1 MONGOLIA MARKS CENTENNIAL WITH A NEW COURSE FOR CHANGE WWW.EASTASIAFORUM.ORG PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      2 E-MART OPENS FIFTH STORE IN ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, TARGETING K-FOOD CRAZE WWW.BIZ.CHOSUN.COM PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      3 JAPAN AND MONGOLIA FORGE HISTORIC DEFENSE PACT UNDER THIRD NEIGHBOR STRATEGY WWW.ARMYRECOGNITION.COM  PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      4 CENTRAL BANK LOWERS ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST TO 5.2% WWW.UBPOST.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      5 L. OYUN-ERDENE: EVERY CITIZEN WILL RECEIVE 350,000 MNT IN DIVIDENDS WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      6 THE BILL TO ELIMINATE THE QUOTA FOR FOREIGN WORKERS IN MONGOLIA HAS BEEN SUBMITTED WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      7 THE SECOND NATIONAL ONCOLOGY CENTER TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN ULAANBAATAR WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      8 GREEN BOND ISSUED FOR WASTE RECYCLING WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      9 BAGANUUR 50 MW BATTERY STORAGE POWER STATION SUPPLIES ENERGY TO CENTRAL SYSTEM WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      10 THE PENSION AMOUNT INCREASED BY SIX PERCENT WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      КОКС ХИМИЙН ҮЙЛДВЭРИЙН БҮТЭЭН БАЙГУУЛАЛТЫГ ИРЭХ ОНЫ ХОЁРДУГААР УЛИРАЛД ЭХЛҮҮЛНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     "ЭРДЭНЭС ТАВАНТОЛГОЙ” ХК-ИЙН ХУВЬЦАА ЭЗЭМШИГЧ ИРГЭН БҮРД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГ ӨНӨӨДӨР ОЛГОНО WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГИЙН ОРЛОГО 2040 ОНД 38 ИХ НАЯДАД ХҮРЭХ ТӨСӨӨЛӨЛ ГАРСАН WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ЭРДЭНЭС ОЮУ ТОЛГОЙ” ХХК-ИАС ХЭРЛЭН ТООНО ТӨСЛИЙГ ӨМНӨГОВЬ АЙМАГТ ТАНИЛЦУУЛЛАА WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     Л.ОЮУН-ЭРДЭНЭ: ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГААС НЭГ ИРГЭНД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГИЙН ХАДГАЛАМЖ ҮҮСЛЭЭ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ENTRÉE RESOURCES” 2 ЖИЛ ГАРУЙ ҮРГЭЛЖИЛСЭН АРБИТРЫН МАРГААНД ЯЛАЛТ БАЙГУУЛАВ WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ORANO MINING”-ИЙН ГЭРЭЭ БОЛОН ГАШУУНСУХАЙТ-ГАНЦМОД БООМТЫН ТӨСЛИЙН АСУУДЛААР ЗАСГИЙН ГАЗАР ХУРАЛДАЖ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     АЖИЛЧДЫН САРЫН ГОЛЧ ЦАЛИН III УЛИРЛЫН БАЙДЛААР ₮2 САЯ ОРЧИМ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     PROGRESSIVE EQUITY RESEARCH: 2025 ОН “PETRO MATAD” КОМПАНИД ЭЭЛТЭЙ БАЙХААР БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     2026 ОНЫГ ДУУСТАЛ ГАДААД АЖИЛТНЫ ТОО, ХУВЬ ХЭМЖЭЭГ ХЯЗГААРЛАХГҮЙ БАЙХ ХУУЛИЙН ТӨСӨЛ ӨРГӨН МЭДҮҮЛЭВ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19    

Events

Name organizer Where
MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

NEWS

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Cooperation to be expanded with Russia in light industry www.montsame.mn

