Today marks the 40th anniversary of the first space flight by a Mongolian. On this day in 1981, Hero of Mongolian People’s Republic, Hero of USSR Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa along with twice Hero of USSR, Hero of Mongolian People’s Republic, Soviet cosmonaut V.A.Dzhanibekov flew into space on the Soyuz 39 spacecraft, landing back on Earth at 7.42 pm on March 30.

With this event, Mongolia became the 10th country in the world to send off a cosmonaut into space, and Mongolian cosmonaut J.Gurragchaa became the 2nd person in Asia, and the 101st person in the world to fly into space.

While in orbit, 25 types of 36 experiments and research works were carried out in the fields of medical care and biology, physics and technology, and remote sensing, which laid out the foundations for the development of space science in Mongolia.

Let me invite you to the Czech-Mongolian Business Forum ONLINE, one of the virtual business forums organized by the Czech Chamber of Commerce. The forum will also include online B2B negotiations between Czech and Mongolian companies. The event is organized in cooperation with the Czech Embassy in Ulaanbaatar and Mongolian Chamber of Commerce. Participation is free of charge for Mongolian companies.

The event will take place in the period from March 31st, from 9 a.m. (CET) to April 1st, to 4 p.m. (CET). During this time, it will be possible to watch the pre-recorded speeches of the representatives of chambers (speakers), presentations in pdf and hold a B2B meetings with selected Czech partners.

The Czech-Mongolian Business Forum is primarily focused on companies doing business in the fields of construction, agriculture, energy, medical equipments, water and waste management and transportation

Instructions for registration:

1) You can register for the event via the link: https://live.eventtia.com/en/czechmongolianbusinessforum, choose the green option (Mongolian participants), fill in the registration form including the company profile option and contact information – telephone etc. and send. After the registration, you will receive the confirmation e-mail. Afterwards, wait until our approval.

2) After the approval of your registration from our side (you will get a notification email that you are approved), click on the webpage on „AFTER THE REGISTRATION AND VALIDATION CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE BUSINESS FORUM PAGE AND PLAN YOUR B2B MEETINGS" underneath the introductory page. After entering your registration mail, you will receive to your email a numeric code which is needed to insert. Therefore, you will be able to enter the forum webpage.

3) On this page, you can also immediately start planning your B2B negotiations (for the exact time slots) with Czech partners online. The list of registered companies with their company profiles is given on the page. We recommend that you visit the online page on an ongoing basis, due to the continuous reporting of participants and the planning of your B2B meetings. You can schedule the time of your meetings for the interval from March 31st, from 9 a.m., (CET) to April 1st, until 4 p.m. (CET)

Introductory speeches (uploaded videos) and thematic presentations (uploaded in pdf) will be recorded on the online platform and will be made accessible. They will be available according to the forum agenda and afterwards can be launched at any time during the forum.

Please note that the capacity of the event is limited.

Registration can be done no later than March 30th, 2021.

In case of your questions, we are at your disposal.

Kind regards

Ing. Petr Talafús

Deputy Director

Czech Chamber of Commerce

Florentinum (Reception A), Na Florenci 2116/15, 110 00 Prague 1

Phone: +420 266 721 499

talafus@komora.cz | www.komora.cz

HK_CR_-logo_CZ-logo_zakladni

SíLA / RESPEKT / NEZáVISLOST

Jiří Brodsky

Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Mongolia

Some 204,129 people received the first dose of coronavirus vaccine as of March 21, the Ministry of Health reported.

This means every fifth adult in Ulaanbaatar was vaccinated.

Coronavirus vaccination is ongoing in Mongolia.

The Ministry of Health aims to vaccinate from 10,000 to 20,000 people every day.

Mongolia received the first batch of 464,400 doses of vaccine that would suffice for 232,200 people.

As part of a push to internationalize the yuan, China has been testing its digital currency on trading platforms around the world where it can be freely traded with other fiat currencies.

Beijing is also setting up a legal framework for central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, with global financial regulators.

“You have central bank digital currencies developed on various platforms such as enterprise blockchain Corda or Hyperledger, and the digital yuan is technically not even on a blockchain,” Michael Sung, co-director of the Fintech Research Center at Fudan University, said as quoted by CoinDesk. “That is a very balkanized ecosystem.”

Experts say that for the digital yuan to achieve global adoption, China would need to work with trading partners or regional financial hubs. That will help to have a platform where the digital yuan is technically, legally and financially interoperable with other countries’ digital currencies.

One such platform is Inthanon-LionRock (Note), which is a central bank digital currency project for cross-border payments initiated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Bank of Thailand.

Eight Thai banks and two Hong Kong banks, including HSBC, participated in the Note project and tested the feasibility of digital currency-based transactions between Thailand and Hong Kong. The project aims to help central banks with cross-border fund transfers, international trade settlement and capital market transactions.

“The Note project is very emblematic of China’s approach to internationalize the digital yuan,” said Tavni Ratna, CEO and founder of blockchain and digital currency think tank Policy 4.0. “China might want to negotiate with one central bank at a time and come up with a mechanism for everything ranging from a legal framework to exchange rate between the two currencies.”

