At the category U66kg world number one and Olympic silver medallist Baul An (KOR) went through the preliminaries of the Grand Slam in Paris without major difficulties to face Baskhuu Yondonperenlei (MGL), fifth in the world and on fire since the morning, with a significant win against Vazha Margvelashvili (GEO) in the semi-final.

The first attack came from the most successful Korean judoka on the circuit right now, with a low seoi-nage for no score but from there on, the match was too balanced for any attack to be successful and it was An Baul who started to commit false attacks. After a long golden score period, the third penalty fell on An Baul, who didn't play it well from a tactical point of view against the wall of bricks that is Baskhuu Yondonperenlei. The Mongolian won the gold medal.

There was one last French competitor, out of four engaged in the competition in this category, who was present in the final block. Daikii Bouda (FRA) was up against Vazha Margvelashvili (GEO). Bouda resisted for a long time and we had to wait for the last forty seconds to see the Olympic silver medallist from execute a powerful hip movement for a clear ippon.

With no record on the international scene, the presence of Luukas Saha of Finland was a surprise and a good one since the Finnish judoka showed some really good judo during the preliminary rounds. The last step was a big one and probably too big as he faced Ryoma Tanaka (JPN) for a spot on the podium. After only 23 seconds, Tanaka, winner last year here in Paris, scored ippon with a one arm shoulder movement. No chance for Saha.

Since Mongolia’s rapid democratization in the 1990s, the country has faced major hurdles in combating corruption. The country spent many years attempting to adopt a new, transparent legal system that prevents government officials taking bribes, but there was a blind side. Although the legislative framework aimed at ending corruption, implementation was not quite successful. When the Pandora Papers revealed undisclosed assets, including cash and property worth millions of dollars, held by Mongolian high-level officials, it sparked public outrage.

As Mongolia’s international reputation grew, both government and non-government organizations have been working on fighting corruption. For example, in 2020, Mongolia implemented e-governance in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic; significantly, these electronic services help to eliminate lower-level corruption by cutting out interactions with bureaucrats to access government services. Despite these efforts, however, Mongolia continues to rank toward the bottom of international corruption barometers.

In order for us to get a fuller picture, The Diplomat interviewed the director-general of Mongolia’s Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC), Dashdavaa Zandraa, about past and future efforts to fight corruption.

In 2021, Mongolia scored 35/100 and ranked 110th out of 180 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. It has not scored above 39/100 since the index began using the current scoring system in 2012. What is the leading contributing factor in Mongolia’s corruption, and why has improvement been so hard to come by?

The Government of Mongolia attaches great importance to the fight against corruption. For instance, on July 16, 2021, at the initiative of the Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, a working group was established to improve the assessment of the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International.

The main goal of this working group is to correct the shortcomings of the previous anti-corruption measures and to eliminate the obstacles to the successful reduction of corruption.

Generally speaking, to improve [Mongolia’s ranking on] the Corruption Perceptions Index, it is necessary to change the underlying factors that contribute to corruption. First, it is important to reduce the bureaucracy of the civil service, and second, to improve the legal environment.

Mongolia is actively working to reduce the bureaucracy of the civil service through digitalizing civil services and has successfully integrated 512 civil services as of now. In addition, the Prime Minister has set a goal to reduce the number of government licenses, signatures, and contracts issued to businesses by 50 percent in 2024, which will drastically reduce the human factor in civil services. Mongolia’s long-term development policy also states that “e-governance technology will reach international standards and social relations will be developed without corruption and bureaucracy.”

Furthermore, to effectively combat corruption, it is necessary to eliminate the underlying conditions that create the risk of corruption rather than corrupt officials and minimize human involvement by limiting the ability of officials to make subjective decisions. For instance, in the framework of e-governance development, the process of allocating land to citizens has been fully digitalized and posted publicly on the “egazar.gov.mn” website, making it possible for citizens to receive land allocation only in a transparent manner through auctions, without any government officials’ interference. In other words, it eliminated the risk of officials abusing their power and illegally allocating land to themselves and others. Fighting corruption is more about eliminating the conditions that create corruption than about corrupt officials.