Deputy Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry G. Batsuuri held a meeting with Russian delegates headed by Director for Commerce at Russkaya Kozha JSC Dmitry Kruglov.
The group of companies ‘Russkaya Kozha’ comprises seven industrial companies and is one of the largest leather suppliers in the world. Headquartered in the city of Ryazan, the company has tannery plants in Zarinsk, Russia and Lorca, Spain and branches in China and Portugal.
The delegates of Russkaya Kozha JSC arrived in Mongolia to expand their cooperation within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 with the Mongolian Agricultural Exchange LLC on cooperation in production and supply of leather raw materials.
During the meeting, the delegates noted that during their visit, they found out Mongolia’s great potential for the development of the light industry, including processing of raw hides and skins, and production of value-added end products. They expressed Russkaya Kozha’s full capability to cooperate in sharing experiences and training personnel and internships at its factories.
Deputy Minister G. Batsuuri said, “In December 2021, 67.3 million head of livestock were counted in Mongolia, and an average of 15-17 million pieces of sheepskin, goatskins and bovine hides are processed annually. The local tanneries are developing to a certain extent, but their capacity is insufficient. Thus, the Government of Mongolia is paying much attention to the establishment of industrial and technology parks in Khovd and Darkhan-Uul aimags as stated in its Action Plan for 2020-2024, and has resolved the required financing.”
Last October, representatives of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry visited the Russkaya Kozha Altai plant in Zarinsk to get acquainted with the plant's operations and learn experiences.
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Sh.Enkhiin-Od named as one of top 100 college basketball players in USA www.montsame.mn

Enkhiin-Od, the son of renowned basketball player, State Honored Athlete Ts.Sharavjamts, is now one step closer to his dream of playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Sh.Enkhiin-Od has been included in the list of top 100 college basketball players in the USA, announced by ‘Slam’ magazine, which delivers information on American college basketball. On December 15, Enkhiin-Od, also known as Mongolian Mike, announced on his social media account that he chose to play for Dayton Flyers /University of Dayton/ in Division I of the NCAA men’s basketball, becoming the first Mongolian athlete who played in the NCAA by invitation.
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Revenue from all types of transport increases by 2.2 percent www.montsame.mn

At the end of 2021, 49.2 million tons of freight were carried in total by all types of transport. Compared to the same period of the previous year, the carried freight was decreased by 11.1 million tons (18.5 percent). This decrease was mainly due to the 12.5 million tons (41.0 percent) decline in road transport freight.
At the end of 2021, 107.2 million passengers (in repeated counting) were carried in total by all types of transport. The number of carried passengers dropped by 19.4 million (15.3 percent) compared to the same period of previous year. This decrease was mainly due to 17.6 million passengers (14.2 percent) decline in road transport.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, the carried freight by all types of transport decreased by 764.1 thousand (6.9 percent), while the number of passengers increased by 18.6 million (60.6 percent) compared to the previous quarter.
At the end of 2021, revenue from all types of transport reached MNT 1.4 trillion, showing a decrease of MNT 112.5 billion (7.5 percent) compared to the same period of previous year, which was mainly due to MNT 150.5 billion (26.7 percent) decrease in revenue of the road transport. In the fourth quarter of 2021, revenue from all types of transport reached MNT 358.4 billion, increased by MNT 7.2 billion (2.1 percent) compared to the previous quarter.
Source: National Statistics Office
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Mongolia’s covid-19 daily cases exceed 3,000 www.news.mn

Mongolia recorded 3119 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, exceeding the 3,000 mark for the first time since September 2021, bringing the national tally to 417,557.
The latest confirmed cases were all locally transmitted, and more than half of them were detected in the national capital Ulaanbaatar, the hardest-hit area by the virus and home to over half of the country’s population of 3.4 million.
Meanwhile, three more related deaths were reported in the past day, and the country’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 2,092.
Since the beginning of this year, daily COVID-19 infections have significantly increased across the country due to New Year celebrations and the Omicron variant.
The Omicron cases currently account for at least 70 percent of new daily infections in the country, said Ts.Bilegtsaikhan, director of the National Center for Communicable Diseases, urging the public to follow all relevant health guidelines.
So far, 75 percent of the total population has received two COVID-19 vaccine doses, while over million people aged over 18 have received a third dose.
In addition, 50 thousand Mongolians have received a fourth dose, which the country started to administer from 7 January on a voluntary basis.
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Iron ore price back above $130 as China pledges support www.mining.com

