Mongolia welcomed a total of 73,161 foreign tourists in the first half of this year, up 537.6 percent year-on-year, the country's Ministry of Environment and Tourism said Wednesday.

The dramatic increase was attributed to Mongolia's re-opening of its borders to foreign tourists in February, the ministry said.

Russia, South Korea and Kazakhstan were the biggest sources of tourist arrivals for Mongolia in the January-June period, it said.

Among measures to revive its pandemic-hit tourism sector, the Mongolian government on Tuesday made a decision to declare 2023 and 2024 as "Years to Visit Mongolia."

In addition, the government has decided to allow South Korean tourists to visit Mongolia without a visa for up to 90 days until the end of 2024. The visa-free policy took effect on June 1.

Currently, Mongolia's economy is largely dependent on its export-oriented mining sector. Developing tourism is seen as the most viable way to diversify the economy.

The Asian country has set a goal of welcoming one million foreign tourists and earning 1 billion U.S. dollars from tourism in 2024.

Yesterday, July 6, Prime Minister of Mongolia L.Oyun-Erdene arrived in Singapore for an official visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong.

At the Changi International Airport, the Prime Minister of Mongolia was welcomed by the Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore Tan See Leng and Singaporean Ambassador to Mongolia Teo Boon Hee. This visit is a return visit to the official visit of Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong to Mongolia in 2016.

During the visit, Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene will pay a courtesy call on President of Singapore Ms. Halimah Yacob, hold official talks with Prime Minister Mr. Lee Hsien Loong and meet with Minister of Communications and Information of Singapore Ms. Josephine Teo. The Prime Minister also plans to visit with the leadership of the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise, the Central Provident Fund, the Housing & Development Board, Temasek Foundation International, and the National University of Singapore.

The visit will make a significant contribution to strengthening the friendly relations with Singapore, a member state of ASEAN, intensifying political dialogue, and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, investment, economy, and other areas.

The main objective of the visit is to learn and master Singapore’s good practices on public service reform, development of e-governance, urban planning, information technology, and capacity building, as well as discuss the projects to be implemented within the framework of the ‘New Revival Policy’ of Mongolia and establish relevant agreements of bilateral cooperation.

The Mongolian Parliament has approved plans to transfer a number of state-owned companies to partial public control during 2022-23, with the proceeds to be used to invest in technological innovation.

At the regular session of the Parliament held on 29th June, legislators instructed shareholders of a number of state-owned entities to prepare additional stock offerings and register on the Mongolian Stock Exchange. Mongolia Telecom Company LC, Information Communication Network LLC, Information Technology Park, and road maintenance companies were included in the list of state-owned companies, up to 34% of which will be transferred to public control via. brokers.

The Mongolian Prime Minister, L. Oyun-Erdene, has instructed relevant officials to boost the process of transferring the control of state-owned entities to the public and give support to the development of the Mongolian Stock Exchange.

Commenting, Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia Amarsaikhan Sainbuyan said: “The decision to open up these state-owned assets and place them in public control is a vital step in making them fit for the future and in driving the wider modernisation of the Mongolian economy.

“The pace of technological change demands that organisations adapt to continue to meet the needs of citizens, and by increasing the funds available to these entities this programme will provide a significant boost to this process.”

This development is the latest example of how Mongolia is implementing its ‘New Recovery Policy’, designed to boost the living standards of Mongolian citizens and attract more international investment into the country. The Policy invites local businesses, foreign partners and international organisations to cooperate on a 150 trillion MNT investment goal that aims to double GDP by addressing current issues in six key areas: energy, border ports, industrialization, urban and rural recovery, green development, and public sector efficiency.

Parliament also took the decision on 29th June to merge a number of state-owned companies, as well as approve other changes.

Transferring state-owned companies to public control: next steps

Following the decision to approve the list of state-owned companies to be transferred to public control, Parliament gave an order to call for shareholders' meetings of approved state-owned entities, to decide on additional stock quantity and its price, to provide an initial offering of the additional stock to current shareholders, and to get the entities registered on the Mongolian Stock Exchange.

In accordance with the Mongolian Government's policy, the Cabinet has ordered the representatives and executives of each entity to hold the listed shareholders meeting immediately, to release additional shares and unit prices and offer them to the current shareholders, to register at the Mongolian Stock Exchange, and to invest the revenues of the stock in the company's technological innovations. The Chief of the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of Mongolia, Ts. Nyamdorj, and the Head of State Procurement Agency, B. Tsengel, have been ordered to carry out the release of the additional shares, to legally provide the availabilities of public exchanges, and to present to the Cabinet.