In the future, we aim to further develop e-governance and integrate all possible government information networks using blockchain technology. The use of advanced technology in anti-corruption activities is essential.

To improve the legal environment, the government has submitted a draft Law on Whistleblower Protection to the Parliament. We are confident that the results will be visible in 2022, as we are holding regular meetings with international donors and foreign research organizations and implementing good practices and recommendations to combat corruption.

According to the recently released TRACE International’s Bribery Risk Matrix, the risk of bribery in Mongolia’s business sector has decreased by 2 points and has improved by 7 placements. Since 2019, our country’s assessment has been consistently improving.

Over the years, the Mongolian public has expressed distrust or disappointment in IAAC efforts at tackling high-level corruption. For example, the notorious “60 billion tugriks” case right before the 2017 Mongolian presidential election captured public attention, but the involved parties still hold government positions. What new approaches is the agency utilizing to pursue high-level corruption cases?

We pay special attention to all cases of corruption, both high and petty corruption. In 2021, 160 corruption cases were prosecuted.

Recovery for corruption is a key strategy not only for the international anti-corruption community but also for national policy and is a vital goal for our country’s public policy. Recovery is an important factor in establishing social justice, even if it does not fully heal the damage done to the integrity of the state, democratic values, and the opportunities that citizens would have. The Independent Authority Against Corruption pays utmost attention to the recovery of damages caused by corruption crime and has recovered $4 million in 2019, $12.5 million in 2020, and $33.8 million in 2021 to the state treasury. In addition to government organizations, the fight against corruption requires the participation of non-governmental organizations, the media, citizens, and international organizations’ cooperation, and efforts.

According to the Anti-Corruption Law of Mongolia, the IAAC receives annual declarations of assets and income of public officials and, in the event of significant changes, we inspect and monitor the legitimacy of the official’s income. In particular, the declaration of assets and income of high-risk sectors, organizations, and high-ranking government officials is of great importance. This is crucial for proving and identifying corruption, conflict of interest, and illicit enrichment. In 2020, the IAAC registered a total of 41,686 declarations of interests, assets, and income, which inspected 542 declarations and held 79 officials responsible for violations of law. In addition, 704 complaints, and information of conflict of interest were inspected, and 25 officials were held accountable.

Can you walk us through the process for investigating a case that may involve high-level corruption (for example, involving conflicts of interests or bribery)?

Investigations into corruption are regulated by the Mongolian Criminal Procedure Code. According to the law, an investigator of the IAAC shall investigate a corruption case based on a complaint, decide on whether to open an inquiry case, and immediately notify the prosecutor.

During the investigation, an investigator shall take samples, fingerprints, and footprints for analysis, [hear] testimony from victims and witnesses, confiscate assets, and property relevant to the case, and appoint experts for further investigation.

Upon completion of the inquiry, the investigator shall submit to the prosecutor one of the proposals to close the inquiry case or initiate a criminal case and prosecute as an offender. In the case of an indictment, an investigation is conducted until the case is transferred to court.

After investigation, the prosecutor shall decide whether to transfer the criminal case to court and, if transferred, issue an indictment. Thus begins the process of resolving the case in court.

The IAAC has come under political pressure in the past, which organizations like Transparency International warned could interfere with the body’s functioning. Do you believe the IAAC is sufficiently empowered to perform its core functions as an independent body?

Yes, I do believe that the IAAC is sufficiently empowered to perform as an independent body. During my time as a director-general, I have not faced any kind of political pressure. The Parliament of Mongolia passed the Anti-Corruption Law on July 6, 2006, which established the IAAC as an independent, sovereign, and specialized government agency. The law provides political, economic, social, and legal guarantees to ensure the independence of the organization. For instance, the IAAC’s budget must be approved independently, and it is prohibited to transfer an employee to another position without its consent.