Iron ore led gains among industrial metals Wednesday as China vows to use more monetary policy tools to spur the economy, brightening the outlook for raw materials demand.
Futures in Singapore climbed over 3% to more than $130 a tonne. Dalian iron ore jumped nearly 5%, while benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China were changing hands for $131.23 a tonne during morning trading, up 2.8% compared to Tuesday’s closing, according to Fastmarkets MB.
“Expectations of easing from the People’s Bank of China while bracing for tighter US monetary policy will spur traders to punt on rates-sensitive assets such as commodities and bonds,” Hong Hao, head of research at BOCOM International, wrote in a research note.
China, the world’s biggest buyer of metals, has been mired in a property market slump, credit stress and repeated virus outbreaks. In response, the central bank this week cut its policy interest rate for the first time in almost two years, signaling the beginning of an easing cycle.
“There’s a trend of strengthening the macro policies to stabilize the economy amid downward pressure on the real-estate market,” Huatai Futures said in a note.
Singapore iron ore price
Top steel-producing region Tangshan announced plans for winter curbs on Tuesday, Mysteel reported, citing local government documents.
According to Mysteel’s own survey, the capacity utilization rate for blast furnaces in the city will be lowered to 63% from 78% when 16 more furnaces shut from January 30 to February 20 and from March 3-13, affecting capacity of about 60,000 tonnes a day.
“The resumption of production at steel mills may have to wait until after the Lunar New Year holidays, which could have an impact on the supply of steel,” Huatai said.
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Railway construction in western and eastern region to be intensified www.montsame.mn

At its regular meeting on January 19, the Cabinet instructed 'Mongolian Railway' state-owned shareholding company to carry out the construction work of the cross-country railways in western and eastern region under the build-transfer-operate type of concession contract, reports Minister of Road and Transport L.Khaltar.
In accordance with the Government's action program for 2020-2024 and the ‘New Revival Policy’, the resolution to intensify the construction work of the railway has been approved.
As for the railway in the western region, it will stretch 1200 km in route Artssuuri-Nariinsukhait, Shiveekhuren. The railway in the eastern region is planned to be constructed with length of 420 km in route Choibalsan-Khuut-Bichigt. The project will be realized by the 'Mongolian Railway' company in cooperation with foreign and domestic investors and mining license holders.
With the implementation of the railway projects, the total length of railroad in Mongolia will stretch 4700 km, which means that it will be extended by 2700 km.
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New head coach of Mongolian football team arrives www.montsame.mn

Newly-appointed head coach of the Mongolian national football team Otsuka Ichiro arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia yesterday.
Former head coach Shuichi Mase resigned and returned home in late 2021 due to health concerns.
As part of the cooperation between the Mongolian Football Federation and the Japan Football Association, Otsuka Ichiro, 57, has been selected. Thus, he will serve as the coach of the team on a one-year contract.
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Procurements for projects scheduled to begin in 2022 to be sped up www.montsame.mn

At the Cabinet’s regular meeting on January 19, Minister of Finance B.Javkhlan gave a progress report on the government procurements for projects and actions scheduled to begin in 2022 with state budget funding.
Bids have been announced for 140 or 19.5 percent of a total of 717 projects and actions and bids for eight projects and actions are in their final stages. Deadlines for 134 bids are not over.
Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene ordered general budget governors that bids should be announced for all projects by March 1.
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Herders vs. Voles: The Battle for Mongolia’s Grasslands www.globalpressjournal.com

