The President of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh met with the UN Secretary-General António Guterres on September 20 at the UN headquarters.

President U. Khurelsukh noted that he personally participates in the 76th session of the UN General Assembly on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Mongolia’s accession to the UN, and expressed his gratitude to the UN for its consistent support and active cooperation in achieving Mongolia’s development goals. The President also reaffirmed his commitment to work closely with the United Nations to achieve sustainable development goals, promote youth participation, mitigate climate change and pursue his peacekeeping initiatives.

Secretary-General António Guterres noted that he highly appreciates the fact that Mongolia is not only stable politically and economically, but also as a peace-loving country takes an active part in solving regional and international problems as well as Mongolia’s contribution to UN peacekeeping. The Secretary-General further welcomed Mongolia’s significant contribution to enhancing security in the Northeast Asia and commended the commitment to increase the national pledge to contribute to the global fight against climate change.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

H.E. Mrs. B. Battsetseg, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mongolia met with H.E. Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait, on September 19, 2021, at the margins of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly.

The Ministers emphasized that last year marked the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and expressed satisfaction with the current level of bilateral relations and cooperation.

Mongolian side informed the current status of the construction of the Burn Center and renovation of the Undurkhaan Airport, which is being implemented with the grant aid from the Government of Kuwait, and that the construction work is planned to be completed within this year. The parties also noted that the feasibility study for the Undurkhaan-Norovlin-Dadal paved road project is being developed.

Minister B. Battsetseg informed the Kuwaiti side that the Government of Mongolia approved the “Vision-2050” long-term development policy document and identified projects to be implemented jointly with partner countries. The two sides agreed to explore opportunities for further cooperation.

The Ministers underscored the successful cooperation between the Intergovernmental Commissions between Mongolia and Kuwait. Mongolian side expressed its intention to hold the Second Meeting of the Commission in 2022 in Ulaanbaatar.

The two sides expressed their desire to bring the bilateral relations and cooperation to a new level and agreed to work out a joint plan of action to be executed for the next five years.

Minister B. Battsetseg has invited H.E. Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah to visit Mongolia at a time of his convenience.

source: mfa.gov.mn

Mongolia‘s liberalised and competitive telecoms market is by a number of operators which have steadily eroded the dominance of the incumbent telco, Mongolia Telecom, over the years.

Fixed-line penetration increased steadily in the years to 2018 as more people took on fixed-line access for voice calls and to access copper-based broadband services. However, the number of lines fell in 2019, and again and more sharply in 2020, partly through the economic consequences of the pandemic (GDP fell 5.3% in 2020, year-on-year) and partly due to the migration to the mobile platform and to VoIP.

Fixed broadband penetration remains low, mainly due to a limited number of fixed lines and the dominance of the mobile platform. The attraction of fixed broadband as a preferred access where it is available is waning as the mobile networks are upgraded with greater capacity and capabilities.

The growing popularity of mobile broadband continues to underpin overall broadband and telecom sector growth, with Mongolia’s market very much being dominated by mobile services, supported by widely available LTE. This will largely determine and shape the future direction of Mongolia’s developing digital economy.

BuddeComm notes that the outbreak of the pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally. During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure.

Overall progress towards 5G may be postponed or slowed down in some countries.

On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services and devices is under pressure from the financial effect of large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. However, the crucial nature of telecom services, both for general communication as well as a tool for home-working, will offset such pressures. In many markets the net effect should be a steady though reduced increased in subscriber growth.

Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the crisis as it develops, these have been acknowledged in the industry forecasts contained in this report.

The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions.

Key Developments:

Regulator enables online licensing application process as part of an ‘e-nation’ transition;

KT Corp completes sale of its 40% stake in Telecom Mongolia to the state;

MobiCom expands reach of LTE-A services, trials 5G;

Report update includes an assessment of the global impact of Covid-19 on the telecoms sector, the regulator’s market reports for 2019, telcos’ operating and financial data to July 2021, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Deliveries of pipeline gas from Russia to China in January-August 2021 jumped 2.7 times year on year to 4.73 million tons. According to Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom, China’s gas demand has “stunning” growth potential.

In the first eight months of the year, China spent some $837.32 million on Russian gas, which is a 98.94% increase compared to the corresponding period last year, the Chinese General Customs Administration said on Monday.

According to the ministry, Turkmenistan continues to be China’s top supplier of natural gas, delivering 15.95 million tons of gas for $4.2 billion this year. Russia is in second place in terms of supply volume, followed by Kazakhstan with 3.17 million tons for $723 million, and Myanmar with 2.01 million tons for $922 million.

China’s leading supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in January-August was Australia (20.52 million tons for $8.47 billion), followed by Qatar, Malaysia, and United States. Russia ranked sixth in LNG imports, with 2.67 million tons for $1.23 billion.

According to Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, gas consumption in China is growing faster than in any other country of the Asia-Pacific region.

