South Korea is seeking to strengthen cooperation with mineral-rich Mongolia, to lessen its reliance on China.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin visited Mongolia 28-30 August, and met his Mongolian counterpart B.Battsetseg. During Park’s visit, the two nations agreed to actively boost cooperation on global supply chain issues, especially in relation to rare earth elements.

Mongolia—located between China and Russia—is one of the top ten resource-rich countries in the world. The country is important in the context of global supply chain restructuring for South Korea.

Since Korea established diplomatic relations with Mongolia in 1990, the two countries have continuously expanded cooperation in the fields of economics, trade, and culture. The bilateral relationship was upgraded to a “strategic partnership” in 2021.

Presently, the key minerals used by South Korean enterprises such as lithium, cobalt, and graphite mostly come from China.

The move by South Korea with Mongolia is also being seen as a response to the U.S.- Inflation Reduction Act that stipulates that starting in 2023 when tax credits kick in, 40 percent of critical minerals used in car batteries must originate within the United States or from a country that it has a free trade agreement with. This percentage increases every year until 2027 when 80 percent of the critical minerals must meet the requirement.

South Korea is concerned that it won’t be able to enjoy the credits from the United States if it cannot drop its dependence on China. Moreover, the South Koreans are also worried that communist China may weaponize its supply of resources, posing a threat to Korea.

The Bank of Korea’s monthly survey statistics released on June 30 shows that South Korea’s average dependence on China for imports of core minerals such as copper, aluminum, and zinc is as high as 67 percent.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry also released a report in early August, pointing out that the dependence on imports from China for raw and intermediate materials has increased significantly in the main industry sectors such as batteries and semiconductors. Among them, the imports of two key raw materials for battery manufacturing, lithium oxide, and lithium hydroxide, reached a whopping $1.17 billion in the first half of this year, surpassing 2021’s total imports of $560 million.

According to the statistics of the Korea Trade Association in late August, Korea’s import dependence on China for car battery raw materials has been deepening in recent years, with 64.9 percent of lithium hydroxide imported from China in 2018, rising to 83.8 percent last year, and 84.4 percent from January to July this year. During the same period, cobalt import dependence on China rose from 53.1 percent in 2018 to 64 percent in 2021, then to 81 percent between January and July this year. (The Epoch Times)

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce of the Kingdom of Thailand Jurin Laksanawisit is paying an official visit to Mongolia on September 5-7 at the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia B.Battsetseg.

Within the framework of the visit, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia B.Battsetseg and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade of the Kingdom of Thailand Jurin Laksanawisit signed the ‘Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of a Joint Committee on Trade between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia and the Ministry of Commerce of the Kingdom of Thailand’, and organized the first meeting of the committee.

During the meeting, there was a broad exchange of views on the future objectives and activities of bilateral cooperation, and a discussion was held on expanding relations in the fields of economy, agriculture, tourism, technical cooperation, and logistics.

The trade turnover between the two countries has been increasing in recent years and the sides held talks on intensifying the establishment of the ‘'Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion’' and ‘'Agreement on the Mutual Promotion and Protection of Investments’' with a view to further accelerating the cooperation in trade.

A goal of increasing the bilateral trade turnover to USD 100 million and escalating the accumulated or increased investment to USD 1.5 billion by 2027 is set out in the ‘5-year plan for cooperation between Mongolia and Thailand in 2022-2027’. In this context, they exchanged views on the development of mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation based on the potential of good political relations.

The two sides reiterated their commitment to continue working closely together to further deepen their cooperation within the scope of the United Nations and other international organizations.

Foreigners who tried to cross the Mongolian border with fake visas were found and deported.

Five citizens of Nigeria, who arrived for the purpose of travel, tried to enter Mongolia at the Chinggis Khaan International Airport using fake visas.

According to the laws of Mongolia, foreign citizens who obtain and forge visas or residence permit with false documents will be denied to enter the country for 5 years.

