SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has provided Mongolia with some US$300,000 worth of coronavirus diagnostic kits as part of a project to create and share a reserve of medical supplies among countries in the region to respond jointly to pandemics like the coronavirus, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

The two sides held a ceremony in Ulaanbaatar to mark the delivery of the COVID-19 kits, attended by South Korean Ambassador to Mongolia Lee Yeo-hong and Mongolian Health Minister Sereejav Enkhbold, the ministry said.

The provision of the test kits came as a trial run of establishing a multinational reserve of medical supplies to respond to future health emergencies, a proposal Seoul made to its Northeast Asian neighbors in May.

"At the delivery ceremony, the ambassador hoped that the pilot operation of the joint reserve scheme through this assistance will serve as a stepping stone for the substantive development of the Northeast Asia Conference on Health Security," the ministry said.

Enkhbold thanked the South Korean government for the provision, noting that Seoul's efforts for regional cross-border health security cooperation will be of substantive help to his country amid the pandemic, according to the ministry.

South Korea made the proposal at a session of the Northeast Asia Conference on Health Security -- a forum launched late last year at President Moon Jae-in's suggestion to foster joint efforts to handle pandemics and other challenges.

Today marks the 200th day since the formation of Mongolia’s new government. Mr. Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai was appointed as the Prime Minister of Mongolia on January 27 this year. Then, the Government was fully formed as members of his cabinet took an oath of office to the Parliament on January 29. Afterward, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene presented four key objectives of his Cabinet and started working accordingly.

Due to the pandemic, countries around the globe faced the worst social and economic crisis in 100 years. In his remarks during the Parliament’s plenary session on January 29, the Prime Minister mentioned what researchers said about the global economy soaring after the pandemic. Emphasizing the need for Mongolia to begin preparations early to capitalize on and leverage the recovery, he undertook to join forces with wealth creators and investors to achieve the goal. Therefore, the very first step was to protect the businesses that stopped operating and were on the verge of closing down. At its regular meeting on February 17, the Cabinet approved the ‘MNT 10 trillion Comprehensive Plan for Health Protection and Economic Recovery’. The plan included issuing 3-year loans totaling MNT 2 trillion to small and medium sized enterprises at a 3 percent interest rate, involving youth in a 2-month skills training program, and stepping up the construction of Youth I, II, and III apartment complexes and issuing affordable mortgage loans using MNT 3 trillion. Moreover, in the plan, MNT 2 trillion was earmarked for the implementation of projects and programs of high strategic importance, MNT 500 billion for supporting agricultural production as well as the incomes and livelihoods of herders, and more for increasing the Bank of Mongolia’s annual repo financing from MNT 1 trillion to MNT 2 trillion.

As of today, MNT 3.4 trillion has been used for the plan. Specifically, 3 percent interest rate loans totaling MNT 1.8 trillion were given to 54.5 thousand businesses to support employment, MNT 635 billion was used for repo financing, and MNT 320 billion was loaned to support agriculture. MNT 599 billion mortgage loans were also issued. The successful implementation of the plan so far helped keep 130 thousand jobs and save 225 thousand others. Thanks to the MNT 10 trillion plan, Mongolia’s economic growth that was -5.3 percent in 2020 has improved to 6.3 percent with the expectation to reach 6.9 percent by the end of the year.

Economists have found through research that the economic growth would have been -2.4 percent without the launch of the vaccination program and the MNT 10 trillion plan or 1.6 percent without the MNT 10 trillion plan.

In the first half of this year, the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) made a profit of MNT 1.5 billion for the first time in 30 years. This high yield was mainly due to bond trading activity, which reached MNT 119.6 billion, 6.5 times higher than the same period of the previous year.

The total value of the Mongolian stock market reached MNT 3.8 trillion in the first half of 2021, which is a record high, showing an increase of 52.1 percent compared to the previous year. The TOP 20 index increased by 107 percent compared to the same period of the last year and reached 33,509 units, while market capitalization increased by 75 percent, reaching MNT 2.9 trillion.

From the 50 or so brokerage companies operating in Mongolia and contributing to the stock market, Ard Securities led in secondary market trading facilitation with MNT 160.4 billion or 64 percent of the market, BDsec facilitated MNT 19.8 billion or 8 percent, Standard Investment JSC facilitated MNT 15.4 billion or 6 percent, Golomt Capital facilitated MNT 8.7 billion or 4 percent, and Bumbat-Altai facilitated MNT 8.4 billion or 3 percent of the market respectively. For the first time, the efforts of all brokerage companies working together to develop the country’s stock market, which made a profit of MNT1.5 billion, were not in vain.

Thus, it is essential to note that the prosperity of the stock market in Mongolia is gaining momentum and, as a result, is beginning to benefit the people. At the same time, it is believed that the growing number of people interested in the market will contribute to the further development of the sector.

Source: ARD Financial Group

On August 16, Head of the Operative Team at the Emergency Commission of the Capital City R.Chingis reported that ‘Responsibility Agreements’ have been signed with libraries and cinemas, ensuring preparations for the resumption of operations.