Merger of and other changes to state-owned entities

The following mergers and other decisions relating to state-owned companies were agreed during the regular Parliamentary session on 29th June:

The “Mongolian water” state-owned enterprise factory was closed down

The “White falcon” state-owned factory was merged with the “Burte” state-owned factory

“Buyant Ukhaa” sports hall was merged with the “Training and learning center of the National team”

Relevant authorities have been ordered to carry out the process of merging the "Energy development center" and the "Geology research center" and turning them into a state-owned LLC, and to present to the Cabinet

Operating entities such as "Mongolian National Radio and Television Broadcasting Network", "Climate Change Research and Cooperation Centre", "Mongolian Tourism Organization", "Mongolia-Kuwait Nature Reserve Center", "Mongolian Commodity Exchange", "Auto Impex", and "Darkhan Hides Complex Establishment", that do not require state cooperation and are manageable by private sector, are to be closed down or to be merged with similar operating entities

Relevant ministry and agencies and State procurement agency have been ordered to carry out such structural changes and have it discussed by the cabinet by August 2022

Over the last seven months Cipher’s Experts have been working with Mongolian colleagues to assess the coalbed gas resources of Mongolia. The report was signed off just before the 30th of June, on time and to budget.

Mongolian team consisted of experts from the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia (MRPAM), National Geological Survey (NGS) of Mongolia and the National University of Mongolia. Specifically we’d like to thank Prof Erdentsogt, B. whose team identified most of the potential areas for assessment. Also, the management of project by Mendee Budee (AMEP) has been exceptional and we’d like to give our huge thanks to her careful guidance.

The Cipher team consisted of Dr Tim A Moore (geologist), Mike C. Friederich (geologist), Ryan D Morris (hydrogeologist) and Chris M. Nelson (gas specialist). Also Tianjiao Yu (Cipher Associate and QUT PhD student) provided crucial technical and research back up.

The philosophy behind area identification was to determine resources only in those areas where reliable data was obtainable within the logistical constraints of the program. With further work, application of subsurface and airborne geophysics is anticipated to increase these resource estimates. Both original gas in-place and undiscovered, unrisked Prospective Resources1 were determined, the latter of which has been assessed to be just over 7 trillion cubic meters (TCM) at the P50 level.

The report represents the first coalbed gas assessment concentrating solely on reservoirs away from immediate mining areas; estimates have been conducted using a probabilistic approach2. It anticipated the report would be made available to the public soon; each of the 80+ areas that have been assessed has the range of all the input variables delineated. The hope is that others will build on the knowledge of this report and modify and update data as more detailed assessments are made on individual areas.

More details about the workshop can be found here: https://www.amep.mn/news-detail/50. A brief description of the workshops is below along with links to the presentations (also found in the AMEP website).

July 6 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has raised the legal minimum age of child jockeys to eight, local media reported on Wednesday, citing the country's authority for family, child and youth development.

The move came after issues related to rights and safety of child jockeys are being raised at a time when the Mongolian national holiday Naadam, which features horse racing, archery and wrestling, is approaching.

In addition, relevant recommendations for child jockeys, their parents and horse trainers are being provided in order to ensure the safety of children, the authority said in a statement.

According to the previous Rules of the National Naadam Horse Racing, the minimum age of child jockeys was seven years old. However, the rule had not been applied to all horse races organized throughout the year in the country.

So far this year, about 3,200 child jockeys have participated in a total of 82 horse races across the country, according to the authority. During the horse races, a child jockey died and nine others have been seriously injured.

Horse racing of the national holiday Naadam is the most coveted, most watched and most competitive one.

Inscribed in UNESCO's List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the official holiday is celebrated from July 11-15.

Safe, quality, and flexible education system, incorporating lifelong learning opportunities and equal access to digital technologies was envisaged as the future of education in Mongolia at the Transforming Education national consultation held today in Ulaanbaatar.

Over 130 participants representing 44 state and non-state actors and international organizations have endorsed Mongolia’s commitments and policy recommendations to transform the country’s education establishment into a system based on needs and linked to job market demands.

Prior to the national consultation, a series of dialogues and consultations were organized under the leadership of Mongolia’s Education Minister, Enkh-Amgalan Luvsantseren who believes that “more participation means less mistakes”. He further highlighted that the Ministry, first time in its history, was able to consult with such a wide range of players to discuss the much-needed transformation in Mongolia’s education system. The consultations gave voice to youth, educators, policy-makers, private sector and civil society organizations, urban and rural dwellers, children and parents, boys and girls, and women and men from 10 to over 60 years old, representing a whole range of social groups.