Furthermore, the director-general and deputy director-general of the IAAC are appointed and dismissed by the Parliament. In this case, the directors shall be dismissed upon their request, for medical reasons, the expiration of their term of office, and the entry into force of a court sentence. In addition, the law prohibits the removal, suspension, or dismissal of the directors on grounds other than those specified in the law. This guarantees the independence of the IAAC.

In 2019, the Mongolian branch of Transparency International evaluated the IAAC’s performance. The assessment rated the IAAC’s legal independence as “good,” its operational independence as “moderate,” and its organizational independence as 78 out of 100, with four recommendations. We believe that the assessment of independence has increased as a result of the implementation of the recommendations.

Mongolia implemented e-governance in 2020, amid COVID-19. This is a new approach for Mongolia to tackle low-level bribery and corruption in public service. Do you believe there has been an improvement in lower-level corruption in the past year?

Yes, I also believe that petty corruption has decreased over the year. The ability to communicate directly between a citizen and a civil servant poses a certain risk of corruption. Many countries around the world are using a variety of techniques to reduce this risk, and the development of e-governance has proven successful. Therefore, Mongolia pays utmost importance to the development of e-governance. As mentioned above, 512 public services have been digitalized so far, and the goal is to digitalize all available public services in the future. It also has the advantage of eliminating bureaucracy and increasing information transparency.

Bribery Risk Matrix and the Rule of Law Index improvement indicate that the level of corruption has declined to some extent in Mongolia. The IAAC also conducts regular internal surveys to identify corruption, one of which is the Public Integrity Assessment. The assessment indicated a decrease in the level of corruption in 2021.

How does the IAAC deal with offshore-related cases, particularly involving parties who may hold high-level government positions? How is the IAAC working with other governments to combat corruption in Mongolia?

Corruption has spread beyond the national level, with the involvement of foreign banks, financial institutions, and the public and private sectors. Mongolia has signed 36 agreements with about 20 countries on mutual legal assistance in civil and criminal matters, transfer of offenders, and transfer of sentenced persons. We are working to further expand and deepen this type of agreement. Although no mutual legal assistance agreement has been signed, we have worked effectively with several countries under the UN Convention Against Corruption, in particular in the areas of recovery of damages and information exchange.

One of the main principles of the U.N. Convention Against Corruption is to recover corruption crime damages. In this framework, the IAAC successfully recovered $7 million worth of illicit assets, such as apartments, houses, and cash, from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. We look forward to further expanding our international cooperation with the member states of the Convention to the fullest extent possible.

Furthermore, the IAAC is cooperating extensively with the Asset Recovery Interagency Network- Asia Pacific, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, and the FATF.

BY: Bolor Lkhaajav

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 Australian government has backed a rare earths mine as the country ramps up production to challenge Chinese dominance of the critical minerals used in magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines and smartphones.

China has long dominated the supply of those minerals but its trade war with the US has forced the global manufacturing industry to search for alternative sources.

The Australian government has identified rare earths as a strategic industry and established funds to support companies breaking into the market.

On Wednesday, it agreed a A$140mn (US$100mn) project financing loan to the Yangibana rare earths mine in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia that is being established by Hastings Technology Metals.

The loan will act as an anchor for Hastings, which is aiming to raise up to A$400mn in debt for the project. The company is set to become Australia’s second-biggest exporter of rare earth minerals, behind A$8bn-valued miner Lynas Rare Earths, once exports start in an expected two and half years.

The development of Yangibana and a hydrometallurgical plant in Onslow on the Western Australian coast to refine the materials represent Australia’s growing presence in the booming rare earths market.

Matthew Allen, chief financial officer of Hastings, described the government’s financial support as a “pretty pivotal moment” for the expanding local industry, as demand continues to “soar out of sight.”

He said that Hastings could supply up to 8 per cent of global demand for neodymium and praseodymium, two of the most sought-after of the 17 rare earths minerals. “The rush is on to build a non-China supply chain,” he said.

Yangibana, combined with output from Lynas and other projects, would boost Australia’s share of the market.