Per the request received from sports federations to organize competitions and tournaments, the Emergency Commission of the Capital City made the decision to allow sports competitions and tournaments to be organized outdoors. Alongside adhering to social distancing and infection prevention guidelines, such events are to have no spectators following the signing of ‘Responsibility Agreements’ with the federations. As of currently, events are currently being organized by the federations of football, archery, and traditional wrestling.

Facebook says it has banned the Taliban and all content supporting it from its platforms as it considers the group to be a terrorist organisation.

The company says it has a dedicated team of Afghan experts to monitor and remove content linked to the group.

For years, the Taliban has used social media to spread its messages.

Its rapid takeover of Afghanistan raises fresh challenges for technology firms on how to deal with content related to the group.

"The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law and we have banned them from our services under our Dangerous Organization policies. This means we remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them," a Facebook spokesperson told the BBC.

"We also have a dedicated team of Afghanistan experts, who are native Dari and Pashto speakers and have knowledge of local context, helping to identify and alert us to emerging issues on the platform," they added.

The social media giant said it does not make decisions about the recognition of national governments but instead follows the "authority of the international community".

Facebook highlighted that the policy applies to all of its platforms including its flagship social media network, Instagram and WhatsApp.

However, there are reports that the Taliban is using WhatsApp to communicate.

Facebook told the BBC that it would take action if it found accounts on the app to be linked to the group.

Rival social media platforms have also come under scrutiny over how they handle Taliban-related content.

Spokesmen have used Twitter to update their hundreds of thousands of followers, as the organisation retook control of Afghanistan.

In response to BBC questions about the Taliban's use of Twitter, a company spokesperson highlighted policies against violent organisations and hateful conduct.

According to its rules, Twitter does not allow groups that promote terrorism or violence against civilians.

Alphabet's YouTube did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment on its policies in respect to the Taliban.

Representatives from 51 nations have confirmed their plans to participate in the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) that is set to kick off on September 2 in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok.

“So far, 51 countries have confirmed, but there is still time,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev said.

The envoy added that the previous forum had welcomed a record number of international participants, as delegates from 65 countries had attended the event.

Trutnev added that guests were requested to come alone due to the current social-distancing situation related to the coronavirus pandemic.

“That almost halves the number of participants – from 8,000 recorded two years ago to 4,000 now,” he said.

The official expressed hope that the forum will be successful, since “the principal participants, such as heads of companies, government bodies and countries of the Asia-Pacific region will attend the event.”

The three-day economic forum, taking place on September 2-4, is expected to welcome its high-level guests both in person and online.

New York (CNN Business)Used car prices may finally be peaking.

Prices shot up like a rocket earlier this year, soaring 30% between March and June according to the consumer price index, the federal government's main inflation barometer. That was by far the steepest three-month increase in those prices, according to government data that goes back nearly 70 years.

Before the recent run-up in used car prices, which started last fall, the biggest 3-month rise in prices was only a 12% jump in 1974.

But prices edged up only 0.2% in July, and gauges from the industry have raised hopes that the prices are at least leveling off if not about to start a modest decline.

Another potentially positive sign for car buyers: Wholesale prices for used cars — what dealers pay at auto auctions — are already moving lower.

"Wholesale prices look like they peaked eight weeks ago, and have been moving down since then," said David Paris, senior manager of market insight for JD Power. Typically retail prices follow wholesale prices with that kind of time lag, he said. "The vehicles being sold at dealerships today were acquired on average five to six weeks ago."

But that might not immediately lower the prices that customers pay.

In this wild car market, dealers have depended less on wholesale purchases to fill their used car lots, buying an increasing number of cars directly from owners. Some dealers are actually advertising to buy rather than sell cars, and robocalls offering to buy cars have started to annoy people on their cell phones.

Also, demand for used cars remains strong. That could keep prices from slipping dramatically, even if wholesale prices start coming down.

"In a situation where there is still lot of demand, I think used retail prices have the potential to hold up better than wholesale," said Paris.

Cooling off

Used car prices may be reaching their peak, because they can soar only so high before they become unreasonable for customers.

The car market is gonzo. Here's what to do if you have to buy one anyway

The car market is gonzo. Here's what to do if you have to buy one anyway

The gap between new and used car prices narrowed during the recent run-up in used car prices, so the used car prices are likely reaching near their natural ceiling, said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights with Edmunds. At some point people who are car shopping will decide to buy new rather than used, even if they have to wait for the new car they want, she said.

"It comes to the point where it just doesn't make sense to buy used," she said. "We don't expect the prices to correct and go back to 2019 levels, but we expect them to become more normal and cool off in the second half of the year."

Used car buying typically slows in August, as tax refund checks (and stimulus checks this year) have been spent. And some folks who might have been shopping for a car in anticipation of returning to the office in September may have delayed a purchase as they wait to see when they they will in fact need to return.

Why prices soared

The price increases earlier this year were driven by a number of factors. No. 1 is that lesson from the first day of Econ 101: supply and demand. Limited inventories of products coupled with strong demand equals upward price pressure. And both those things have occurred since last fall in the used car market.