Participants at TES

The consultations were held as a part of the United Nations member states that supported Our Common Agenda, a policy blueprint aimed at accelerating progress toward SDGs, especially after the damages and backslides caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The United Nations Secretary General’s Transforming Education initiative put forward at the Our Common Agenda facilitation discussion with heads of states in 2021, was broadly accepted as a basis for achieving all SDGs.

“Transformation of education is essential to unlocking a breakthrough towards a safer, more equal and peaceful future. In this context, countries are encouraged to hold inclusive, multi-sectoral consultations to develop a shared vision and commitments at the highest level to transform education,” said the UN Resident Coordinator in Mongolia, Tapan Mishra, addressing the participants of the national consultation. “Progress in SDG 4 on Education plays a pivotal role in advancing the multi-dimensional and integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the existing education gaps and significantly disrupted the education systems around the world, each of the UN member states has been organizing the Transforming Education national consultations. The commitments to transform the XXI century education systems in their respective countries are to be presented at the Transforming Education Summit (TES) to be convened during the 77th General Assembly in September.

The TES June pre-summit in Paris Mongolia showcased some notable achievements in digital learning, set in place during the COVID-19 lockdown and school closures. However, there were challenges as well. Thus, according to a UNICEF-led study in Mongolia, one-third out of 600 thousand school children are at high risk of learning loss due to the inability to access distance learning. Children with disabilities, children from vulnerable groups, and children who live in violence were reported to have experienced a digital divide due to a lack of access to technologies and/or the ability to beneficially use those for extracting information and facilitating knowledge.

“Based on our experiences and efforts of delivering an uninterrupted education during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no question that hybrid learning is to be firmly set in our educational system,” says S. Sanjaabadam, the Academic Secretary of the Mongolian National Institute of Education Research. “Digital learning experience has pointed at our weak and strong sides. Using new technologies and innovation so much supported by the Mongolian Ministry of Education is the basis of the digital transformation in Mongolia’s education system,” added S. Sanjaabadam.

Re-training of teachers, and re-formulating the pedagogical teaching approaches and standards to ensure the quality of teaching through all levels of education starting from pre-school to academia was identified as one of the key areas of a successful transformation in the sector.

Education funding that does not mainly relate to state subsidies but is able to attract private sector support and involvement was seen as a powerful enabler for the system of education of the future.

One of the young participants at the consultation with the youth said: “We, the children are grateful for you, the adults, consulting with us on this very important topic of transforming education. It is the greatest investment you are making in education.”

The participatory exercise of consultations on how to transform education to meet the challenges of the future and create the basis for a prosperous, happy and healthy society, held across the entire country has already given productive results. The ideas raised by the stakeholders were taken aboard by the lawmakers and reflected in the draft revisions of the legislative package on education reform to be submitted to Mongolia’s Parliament this fall.

Following Mongolia’s peaceful revolution in 1990, which replaced the Soviet yoke with democracy and enabled the country to pursue an independent foreign policy, the United States quickly responded by providing vital development aid. The International Republican Institute (IRI), with generous support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), was one the first NGOs on the ground providing valuable assistance to Mongolians working to build a new democratic infrastructure on the ruins of communism. This year, IRI marks its 30th anniversary in Mongolia, providing an opportunity to reflect upon past successes as well as the evolving challenges ahead.

Starting in 1992, IRI’s work supported a competitive, democratic system to help parties become viable political organizations. IRI efforts supported the long-term institutionalization and professionalization of grassroots political parties, and today Mongolia’s system remains a testament of that transition.

With support from USAID, IRI updated its strategy to support elected officials after the first transfer of power in Mongolia in more than 70 years. Following the historic 1996 elections, IRI led technical assistance training programs for the newly elected parliamentarians on their roles and responsibilities, concentrating on procedures and rules to allow for effective legislative drafting, debate on legislation, and general oversight of government activities and reforms.

IRI spent the early 2000s in Mongolia on parliamentary strengthening initiatives and led the first technical consultations on how to hold committee hearings in the State Great Hural. Today, a committee hearing at the State Palace is a mundane procedure, but two decades ago, as Mongolia’s parliament was rapidly professionalizing, this was an innovative practice and IRI provided key support that empowered the legislature to become a more deliberative and democratic institution.