UGIINUUR, ARKHANGAI PROVINCE, MONGOLIA — The endless prairie has become a colander, peppered with what look like golf holes. Small gray rodents dart in and out, growing more numerous as late autumn sunshine warms the Mongolian steppe in the country’s central Khangai region.
Munkh-Erdene Baasanjav, a herder for 30 years, drills a hole into a raised mound and puts his hand inside to confirm his fears: a nest of thick grass. After removing the material, he pumps 60 liters of water into the hole, an environmentally friendly method of freezing the creatures out.
“When I was a child, there were rodents in some places, but now they are bustling everywhere like dust rising,” he says.
The pests are Brandt’s voles, one of the fastest reproducing mammals in the world. Female voles can give birth three times a year, up to 11 offspring each time. Just one of these rodents, smaller than a man’s hand, can eat 34 grams (1 ounce) of grass per day and stockpile 9 kilograms (20 pounds) of hay for winter.
Rising temperatures and overgrazing in Mongolia have fueled a dramatic increase in the vole population, by making soil conditions more favorable for nesting. The infestation threatens one-third of the country’s grasslands (38.6 million hectares, or 149,000 square miles), according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, leaving less food for livestock. The burrow holes also pose a hazard, leading horses and people to sprain their ankles or break bones. In response, herders and government rangers are working to reduce the vole population without harming other animals.
Enkhbold Nanj, a doctor of biological sciences at the Plant Protection Research Institute, a national organization that studies Mongolia’s grasslands and pests, says it’s normal to have 100 voles per hectare, but now some areas have up to 2,000. Estimates put their total population at over a billion.
“It’s too much,” he says. “It turns the soil over.”
Mongolia’s grasslands are state owned, while livestock are privately owned. A mainstay of the economy, the livestock sector accounts for more than 10% of the country’s gross domestic product and 23% of its labor force. Herders raise horses, cattle, sheep, goats and camels, and earn money by selling dairy products, meat and hides.
Since the country’s shift to a market economy, the number of livestock has nearly tripled, from 25 million in 1990 to nearly 70 million in 2020. The resulting overgrazing has caused soil deterioration on 78% of its grasslands, according to the Mongolian National Federation of Pasture User Group, a self-governing association of more than 80,000 members working to develop pasture management policies.
Dr. Tseveendorj Dalkhaa, head of the Rodent Research Laboratory at the Plant Protection Research Institute, says that humans must accept responsibility for disrupting the ecosystem by hunting or driving out the vole’s natural predators, such as foxes.
“If an animal exists in nature in a balanced way, it will not cause any harm,” he says. “But voles are said to be harmful when the right balance is lost.”
The average temperature in Mongolia has risen more than 2 degrees Celsius (more than 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1939. When combined with overgrazing, the resulting dry, warm soil has created a favorable environment for voles to multiply, says Munkhnasan Tsevegmed, a pasture protection and restoration specialist at the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry.
Before 2003, Enkhbold says Mongolians used pesticides to protect pastures, but these chemical methods have been discontinued due to their toxic environmental impacts.
Traditional extermination methods are far more labor-intensive. Since 2019, the government has provided a daily bonus of 2,000 Mongolian togrogs (70 cents) to herders and 20,000 togrogs ($7) to unemployed people who pour water into burrows, scatter rice contaminated with vole-killing bacteria and provide shelter for birds of prey.
These organized efforts have happened on 15% of the affected region so far, Munkhnasan says, which is not enough to overtake the vole’s reproductive success nor address the root causes of the infestation.
Enkhtur Badam-Ochir, a 41-year-old herder from Ugiinuur soum, or district, says that when she weighed a 1-year-old sheep to sell five years ago, it weighed 21 kilograms (46 pounds). Today, she says, the same sheep would not weigh more than 18 kilograms (40 pounds).
“The voles eat all the savory and nutritious grass,” Enkhtur says. “Therefore, animals do not fatten up.”
Both local and national levels of government are focused on tackling the vole problem. While province governors adjust pasture usage plans by consulting local herders and considering annual plant yields, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry works to regulate land use and protection nationally. This includes a Law on Livestock Tax, effective July 2021, that uses revenue to fund more pest-control efforts and rehabilitate the country’s grasslands.
“The most affordable, effective and long-term measure to regulate excessive multiplication of voles is to reduce overgrazing and allow vegetation to regrow,” Munkhnasan says.
The number of livestock needs to reflect the size of the pasture, and the economic turnover of livestock should accelerate, he says. And herders should have fewer animals of better quality, rather than many animals of poor quality.
Although they recognize the problems of overgrazing, many Mongolians can’t afford to thin their herds.
“We supply all our needs with livestock, and the price of raw materials is not enough, so we don’t want to reduce the number of livestock,” says Munkhtsetseg Tudev, a resident of Ugiinuur soum. Any less livestock, she says, “is not enough to live on.”
Odonchimeg Batsukh is a Global Press Journal reporter based in Mongolia.
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Meeting held on preparations for Mongolia-U.S. direct flight www.montsame.mn

Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Civil Aviation Authority, MIAT and the Embassy of Mongolia in the United States held an online meeting yesterday in preparation for a direct flight between Mongolia and the United States.
During the meeting, they exchanged views and information on the progress of the work and further steps to be taken.
The meeting was attended by Mongolia’s Ambassador to the U.S. U.Batbayar, Director of the Department of Americas, Middle East and Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs A.Anand, Executive Director of MIAT Mongolian Airlines B.Munkhtamir, Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority S.Munkhnasan and other relevant officials.
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