First, the supply constraints: When travel ground to a near halt in the early months of the pandemic, car rental companies, typically a major source of the supply of used cars, dumped much of their fleets in order to raise cash to survive. Despite the rebound in demand for rental cars, the shortage of computer chips needed to build new cars has restricted the supply of new vehicles they could buy, so they are holding onto the cars now in their fleets. That has choked supplies. Through the first seven months of this year, the number of used cars sold at auction was 26% lower than the same period of 2019, ahead of the recession.

The limited supplies of new cars has driven up those prices as well, and pushed some car buyers to buy used rather than new, increasing demand. And various government stimulus programs during the pandemic has also put money in potential car buyers' pockets, helping to create greater demand for both new and used cars, as has low interest rates keeping car payments low.

But some of these factors are waning — new car production, while still limited, is picking up and stimulus checks have mostly already been issued. So some of the upward pressure on pricing may be waning.

That doesn't mean it'll be easy to find a cheap used car. In fact, it might be tougher even if the average increase is leveling out.

"There aren't a lot of cheap used vehicles on lots any more. Those cars -- the 10-year old used car in decent shape - were snapped up in the spring," said Caldwell. "So the available vehicles are relatively new, and fairly expensive. So it's going to remain hard to buy inexpensive used cars."

Japan rebounded faster than expected from its pandemic-driven slump in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

Official figures show the world's third-largest economy grew at twice the rate forecast in April to June.

But analysts have warned growth will be modest this quarter after a state of emergency was reimposed to ease a spike in Covid-19 infections.

Meanwhile, new data also shows that the economic recovery of its larger neighbour, China, is losing steam.

Preliminary data show Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by an annualised 1.3% in the second quarter of the year. That came after a 3.7% slump in the previous three months.

The latest figures were far better than the expected gain of 0.7% and came as spending by individuals and businesses bounced back from the initial impact of the coronavirus.

However, Japan's recovery remains much slower than has been seen in other advanced economies like the US, which recorded a 6.5% jump in GDP for the second quarter of the year.

Japan's relatively weak rebound highlights how the government has struggled to contain the pandemic.

"I have very mixed feelings about this GDP result," Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said after the data was released.

"Our priority is to prevent the spread of the virus. It's very bad for the economy for this situation to drag on," he added.

In 2020, Japan's economy shrank by more than 4.8% over the year, its first contraction in more than a decade.

The country's economy emerged from last year's initial blow from the pandemic thanks to robust exports, although the slow rollout of its vaccination programme and a series of state of emergency measures have hurt consumption.

At the same time a spike in cases of the Delta variant in other parts of Asia has further disrupted supply chains for some Japanese manufacturers. This could hurt factory output and threaten the already fragile recovery.

In Tokyo, Japan's benchmark Nikkei share index closed 1.6% lower on Monday, its third session of losses in a row.

Meanwhile, in China factory output and retail sales both rose more slowly than expected last month, compared to a year ago.

It is the latest sign that the recovery of the world's second-largest economy is losing steam as export growth cools and new Covid-19 outbreaks disrupt business.

Minister of Education and Science L.Enkh-Amgalan, Member of the Parliament B.Saranchimeg, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to Mongolia Mohinder Pratap Singh attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Center for Excellence in IT, Communication and Outsourcing.

As part of a project being jointly implemented with India, the 10-floor center that will create jobs for over 700 people will be built on an 864 square meter plot. The center is scheduled to open in 2022.

The Minister of Education and Science said the outsourcing center will be of great significance in having the youth specialize in artificial intelligence, robotics, automation, and information technology to achieve the government’s goal of digitizing government services and introducing e-governance to reduce bureaucracy and corruption.

Ambassador M.P.Singh expressed hope that the joint project will contribute to the Digital Mongolia program, underscoring that the IT, communication, and outsourcing center will train specialists in 16 fields.

The project will open up opportunities for Mongolian youth to specialize in Information and Communication Technology to become skilled workers at home and enter the global labor market, acquire the latest technological knowledge and skills, and earn from outsourcing.

Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene got acquainted with operations of ‘Tavan Tolgoi Tulsh’ LLC refined coal briquette plant today, August 16.

The plant’s authority introduced the factory’s operation and plans. He said that it is estimated that 171 thousand households and more than 1,000 businesses will use 600 thousand tons of coal briquettes in the capital city in 2021-2022. It is planned to produce a total of 600 thousand tons of briquettes in its western and eastern regions’ factories, plus opening more sales points. “We are also working to reduce dust in the industrial environment.”

The plant currently has 13 thousand tons of coal briquettes’ reserves. With the completion of equipment modernization and repair works, the plant will be operating at its full capacity from next month, producing 6,000 tons of briquettes per day and building up reserves.

Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene advised, "We are working in a difficult situation of the pandemic. For Tavan Tolgoi Tulsh, it has more than 2,000 employees. If the infection control regime is lost, there will be risk to hinder normal operations of the plant; thus, the infection control regime should be strictly adhered.”

It was also decided to discuss some issues related to the company's financing and the normal operation of the plant at this week's Cabinet meeting.