“The Chinese market is the most dynamic and fastest in terms of growth. Every year it simply stuns us with the growth rate of consumption and 2021 is no exception. In the first half of the year, the volume of natural gas consumption in China increased by 15.5%, and the volume of imports by 23.8%. This means that by the end of 2021 the forecast estimates of consumption in China will amount to 360 billion cubic meters and the volume of imports will be 160 billion cubic meters,” Miller said last week.

He predicts China's natural gas imports will reach 300 billion cubic meters per year by 2035 and sees gas consumption in the Asia-Pacific region growing by 1.5 trillion cubic meters by 2040, with 60% of the volume falling on imports.

“For the Asia-Pacific region, it is very important to ensure that the energy balance of these countries is environmentally friendly. This means that natural gas should play a significant role in it because it is natural gas that is the cleanest, most reliable and accessible natural resource. Most importantly, in terms of development of technological consumption, it is difficult to find an alternative to it,” Miller stressed.

Meanwhile, China has also imported $25.1 billion worth of Russian oil in January-August 2021, which is a 30.4% increase year-on-year. However, despite the growth of imports in value terms, the physical volume of crude imported from Russia to China decreased by 7.3%, to 52.92 million tons. Still, Russia retains its position as China’s second-biggest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia, which sold 58.49 million tons to China in January-August for $27.26 billion.

South African coal producer Exxaro Resources Ltd. is turning its attention to minerals such as copper and manganese as mining companies look to tap the green revolution.

Other assets Exxaro plans to invest in include bauxite, a raw material used to make aluminum that ends up in electric cars and solar panels, according to a markets day presentation. It’s part of a plan to supply key materials needed to power the world’s cleaner future and energy transition, it said.

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Some of the largest natural-resource companies are moving into or expanding in commodities tied to more environmentally friendly sectors such as rechargeable batteries, or diversifying away from the dirtiest fuels. Exxaro currently gets more than 90% of its earnings from coal and is the biggest supplier to the South African power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.

The company’s new minerals business could generate the equivalent of 50% of the core profit from coal within 10 years, according to the presentation.

“We now we find ourselves in the context of climate change, and technological changes, which are having a huge impact on the business models of companies generally,” said Mzila Mthenjane, Exxaro’s head of stakeholder affairs. “We have made our commitment to making the transition to a low carbon future along with the rest of the world.”

Manganese, used in batteries, presents an attractive opportunity in Exxaro’s “own backyard,” it said, highlighting an expected global deficit next decade. It also said it may look to consolidate small emerging copper producers.

(By Khuleko Siwele, with assistance from Felix Njini)

International Investment Bank (IIB) became a participant in a USD 120 million (EUR 101.5 million in equivalent) syndicated loan to Khan Bank – Mongolia’s leading commercial bank. Arranged by the Dutch development institution FMO, this facility has other major European development financial institutions, such as France’s Proparco and Germany’s DEG, as well as Atlantic Forfeiting Company Ltd. as its members.

The borrower intends to allocate the funds to increase lending volumes for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), finance the bank’s green loan programs, and strengthen its funding stability. Being the largest commercial bank in Mongolia, Khan Bank has a strategically significant position in Mongolia’s financial sector. It serves nearly 80% of Mongolian households by providing access to financial services for individual customers, SMEs and corporate customers, reaching even the most distant rural areas. The syndicate loan will strengthen the leading position of Khan Bank, enabling it to provide much needed support for the Mongolian vital SME sector and promote green lending in the country.

IIB and Khan Bank have a long-standing mutually beneficial strategic partnership since 2013. The two banks actively cooperate in such fields as joint participation in syndicated lending, organization of dedicated credit lines, including SME’s funding, support of external turnover between Mongolia and the IIB member states.

Since 2012, IIB investments in the interest of Mongolia have exceeded an equivalent of USD 300 million (equivalent of EUR 254 million) with financing extended to such strategically important sectors as SME, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, metallurgy, etc. In addition, several projects totalling over 50 million euro are currently in the pipeline at various stages of assessment.

Georgy Potapov, Deputy Chairperson of the IIB Management Board in charge of Lending and Investment comments: “IIB is pleased to help its long-standing trustworthy partner Khan Bank in its efforts to enhance financial inclusion in Mongolia, support SMEs, and give further impetus to green financing in the country. Sustainability is at the core of development finance and promoting it in our member states is one of our primary tasks”.

Global life sciences company Cytiva will invest some $200 million in the Asia-Pacific region to expand production, establish world-class facilities and foster local talent to better serve customers in China and elsewhere.

The exercise is part of a $1.5 billion investment plan of Cytiva, a former biopharmaceutical arm under conglomerate GE. The goal is to consolidate foothold and enhance supply chain reliance for the fast-developing industry.