H.E. Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, held a meeting with Odonbaatar Shijeekhuu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the UAE, to explore opportunities to strengthen trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. The meeting took place at the Ministry’s headquarters in Dubai.

During the meeting, the Minister of Economy emphasized the UAE’s commitment to solidify its economic and trade partnership with Mongolia, in fields of shared interest in a way that supports both countries’ developmental agendas as well as their sustainable economic growth.

H.E. Bin Touq said: “Mongolia is a promising market with which we aspire to increase trade and investment exchanges, especially in sectors such as tourism, aviation, logistics, agriculture and animal food trade, and food security. The partnership further aims to boost private sector cooperation between the two sides by highlighting the available opportunities in our markets, exploring new collaboration mechanisms and facilitating the exchange of expertise.”

Furthermore, H.E. reviewed the UAE’s ambitious strategy to attract talent and competencies from all vital sectors, in addition to its advanced infrastructure, attractive business environment, and the recently issued flexible legislations, as well as the incentives offered to companies to encourage FDI in the country’s promising market. The discussions also shed light on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPA) model pursued by the UAE, through which the country has signed three agreements so far, with India, Indonesia, and Israel. Through these agreements, the UAE aims to expand its partnerships to reach strategic global markets, in line with the Principles of the 50 and the UAE Centennial 2071 goals to build a highly competitive national economy based on knowledge and innovation.

The UAE is Mongolia’s number one Arab and GCC trade partner as of 2021. The non-oil trade between the two countries witnessed a 119 per cent growth in Q1 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. During this period, the UAE’s non-oil exports to Mongolia saw an 81 per cent growth, led by medical and pharmaceutical industry supplies, construction materials, and food materials such as tea, petrol, and mineral oil.

Mongolia’s Ambassador D.Gansukh met with Slovakian business representatives led by President of Slovakia-Mongolia Chamber of Commerce on September 5.

The Slovakian business delegation will visit Mongolia on September 20-27. During their visit, the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation with the Slovakia-Mongolia Chamber of Commerce, and organize bilateral meetings with relevant ministries.

The visit aims at intensifying trade and economic cooperation between the two countries and increasing ties between businessmen, and it will be an important activity to ensure the implementation of the agreement between the foreign ministries on economic cooperation, said the Ambassador.

Mongolia’s Honorary Consul to Slovakia P.Slavik attended the meeting.

President of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh will attend the General Debate of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly which will take place on September 20-26.

The 77th session of the UN General Assembly will be held under the theme 'A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges' and bring together top state officials of over 150 countries.

“The Mongolian President will deliver a statement to present the country’s position on the pressing issues of international relations, the foreign policy objectives, the socio-economic situation, and the policies to overcome the difficulties at the General Debate. He will also meet with the UN Secretary-General and heads of state and government of some countries”, said Minister of Foreign Affairs B.Battsetseg after today’s Cabinet meeting.

Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene will participate in the 7th Eastern Economic Forum to be held on September 6-8, 2022 in Vladivostok, Russian Federation.

The Eastern Economic Forum is a key international platform for intensifying trade, economic and investment cooperation in Asia and the Pacific. Mongolia has been participating in the event at the high level since 2016.

Russia's president is taking part in an international economic forum in the country's Far East.

Vladimir Putin says the event will focus on moving away from what he calls an "obsolete unipolar model."

Top officials from China's Communist Party, and the military junta in Myanmar, will also attend.

The Moscow-sponsored forum kicked off Monday.

There are delegates from about 60 countries.

Russian officials are expected to use the gathering to boost economic ties amid tough Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian Presidential Office says Li Zhanshu will attend the plenary session on Wednesday.

He's the chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee.

He would become the most senior Chinese official to visit Russia since the start of the invasion.

Analysts say it's meant to underscore Beijing's ties to Russia at a time of heightened tensions with the United States.

Putin's office also confirmed that Myanmar's military chief, Min Aung Hlaing, will also be there.

The event wraps up on Thursday.