“Hastings remains among the most advanced rare earth development projects globally,” said Reg Spencer, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity. He added that Australia’s share of global rare earths exports could be more than 30 per cent in the coming years. “It is pretty clear Australia will become a meaningful player,” he said.

Allen said demand for rare earth minerals has risen substantially in recent years but the need to diversify the supply chain became obvious in 2010 when Japan accused China of blocking shipments to the country over a diplomatic dispute.

“It has taken 10 or 11 years for the world to recognise China’s dominance and do something about it,” he said.

Allen predicted the minerals extracted from Yangibana will mostly be used in Europe’s automotive industry. The company already counts German industrial giant Thyssenkrupp and parts supplier Schaeffler Technologies as customers.

Hastings shares gained 8 per cent on the announcement of the government loan, valuing the company at almost A$480mn.

Masato Sagawa, the Japanese scientist who discovered and developed the strongest magnet that is driving rare earth demand, was this week awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.

Within the framework of the ’50 billion trees’ program that will be co-implemented by the five entities specialized in tree planting and rehabilitation, the Mongolian University of Life Sciences and the Research Institute of Horticulture of Siberia, three million trees are planned to be planted next spring.

The program allows citizens to plant trees online through the ‘Mod’ smartphone application, which will be launched from February 4. This means that the professional team will plant the trees ordered by the citizens through the application.

Using the application, it is possible for citizens to order larch, pine, willow, elm and spruce for MNT 2,500 respectively. The application also will offer a package of four types of trees for MNT 10,000.

As reflected in the program, 50 million trees will be planted over a period of 10 years in an area of 16,000 hectares in Khuder soum of Selenge aimag and 38 hectares in Ar Gunt, the capital city. It is possible to plant 20,9 million seedlings in Ar Gunt.

At the area to plant trees preparations such as installation of irrigation system, camera control and power transmission line have been made, said PhD B.Munkhbat from the Mongolian University of Life Sciences.

A new TV channel will be opened in Mongolia jointly with Hong Kong Satellite TV International Media Group. Mongolia Association of Culture, Tourism, Securities and Industry, in partnership with Economy and Culture and Tourism Channels of the Hong Kong Satellite TV, has launched a project to open a new TV channel to be broadcast in English and Chinese languages. According to Zhao Hong Tao, director of Culture and Tourism Channel of the Hong Kong Satellite TV, and Lu Jin Hua, Director of Economy Channel of the Hong Kong Satellite TV, the new channel will broadcast news programs and contents that promote international cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative, development of international cooperation in the difficult times of financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, investment in culture, tourism and small, medium and large manufacturing sectors.

In support of objectives to give all-round support to citizens, businesses and investors to enter the world market through their active participation, to introduce 4th Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence, blockchain and innovative achievements and to implement policies in the line with digital economy, as outlined in the New Revival Policy proposed by the Government of Mongolia and Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene, the Channel aims to deliver reliable and beneficial information on economic trends of international IPOs, NFT currencies and the digital economy.

P.Altan-Erdene, a member of the Board of the Mongolia Association of Culture, Tourism, Securities and Industry, said that it will work in the spirit of supporting national policies and programs such as ensuring the international investment environment stable and improving public financial literacy.

Mongolian boxers won 12 medals in total (2 gold, 2 silver and 8 bronze medals) at ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on January 20-29, 2022.

In detail, M.Enkhjargal (women’s 54 kg) and G.Badmaarag (women’s 60 kg) won gold medals. M.Namuun (women’s 57 kg) and M.Tsetsegdari (women’s 63 kg) grabbed silver medals. B. Janargul (women’s 48 kg/, A. Khulan / women’s 50 kg /, Kh.Azbayar /men’s 51 kg/, D. Ganbold /men’s 54 kg/, B. Buyandalai /men’s 60 kg/, B.Tuguldur /men’s 63.5 kg/, A.Jandos /men’s 67 kg/ as well as B.Gantulga /men’s 75 kg/ won bronze medals respectively.

Australian oil and gas exploration and development company Elixir Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mongolia Green Finance Corporate to support financing for the first phase of a proposed green hydrogen project planned for the South Gobi region of the East Asia nation.