China has been steadily expanding tests of its sovereign digital currency, officially known as the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP). Beijing plans to get it ready in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics. The digital yuan could transform cross-border trade due to its ability to process payments and handle foreign exchange transactions simultaneously, experts say.

TOKYO (Reuters) - International spectators will not be allowed to enter Japan for this summer’s Olympic Games amid public concerns over coronavirus, organisers said on Saturday, crushing many fans’ hopes and setting the stage for a drastically scaled-back event.

Some 600,000 Olympic tickets purchased by overseas residents will be refunded, as will another 300,000 Paralympic tickets, Toshiro Muto, the chief executive of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, told a news conference.

He declined to say how much the refunds would cost.

The Olympic Games were postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the outbreak has chilled public opinion toward the event, both organisers and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga have vowed to press ahead with the Games, now scheduled to take place on July 23-Aug. 8, with the Paralympics on Aug. 24-Sept. 5.

The decision on international spectators will “ensure safe and secure Games for all participants and the Japanese public,” Tokyo 2020 organisers said in a statement following five-way talks that included the head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, and the Tokyo governor.

“People who are involved in the Olympics in some way may be allowed to enter the country, whereas regular visitors will not be able to,” Tokyo 2020’s Muto said.

He said costs for hotel cancellations would not be covered. Organisers may also consider cutting the number of staff members who will participate in the Games.

Bach said he shared the disappointment of Olympic fans as well as the families and friends of athletes who had planned to travel to Tokyo.

“For this I’m truly sorry. We know that this is a great sacrifice for everybody. We have said from the very beginning of this pandemic that it will require sacrifices,” Bach said in a statement.

But he said safety had to come first, adding, “I know that our Japanese partners and friends did not reach this conclusion lightly”.

“Together with them, the IOC’s top priority was, is and remains to organise safe Olympic and Paralympic Games for everyone,” Bach said.

Media polls have shown that a majority of the Japanese public are wary about letting in international spectators to watch the Games as the country grapples with the tail-end of a third wave of the pandemic.

STRIPPED-DOWN GAMES

A stripped-down Games means the government will not get the tourism boom it had long counted on. Japan has grown increasingly reliant on foreign tourists, particularly from Asia, to bolster its weak domestic economy.

Like other countries, it has seen tourism unravel with the pandemic and its hotels and restaurants have been hit hard.

Saturday’s decision did not cover local spectators. Muto said organisers will decide next month on caps for spectators in venues.

“It’s very unfortunate,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said of the decision on international spectators, speaking to reporters after the meeting.

But she added that the conclusion was “unavoidable” given that the main priority for holding a successful Games would be the health of the athletes and the Japanese public.

Kyodo news service earlier reported that organisers were leaning towards barring overseas volunteers from helping at the Games.

Sources told Reuters earlier this month that the Japanese government had concluded it would not be able to allow spectators from abroad.

Reporting by Sakura Murakami; Editing by William Mallard, David Dolan and Frances Kerry

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga met with Ambassador of Russia to Mongolia Iskander Azizov.

Battulga said the estaliblished diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Russia will turn 100 years this year.

Mongolia has capacity for production of coronavirus vaccine, President Battulga said and asked the Ambassador to consider possibility of production of Russia's coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V in Mongolia and to pass the offer of cooperation to the Kremlin.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $175 million in funding for an Asian Development Bank (ADB) program to support the Government of Mongolia’s efforts to improve rangeland management and reduce climate vulnerability of its rural economy.

GCF funding, which consists of a $130 million highly concessional loan and a $45 million grant, will supplement a $560 million Aimags and Soums Green Regional Development Investment Program.

The program is co-financed by ADB, the European Investment Bank, the European Union, and the private sector to provide a transformative model on green territorial development and urban–rural linkages where aimags (province) and soums (subprovince) become anchors of green agribusinesses that promote sustainable, resilient, and high-carbon sequestration management in Mongolia’s rangeland. This is the second GCF funding for ADB in Mongolia.

“We are very thankful for GCF’s support and co-financing. Our partnership with GCF reinforces ADB’s strong commitment to climate change mitigation and adaptation,” said ADB Director General for East Asia James Lynch. “The program introduces an integrated solution to Mongolia’s multidimensional challenges by balancing its territorial development, reducing migration to Ulaanbaatar, and regenerating natural resources for high-carbon sequestration.”

The program will promote low-carbon, climate-resilient territorial development and green economic diversification by supporting sustainable livestock sector management and reverse rangeland degradation. It will also strengthen local agribusiness value chains to link sustainable herding with low-carbon and climate-resilient business development, and support vulnerable herder groups by empowering them in sustainable rangeland management practice and creating green jobs to overcome the economic downturn related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). With an initial focus on Mongolia’s western aimags, the program promotes climate finance and private sector investment mechanisms that are designed for replicability across the country.