Election poll watching was also initiated in Mongolia with the support of IRI. Prior to the 2004 parliamentary elections and 2005 presidential election, IRI implemented the country’s first nationwide poll watcher training programs for members of all political parties. The impact of these trainings was illustrated by the unprecedented participation of thousands of poll watchers. Since then, party poll watchers have observed every election in Mongolia and have played a vital role in verifying free and fair elections and supporting the multiple peaceful handovers of power that have ensued.

Over the last decade, much of IRI’s work in Mongolia has shifted toward assisting civil society and working with the diverse array of NGOs that support advocacy, human rights, and citizen-responsive governance—invaluable ingredients in making democracy deliver.

As a consolidated democracy sandwiched between two authoritarian neighbors, Mongolia’s democratic success story matters to the world. With rising tensions in the region exacerbated by Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, it’s more important than ever that freedom-loving nations around the world stand firmly together in defense of democracy and human rights.

On June 29, IRI formally marked its 30th anniversary in Mongolia with a reception in Ulaanbaatar, which featured special guests from Washington, DC. The event included IRI President Daniel Twining, a visiting STAFFDEL from the House Democracy Partnership (HDP), and a large and diverse network of Mongolian stakeholders. The 30th anniversary celebration provided a moment to gather, reflect, and celebrate the tangible achievements and long-term impact. However, it remains evident that in a world where the pandemic has tested institutions everywhere, and authoritarian and illiberal actors continue to undermine global norms and democratic values, IRI’s work in Mongolia, and the continued support of donors like NED and USAID, remains as important as ever.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Mongolia’s first deployment with a United Nations peacekeeping mission. In a semi-celebratory move, the president of Mongolia, Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, initiated Mongolia’s first-ever international conference in support of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325, “Women, Peace, and Security,” which “urges all actors to increase the participation of women and incorporate gender perspectives in all United Nations peace and security efforts.” While the conference was a salute to all female peacekeepers, it was also a shining moment for Mongolia’s military diplomacy.

In 2002, Mongolia’s parliament passed legislation allowing the military to deploy soldiers in international coalition operations. As a result, Mongolia first sent two separate unarmed military observers to U.N. missions, one in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the other in Western Sahara, in 2002. Since then, the Mongolian military has deployed contingent troops, military police, as well as humanitarian and medical staff to countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kosovo, Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

In 2019, the U.N. officially recognized Mongolia’s participation in humanitarian assistance, security, and medical services in parts of the world that desperately need additional support.

As Mongolia’s foreign policy pursues a multi-pillared approach, active participation in peacekeeping missions strengthens the country’s military diplomacy with multilateral organizations and defense ministries around the world.

During the Seoul U.N. Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting in 2021, Mongolia pledged to establish a Research Center on Peace Operations, increase female peacekeepers in U.N. missions, host an international conference, and equip units with renewable energy capacities.

The 2022 “Women, Peace, and Security” conference brought together female peacekeepers from 30 countries, including Mongolia, and 60 representatives and international researchers and scholars from the European Union and U.N. peacekeeping missions. At the conference, Under-Secretary-General for the U.N. Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix thanked all the female peacekeepers and emphasized Mongolia’s steadfast support of U.N. Peacekeeping operations over the past 20 years.

The conference aimed to support the implementation of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325, passed in 2000. The conference’s main objective was to create an environment for female peacekeepers to share their experiences, ideas, and challenges.

Mongolia’s first female brigadier general, Bolor Ganbold, who previously served in U.N. missions multiple times, has been vocal about the importance of limiting gender disparity in the Mongolian military as well as in U.N. peacekeeping missions. In response to the general’s perspective and in line with U.N. goals, Khurelsukh pledged to increase Mongolian female peacekeepers to 15 percent of the country’s military contingent by 2027. Although the U.N. quota remains far from met, the presidential commitment to achieve that goal should be recognized.

As Khurelsukh stated, “Mongolia has sent more than 20,000 military personnel to U.N. Peacekeeping and international military operations, and more than 900 of them are women. Mongolia ranked 20th in the number of women peacekeepers among the U.N. troop contributed countries.” According to Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Mongolian Institute for Innovative Policies, Mongolian female peacekeepers mainly participate in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (38 percent of all Mongolia’s female PKOs) and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (27 percent).

Mongolia’s contribution to peacekeeping missions embodies the country’s commitment to global security and humanitarian assistance. As the Mongolian government continues to support multilateral efforts in defusing hostile situations and providing protection and security for the vulnerable, the country’s military diplomacy is diversified and strengthened at bilateral and multilateral level.