Adelaide-headquartered Elixir Energy has announced it has achieved progress on multiple fronts for its proposed Gobi H2 green hydrogen project in Mongolia, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support project finance.

ASX-listed Elixir, whose strategy rests on the view that the Gobi region is one the of best locations in the world for producing and exporting green hydrogen, given its renewable resources and immediate proximity to likely hydrogen markets, said it had executed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Mongolia Green Finance Corporate (MGFC) as it seeks to progress its renewable energy ambitions.

Under the MoU, the two entities will work together to identify carbon offset opportunities to reduce exploration and appraisal stage scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions, develop larger scale forestry and nature related offsets, and work with international financial institutions over the project financing of Gobi H2.

Elixir managing director Neil Young said the company is pleased to be working with the Mongolian government to investigate the world-class green hydrogen potential of the country which is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south.

Elixir, which operates in Mongolia and the United States, said it would also seek to work with the Mongolian government and other potential stakeholders to bring forward Australia’s expertise in the nascent hydrogen economy in technical, commercial and legal areas.

“All the work we are doing on our Gobi H2 project serves to reinforce our original starting concept: the country is a potential tier-one location for large-scale hydrogen exports,” Young said.

“Elixir’s first-mover advantages are being progressively locked in and it is fantastic to see the rapidly growing interest in this future-facing industry from multiple local and international stakeholders.”

The signing of the MoU follows Elixir’s recently commissioned independent report from energy analyst K1 Capital which evaluated the wind and solar resource potential of the South Gobi region for the production of green hydrogen.

The report estimates the project location has a combined wind and solar utilisation of 79%, compared to the 60% rate in the Southern Goldfields, and 45% in the Pilbara region in Western Australia. The report said this is underpinned by very high wind speeds, along with a cold climate which could support enhanced solar efficiencies.

Elixir said a location with a capacity factor of 79% will produce about 60% more hydrogen from the same capital investment than an area with a roughly 50% capacity factor.

Young said the company believes Mongolia is “exceptionally” well placed to supply what are predicted to be substantial hydrogen imports.

“The K1 Capital report supports our thesis that the South Gobi region of Mongolia has such potential – not only given its location immediately proximate to markets, but also its superb renewable resources,” he said.

“The wind and solar combination in our project area is as good as we have seen anywhere.”

While Elixir is yet to release details about the size of the proposed project, it late last year acquired the 50 MW Solar Ilch solar project being developed in the South Gobi desert by Mongolian investment firm Nova Terra and Thailand-based solar project developer Symbior Solar.

Elixir said it is now harvesting detailed data for both wind and solar in the region using SODAR (Sonic Detection and Ranging) equipment provided by Sydney-based technology company Fulcrum3D.

Elixir said it has also ordered a solar-focused monitoring unit from Fulcrum3D that will be deployed at the Solar Lich solar farm. It will be installed to provide data that will assist project funding capacity.

“The acquisition of Solar Ilch is a material step in the implementation of our relatively recently announced hydrogen strategy, but is only one of a good number of moves we are making on this front,” Young said.

Elixir said a concept stage study has also been commissioned from Australian engineering firm GPA Engineering for a pilot project to supply green hydrogen to Inner Mongolian steel mills in China.

The company said it has also initiated a commercial study with international energy consulting firm Rystad Energy into China’s long-term hydrogen demand and supply.

Mongolia reported 1,206 new cases of coronavirus infection, said the Ministry of Health on Jan 31.

648 were recorded in Ulaanbaatar, 558 cases in the regions bringing the total number of cases to 444,719.

2 people died from coronavirus per day raising the death toll to 2,036.

A recent report by BloombergNEF states that global investment in the energy transition totalled $755 billion in 2021 – a new record – off the back of rising climate ambitions and policy action from countries around the world.

According to BNEF, investments rose in almost every sector covered in the report, including renewable energy, energy storage, electrified transport, electrified heat, nuclear, hydrogen and sustainable materials. Only carbon capture and storage recorded a dip in investment, though there were many new projects announced in the year.