A core pillar of the strategy includes tripling the capacity of bioprocessing single-use consumables in China, the company's Asia-Pacific headquarters and the second-largest single-country market after the United States.

Yu Lihua, general manager of Cytiva China, the local subsidiary, said supply chain challenges have been plaguing the biopharmaceutical sector, so Cytiva's latest round of investment should help improve the situation.

"Our continuous investment will serve as a powerful engine to boost Cytiva to provide Chinese customers with more diverse technical support, help China realize 'smart manufacturing', and contribute to China's local R&D and capacity-building," she said.

Building on an existing partnership with Wego Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a leading healthcare technology supplier in China, Cytiva is looking to add two production lines by the year-end, and an additional six scheduled for the third quarter of 2022.

The expansion will add 1,300 square meters to the manufacturing area of the ISO Class 7 cleanroom and also include a 1,200-sq-m warehouse, which could further save lead time and increase flexibility for customers.

In addition to attending local needs, the expanded production is designed to serve market demand from India, Ireland, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, strengthening China's manufacturing might and enhancing global supply chain resilience, she noted.

In addition to the increased capacity, Cytiva brings new products－100-liter to 1,000-liter Xcellerex mixer bags－to the expanded facility's manufacturing portfolio.

The new products will incorporate Fortem technology－Cytiva's signature film that can withstand strenuous conditions and suit biopharma manufacturing well.

The global single-use bioprocessing market size is expected to reach $33 billion by 2027, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 12.8 percent over the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research.

The consultancy said the Asia-Pacific region is expected to be the fastest-growing market, with China and India at the forefront, thanks to the continuous expansion of biomanufacturing capabilities in the region.

Cytiva is also completing an R&D-to-production loop in Shanghai, where one of the two R&D centers for single-use consumables worldwide－the other one is in Massachusetts in the United States－stands to turn locally inspired innovative solutions into tangible manufactured products.

It is also doubling down on a talent training system dubbed Fast Trak, looking to increase the venue, personnel and financial input to construct Asia's largest biopharma candidate hub and intelligent manufacturing showroom.

In a survey compiled by Cytiva and Longitude, a Financial Times group company, earlier this year, industry experts identified five key factors to assess the resilience of the life sciences sector. They were supply chain, talent pool, R&D ecosystem, manufacturing agility and government policy.

The weakest area was the talent pool, with industry leaders scrambling to cast their net wide for the right skilled workers, especially in light of the COVID-19 blow.

"We synthesize so many materials, and therefore our suppliers are critical," said Jerry Cacia, head of global technical development at pharma company Roche in the study.

"We want to make sure that there are strong partnerships across the ecosystem, not just between the companies producing medicines, but also with their suppliers and the individuals that develop the technologies required to produce the medicines."

Delegation led by Speaker of the State Great Khural G.Zandanshatar is paying a working visit to San Francisco, the U.S. The Speaker visited the Asia Foundation headquarter and held a meeting with the Asia Foundation President and CEO David Arnold.

The Asia Foundation President David Arnold expressed his delight with the meeting and highlighted the attention that the foundation is paying in the direction of expanding the scope of projects and programs in Asia, as well as increasing the number of countries that support and donate to the foundation’s activities.

The meeting was attended by MPs T.Aubakir, Kh.Bulgantuya, J.Munkhbat, B.Saranchimeg, Ts.Tserenpuntsag, the Asia Foundation's Senior Vice President of Programs Gordon Hein, Vice President of Global Communications Amy Ovalle and other officials. The sides discussed a wide range of issues, including Mongolia's democratic achievements and challenges, reports Press and Public Relations Department of the State Great Khural.

The Asia Foundation has been working to strengthen democracy, reduce corruption, advance climate change mitigation effort, and increase gender equality in Mongolia since 1993.

Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have adopted a roadmap for boosting mutual trade and investment cooperation for the next five years, Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development announced.

“The pandemic has demonstrated that we can overcome the crisis only by means of scaling up cooperation in three key areas – trade and investment, digital economy, and sustainable development,” the ministry’s press service reported, citing Deputy Minister Vladimir Ilyichev.

According to the official, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, investments in joint Russia-ASEAN projects saw more than a threefold increase in 2020 compared to 2019, reaching $8.8 billion.

Ilyichev said that both ASEAN member states and Russia need to modernize their respective economic models to ensure more efficient cooperation. Also, he stressed that Russia sees great potential in joint work on climate-related projects under the plan.

According to the ministry, cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), of which Russia is a member state, and ASEAN will also see changes in the near future.

“The sides (ASEAN and EAEU) agreed to draft a number of initiatives in the areas of the development of the single-window systems, e-trade, intellectual property protection, as well as the use of sanitary and phytosanitary measures,” the ministry said.

At the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia’s Vladivostok earlier this month, a proposal was unveiled to establish a free-trade zone between ASEAN and the EAEU in order to boost regional cooperation further.