France, also a major U.N. peacekeeping contributor, has recognized Mongolia’s efforts. Ambassador of France to Mongolia Sebastien Surun, who attended the “Women, Peace, and Security” conference, stated, “France is proud to be partnering with Mongolia on an international level. It is right to recognize the Mongolian female peacekeeper’s contributions as part of Mongolia’s commitment to the U.N. Peacekeeping missions.”

Mongolia’s global partners have been supportive of Mongolia’s initiation to include more women in peacekeeping and in military.

The United States has been the largest support system for Mongolia’s participation in peacekeeping missions. In recent years, the U.S. has provided training and support for female military personnel. In 2019, 23 women from Mongolia enrolled in the Women’s Mentorship Program with the U.S. military, organized by the United States Indo-Pacific Command and the U.S. Army Pacific during Gobi Wolf Exercise.

From a foreign policy standpoint, the multi-faceted and multidimensional aspect of U.N. Peacekeeping operations is a force of engagement for Mongolia’s military diplomacy. The activities Mongolia engages in, including but not limited to U.N. Peacekeeping, Five Hills International Training, or its traditional military field training with its neighbors, strengthens Mongolia’s relations with multilateral organizations and defense ministries.

GUEST AUTHOR

Bolor Lkhaajav is a researcher specializing in Mongolia, China, Russia, Japan, East Asia, and the Americas. She holds an M.A. in Asia-Pacific Studies from the University of San Francisco.

The Mongolian government on Tuesday decided to declare 2023 and 2024 as "Years to Visit Mongolia" to promote the country's pandemic-hit tourism sector.

"The move will give a major boost to our country's goal of attracting 1 million foreign tourists in 2024," Mongolian Minister of Environment and Tourism Bat-Ulzii Bat-Erdene told a press conference after a regular meeting of the government.

Meanwhile, the government on Tuesday launched an online platform for promoting Mongolia internationally, said Bat-Erdene.

In addition, every foreign tourist who has obtained an e-visa to come to Mongolia will soon receive a greeting letter from the prime minister of Mongolia titled "Welcome to Mongolia," he said.

Currently, Mongolia's economy is largely dependent on its export-oriented mining sector. Developing tourism is seen as the most viable way to diversify the economy.

Mongolia has set a goal of welcoming 1 million foreign tourists and earning 1 billion U.S. dollars from tourism in 2024.

The country attracted a total of 42,060 foreign tourists in the first five months of this year, up 391.7 percent from the same period last year, as a result of re-opening its borders to foreign tourists in February.

BEIJING (AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with leaders in Mongolia on Tuesday during a trip to Asia to seek support amid his country’s diplomatic isolation by the West and punishing sanctions leveled over its invasion of Ukraine.

Lavrov met with Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh and paid a courtesy call on President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, Mongolian state media reported.

Mongolia is a landlocked nation sandwiched between Russia and China, and has sought to maintain friendly relations with both neighbors while also cultivating close ties with the U.S., whose relations with Moscow and Beijing have become increasingly fraught.

Mongolian and Russian state media gave no details of any specific discussions about the Ukraine conflict, while emphasizing strong bilateral relations. The two sides have signed a series of trade agreements, and a pipeline carrying Russian natural gas to China is being built through Mongolian territory.

“Reaffirming his commitment to strengthening bilateral relations, (Lavrov) expressed readiness to cooperate with Mongolia in all aspects,” Mongolia’s official Montsame news agency said of Lavrov’s meeting with Khurelsukh.

Ukraine and Russia’s rejection of Western criticism were major themes of Lavrov’s public comments.

He said he had informed the Mongolians “in detail” about what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“We are interested in making the facts about how the representatives of the Kyiv regime behaved and continue to behave in Ukraine available to the broad world community,” Lavrov said.

“Unfortunately the West is doing everything to block the work of the media, which provide objective information about what is happening,” he said, without offering any evidence.

Russia’s government has blocked access to multiple independent domestic and foreign news outlets in the country over their coverage of the war in Ukraine and has forbidden its citizens from describing its aggression as an invasion.

Russia has falsely called the war a campaign to “de-Nazify” Ukraine — a country with a democratically elected Jewish president who wants closer ties with the West.

Lavrov was to travel to Vietnam later Tuesday for a two-day visit, according to the Vietnamese government’s official website.

He is to meet on Wednesday with Vietnamese leaders including Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

The visit comes as the two countries mark 10 years since they expanded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Russia was a close backer of Hanoi’s Communist government during the Vietnam War against the capitalist south and its American and other Western allies.

Later in the week, Lavrov is scheduled to attend a meeting in Indonesia of foreign ministers from the Group of 20 leading rich and developing countries.