The report points out that renewable energy remains the largest sector in investment terms, achieving a new record of $366 billion committed in 2021, up 6.5% from the year prior. Electrified transport, which includes spending on electric vehicles and associated infrastructure, was the second-largest sector with $273 billion invested.

“With electric vehicle sales surging, this sector grew at a breakneck rate of 77% in 2021 and could overtake renewable energy in dollar terms in 2022,” the document reads.

The market researcher’s data show that nuclear, energy storage, electrified transport and electrified heat accounted for the vast majority of investment at $731 billion. Hydrogen, carbon capture and storage and sustainable materials made up the rest, totalling $24 billion.

“The global commodities crunch has created new challenges for the clean energy sector, rising input costs for key technologies like solar modules, wind turbines and battery packs. Against this backdrop, a 27% increase in energy transition investment in 2021 is an encouraging sign that investors, governments and businesses are more committed than ever to the low-carbon transition, and see it as part of the solution for the current turmoil in energy markets,” Albert Cheung, head of analysis at BloombergNEF, wrote in the report.

Cheung pointed out that Asia Pacific was both the largest region for investment at $368 billion or nearly half the global total, and the region with the highest growth at 38% in 2021. Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew by 16% in 2021, reaching $236 billion, while the Americas saw investments grow by 21% to $150 billion.

“China was again the largest single country for energy transition investment, committing $266 billion in 2021,” the dossier notes. “The United States was in second place with $114 billion, though EU member states as a bloc committed more at $154 billion. Germany, the UK and France rounded out the top five countries for energy transition investment in 2021. Asia-Pacific countries now hold four of the top 10 places in terms of energy transition investment levels, with India and South Korea joining China and Japan.”

Future scenarios

Despite the record growth toward energy transition, BNEF’s experts believe investment levels need to roughly triple, such that they average $2.1 trillion per annum between 2022-2025, in order to get on track with any of the three alternative scenarios the firm has outlined to reach global net-zero by 2050, in line with 1.75 degrees of global warming.

Once they triple, investments will need to double again to an average of $4.2 trillion between 2026 and 2030 to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

BNEF’s figures show that, however, at current growth rates, the electrified transport sector is the only one that has the best chance of getting on track for such investment levels.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Mongolia a held scheduled meeting on January 28th, 2022. Taking into consideration current state of the economy and financial markets as well as outlook and risks to the domestic and foreign economic environments, the MPC decided to:

1. Raise its policy rate by 0.5 percentage point to reach 6.5 percent;

2. Increase the percentage of required reserves in MNT deposits by 2 percentage points to 8 percent;

3. Change the terms of long-term repo trade financing for the non-mining export and processing industries;

The spread of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 is increasing, the global economic outlook is deteriorating, and cost-push inflation is rising sharply in many countries due to transportation, logistics delays, and supply chain failures. In our country, the price of imported goods has also increased due to the continuing delays in foreign trade. Rising prices for meat, vegetables, fuel and imported goods triggered the price increases in other goods and products more than it was expected. Annual headline inflation reached 13.4 percent nationwide and 14.8 percent in Ulaanbaatar city as of December 2021.

Demand-driven inflation is expected to continue to gradually increase following the economic activity, while the outlook of supply-driven inflation will depend on how quickly border constraints, transportation and logistics delays are addressed.

Progressive monetary and macroeconomic policies and financial regulatory measures to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic have had a positive impact on supporting economic recovery and maintaining financial sector stability. In the last two months of last year, the mining and transportation sectors fell short of expectations, while the manufacturing, trade and service sectors outperformed expectations as business constraints eased and domestic demand increased.

The monetary policy stance has been tightened as there is a risk that inflation expectation will increase and the second round of effects from the inflation will intensify as supply shortages continue due to border constraints. In addition, the fact that the base interest rate in foreign markets is expected to increase created conditions for raising the policy rate.

The central bank will adjust its monetary policy stance in a timely manner in line with the developments of economic recovery and inflation outlook.