GCF approved the funding at its 28th board meeting. GCF, based in Songdo, Republic of Korea, is a global fund created to help developing countries address the challenge of climate change. GCF has approved total funding of $648 million for 11 ADB projects since 2015.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

Source: ADB Mongolia Resident Mission

It was reported at today’s press briefing of the Ministry of Health that 170 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected after performing 9,520 tests nationwide in the past 24 hours. This is the highest number of cases detected in a single day since the first domestic coronavirus transmission in the country. The sources of 10 cases are under investigation.

As of today, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Mongolia stands at 4,976. In the past 24 hours, 126 people have been discharged from the hospital, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,677.

1,365 people are currently undergoing COVID-19 treatment, of which 1,191 are in mild, 159 are in serious, 12 are in critical and three are in very critical health condition.

Within a decade, the world may face a massive shortfall of what’s arguably the most critical metal for global economies: copper.

The copper industry needs to spend upwards of $100 billion to close what could be an annual supply deficit of 4.7 million metric tons by 2030 as the clean power and transport sectors take off, according to estimates from CRU Group. The potential shortfall could reach 10 million tons if no mines get built, according to commodities trader Trafigura Group. Closing such a gap would require building the equivalent of eight projects the size of BHP Group’s giant Escondida in Chile, the world’s largest copper mine.

Used in everything from wiring and pipes to batteries and motors, copper is both an economic bellwether and a key ingredient in the push toward renewable power and electric vehicles. If producers fail to address the deficit, prices will keep rising and present a challenge to the Biden administration and other world leaders counting on a worldwide energy transition to fight climate change.

Higher copper prices may lead to more recycling and substitution with cheaper alternatives such as aluminum, which could ease shortfalls.

To be sure, copper projects are in the pipeline. But producers are wary of repeating oversupply mistakes of past cycles by accelerating plans at a time that mines are getting a lot trickier and pricier to build — one reason why copper prices are near decade highs at above $4 a pound.

“Increasing technical complexity and approval delays could lead to a dearth of shovel-ready projects in 2025-30,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Grant Sporre and Andrew Cosgrove wrote this week in a report.

New projects are being developed that may ease copper deficits between 2022 and 2025, according to the BI analysts. Stronger-for-longer prices should make some costlier projects more profitable, while expansions of existing operations normally mean less onerous approval processes than new sites. Still, there’s also considerable execution risk, the BI analysts wrote, particularly in the 2022-23 period.

All eyes are on Indonesia this year, where Freeport-McMoRan Inc. is developing its underground mine at Grasberg. The ramp-up, which has been slower than expected, is set to be done by year end, easing global supplies that have been disrupted by the pandemic. Behind Grasberg is the Kamoa-Kakula project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s scheduled to come online in July, according to co-owner Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.

“After China’s State Reserve Bureau mopped up all of the excess copper from 2020’s Covid-19 slowdown, the market now looks fundamentally tight, with our analysis pointing to at least two years of deficits. With these shortages, alongside investor interest in copper’s decarbonization credentials, we think a price above $8,500 a ton is well supported.”

Grant Sporre, BI metals & mining analyst

Anglo American Plc’s Quellaveco project in Peru may start producing next year as long as community relations don’t sour, as they have done elsewhere from time to time in the South American country.

The ability of producers to meet growing supply demands will also depend on Southern Copper Corp., which wants to tap more of the industry’s biggest reserves to almost double output by 2028.

A chunk of next decade’s new supply could come from the Reko Diq deposit in Pakistan, which has been fraught with political and legal uncertainties, as well as Tampakan in the Philippines.

Companies are having to engage communities and governments much earlier in project development these days given rising social and environmental awareness and expectations. Partly as a result, the average lead time from first discovery to first metal has increased by four years from previous cycles to almost 14 years, according to BI.

“Ironically, a keener focus on the environmental impact of mining activities has left the industry unable to respond quickly to market deficits through new supply, despite the price being well above an incentive price,” Sporre and Cosgrove wrote.

The irony isn’t likely lost on the top brass of the world’s biggest copper producers. Freeport Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson told an industry gathering last week that even if copper soared to $10 a pound tomorrow, it would take his company seven or eight years to get new production to the market.

(By James Attwood, with assistance from Andy Hoffman)

Mongolian Business Database NGO (MBD) is pleased to circulate our 1000th issue of "MBD Daily News Bulletin"! Launched in 2017 the Bulletin reaches 7800 active business leaders, professionals, diplomatic missions and international organizations based in Mongolia and abroad. The subscribers' number is constantly expanding.

"MBD Daily News Bulletin" is a permanent function of MBD. We aim to be the "Bridge of your business with Mongolia". Our B2B portal site, www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com, continues to lead Google's "Mongolia Business" search list with active visitors from approximately 100 countries.

MBD's key mission is to promote and develop "Doing business with Mongolia"-related B2B facilitations. We are pleased to report many successful export, import and distribution cases involving Mongolian, Russian, Czech Republic, Scotland (UK), and Pakistan businesses. These joint projects were typically initiated by MBD and then nurtured and pushed forward through our diligent efforts.

My partners and I extend best wishes for your business success as well as good health on the occasion of our 1000th "MDB Daily News Bulletin" issue!

BOARD OF MBD

SER OD Ichinkhorloo

Founder & CEO