, for over 20 years. It is one of three production sharing projects in Russia, with two others – Sakhalin 1 and Sakhalin 2 – operating larger offshore oil and gas deposits near Sakhalin Island in Russia’s Far East.

Zarubezhneft will now hold a 90% stake in Kharyaga, with locally owned Nenets Oil holding the remaining 10%.

Other Western energy giants, including Shell, BP and ExxonMobil, have also left Russia in recent months due to sanctions.

A new poll by the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research (CISR) shows Mongolians have concerns over the economy and corruption, while demonstrating strong support for democratic governance.

When asked about the most important problems facing the country today, most Mongolians chose issues related to the economy. The top three responses show 58% citing high prices and the cost of living, 26% stating unemployment, and 14% declaring other general economic issues.

In a poll fielded from March to April 2021, 34% cited healthcare and COVID-19 as the top issue in Mongolia.

The survey also finds that 74% of Mongolians feel that corruption is a very serious problem and there is little faith with institutions to address it. Sixty-four percent have a negative opinion about the Independent Authority Against Corruption, 66% have a negative opinion of the Courts, and 62% of have a negative opinion of the State Great Hural, the unicameral parliament.

“Our research clearly shows that Mongolians are not happy with the current economy or the government’s efforts to tackle corruption,” said Johanna Kao, IRI Regional Director for the Asia-Pacific. “Elected officials need to do more to address these pressing concerns and they need to act with urgency.”

Additionally, the poll highlights that 67% of Mongolians believe that democracy is the best form of government.

“Despite some of the problems confronting the people of Mongolia, it’s reassuring that a strong majority believe in democratic governance,” said Kao. “Increasing accountability, transparency, and inclusivity for more people in the political process will only strengthen the government’s ability to move the country in the right direction.”

Methodology

The survey was conducted on behalf of the International Republican Institute’s Center for Insights in Survey Research by Independent Research Institute of Mongolia (IRIM) and made possible by the generous support of USAID. Data collection was conducted between March 01 – April 26, 2022, through computer-assisted telephone interviews. The sample consisted of n=2,500 residents of Mongolia aged 18 and over.

A multi-stage probability sampling method was used to design a nationally representative sample. The contact information list of the households was compiled from the IRIM’s internal database. The sample was stratified by region and by urban/rural residency. Households were selected by simple random sampling, and respondents were selected by the last birthday method.

The data was weighted by gender and age groups based on the NSO data for population of Mongolia. The response rate was 19 percent. The margin of error for the full sample is ± 1.9 percentage points. Charts and graphs may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.

Mongolia's foreign-exchange reserves fell to 2.8 billion U.S. dollars, down 1.7 billion dollars from the beginning of this year, the press office of the country's parliament said Thursday.

The significant decrease in forex reserves is largely related to the surge in gasoline and fuel prices, said the Bank of Mongolia.

The average price of the gasoline brand AI-95 per liter rose to 4,210 Mongolian tugriks (1.3 dollars) from 2,770 tugriks (0.87 dollars) in February, while a liter of diesel fuel is priced at 1.28 dollars currently, up from 0.9 dollars in February, according to the country's Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority.

Currently, the landlocked Asian country has no oil refineries and relies heavily on neighboring Russia for gasoline and diesel fuel.

World Taekwondo (WT) and the Asia Development Foundation (ADF) kicked off their new WT-ADF Cares Program in three countries - Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Timor-Leste - on July 1, 2022 for a one-year period.

The new WT-ADF Cares projects, funded by the ADF, are designed to help empower the powerless, such as orphans, reformatory inmates and street children, in developing countries in the Asian region through the education of taekwondo and the Korean language.

Under the theme “Bright Future with Taekwondo,” the 2022-2023 Mongolia WT-ADF Cares Program started last week with a total budget of $30,000 for about 200 reformatory inmates in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.

Under the slogan “Dream through Taekwondo,” the 2022-2023 Kyrgyzstan WT-ADF Cares Program will assist some 150 orphans, 75 in Bishkek and 72 in Cholpon Ata with a total budget of $30,000. The orphans will receive free taekwondo and the Korean language education.

In cooperation with the Timor-Leste Taekwondo Federation and under the slogan “Building Self-Resilience through Taekwondo,” the 2022-2023 Timor-Leste WT-ADF Cares Program will benefit about 60 orphans and 40 female household-violence victims in Dili City with a total budget of $33,000. The Korean Embassy in Timor-Leste will assist the Cares students in the education of the Korean language.

WT President Chungwon Choue said, “the ongoing 2022-2023 WT-ADF Cares projects in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Timor-Leste are meaningful as the Cares students receive education of both taekwondo and the Korean language.”

Since 2016, WT has carried out its Cares programs under the mission “Taekwondo for All,” and “World Peace through Taekwondo.” The vision of the WT Cares Program is to provide taekwondo to those in deed and empower the powerless in developing countries.

New WT-ADF Cares Projects Kick Off in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Timor-Leste

In January 2019, WT and the ADF, headed by Kim Joon-il, signed a memorandum of understanding on the WT Cares Program to donate 100 million Korean won (about $90,000) to WT. The ADF donated WT in Cares funds $150,000 in 2020, $200,000 in 2021 and $15,000 in 2022.

Besides the three new WT-ADF Cares projects, WT-ADF Cares projects are under way in four countries – Nepal, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. WT plans to start new Cares projects in late August 2022 in Afghanistan and in Nepal for students of the Um Hong Gil Human Foundation school near Pokhara.

WT wishes to expand the WT Cares projects outside Asia with new donations.