How a U.S. aid agency and the government of Mongolia worked to avoid a water crisis for Ulaanbaatar’s residents www.hks.harvard.edu

Fatema Z. Sumar, executive director of the Harvard Center for International Development (CID) and HKS adjunct lecturer in public policy, was awarded the Friendship Medal by H.E. Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, president of Mongolia, in a ceremony at the Mongolian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on September 7. The honor recognizes Sumar’s leadership of the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s $350 million Mongolia Water Compact, which helped avert a looming water crisis in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, and expanded water access for more than two million residents. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is an independent U.S. foreign aid agency that Congress created in 2004 to reduce global poverty. Before joining HKS, Sumar oversaw the agency’s compact operations. We spoke with her about what made the Mongolia compact unique, why water access is a critical development issue, and what it took to complete the project.

Q: What does it mean to you to be recognized by the Mongolian government for this work? 
Alongside my former MCC colleagues Jonathan Brooks and Kumar Ranganathan, I am deeply humbled to be recognized by the president of Mongolia and very proud of what both countries accomplished together. Mongolia has held a special place in my heart since I first visited in 2015 to help get the compact off the ground. Since then, I made many trips to the country (including in the dead of winter), built relationships across the Mongolian government and civil society, and saw firsthand how urgently Ulaanbaatar needed a long-term solution to its water challenges. For me, the Friendship Medal represents not only what we built, but also the ensuing trust and friendship between our countries and communities. 

This recognition is really about a much larger collective effort. More than a decade of work went into reaching this point, and so many people across Mongolia and the United States worked tirelessly to get it done. I want to especially acknowledge and congratulate the MCC Mongolia and the Millennium Challenge Account Mongolia teams on a job well done. 

Q: You served as vice president of compact operations at MCC, overseeing infrastructure and technical work. What makes the Mongolia Water Compact distinct? 
MCC’s mission is to reduce poverty through economic growth. What made the work in Mongolia truly distinct is how comprehensively it addressed water scarcity in the capital. Ulaanbaatar is home to nearly half of Mongolia’s population, so the compact took a comprehensive view, including consultations with those directly affected. The compact did not just build a new water plant. It created an integrated system that includes new groundwater wells, an advanced water purification plant, and Mongolia’s first wastewater recycling plant, alongside policy and institutional reform and workforce development.

The compact is also an example of what I like to call “development diplomacy” in practice. In addition to the technical analysis of the design of development investments, the compact required extensive diplomacy to bring all parties on board. During my time working on the compact, first from 2015 to 2018 as MCC’s deputy vice president and then again from 2021 to 2022 as MCC’s vice president, I spent considerable time with my team in both Washington, D.C., and Ulaanbaatar aligning policy priorities, timelines, and budgets, and working through numerous challenges. Complex investments like this succeed when technical and development expertise are paired with diplomacy, political support, trust, and a shared mission that can endure across changes in governments and leadership.

Q: This compact was designed to head off a water crisis as Ulaanbaatar’s population was rapidly growing. What was the compact trying to achieve?
Ulaanbaatar’s population had grown rapidly as people moved from rural areas to the capital. Many formerly nomadic families settled in the city’s sprawling ger districts, which are peri-urban communities where residents lacked reliable access to basic services, including piped water. Nearly half of Mongolia’s population and approximately three-quarters of its economic activity were concentrated in the capital, placing enormous pressure on its limited groundwater resources. When we were designing the compact, demand for water was projected to exceed supply as early as 2021.

This was not simply a water problem. It was a binding constraint on Mongolia’s economic growth and a serious threat to people’s quality of life, particularly for communities already facing limited access. The compact was designed to head off that crisis by creating a secure, sustainable water supply for residential, commercial, and industrial users. The goal was to meet the city’s needs for decades to come while creating a stronger foundation for jobs, investment, and economic growth.

Q: The compact ultimately expanded Ulaanbaatar’s water supply by nearly 80% and is expected to benefit more than 2.4 million people. What made that outcome possible?
It began with identifying the problem correctly. Using MCC’s evidence-based model, MCC and the Mongolian government conducted a joint constraints analysis to identify the binding constraints to private investment and economic growth. The analysis identified costly access to water and sanitation in productive sectors and poor communities as one of Mongolia’s greatest constraints to growth. That gave both countries a rigorous, shared understanding of the underlying problem and allowed us to design the compact around it rather than starting with a predetermined solution.

From there, the MCC and the Mongolian government jointly developed an integrated solution by expanding the city’s groundwater supply, purifying that water for municipal use, and recycling wastewater so that thermal power plants and other industrial users would no longer rely as heavily on scarce drinking water. 

Strong Mongolian ownership was also critical. The government of Mongolia contributed nearly $112 million and worked side by side with MCC throughout the compact. That commitment, combined with years of technical work, problem-solving, and trust, allowed an enormously complex program to be completed on time and on budget despite major external shocks, including the pandemic and supply chain disruptions stemming from the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran.

Q: Beyond the physical infrastructure—new groundwater wells, a purification plant, a wastewater recycling system—the compact included policy reform and workforce development. Why does that matter?
You can build a state-of-the-art plant, but if local institutions cannot operate it, finance it, regulate it, and maintain public confidence in it, the development impact will not last. Infrastructure is only sustainable when the people and institutions responsible for it have the capacity and resources to keep it working.

That is why the compact also invested in water-sector governance, utility management, financial sustainability, public awareness, and the professionals responsible for operating the new systems.

During construction, more than 8,200 jobs were created, 92% of them held by Mongolians, and 187 Mongolian engineers and technical staff received specialized training. We were not just building physical infrastructure. We were also building the human and institutional capacity needed to sustain it for decades.

Q: Are there lessons from your experience that HKS students can take away as they study how to make development projects succeed?
The first lesson (and my MPP1 students of the beta cohort in Policy Design and Delivery all know this by now) is to identify the issue correctly. Policymakers often rush toward a preferred solution before adequately defining and getting the problem right. If you get problem identification wrong, even a well-designed and well-funded intervention may solve the wrong problem and create a whole host of unintended consequences.

Second, good policy design is necessary but not sufficient. You need to understand who has the authority to act, who bears the costs, who benefits, whose voice is missing, and what incentives will keep people committed over time. That means getting out of the conference room, listening to people, consulting civil society, and building coalitions beyond the most obvious technical counterparts. Politics matters to the outcome of development. Diplomacy matters. And trust is everything.  

Finally, development takes time. Governments change, priorities shift, and problems inevitably emerge. Policymakers need technical knowledge, but they also need political savviness, humility, emotional intelligence, persistence, and the ability to build bridges across different cultures. The Mongolia compact succeeded because people in both countries stayed committed to a common purpose for more than a decade. 

As I tell my students, it is very easy for policymakers and politicians to destroy something. Building public goods that last and serve the public interest is much harder and requires extraordinary skill. That’s our collective goal here at HKS: to build for the future of humanity.

“Prime Minister must not violate the law himself” says DP caucus www.gogo.mn

The Democratic Party (DP) caucus in the Parliament discussed the draft 2027 Budget of Mongolia and announced its position on the proposed budget and the Government's actions.

Citing what it described as repeated violations of the law by the ruling party, the DP caucus called for accountability and demanded that Prime Minister N.Uchral immediately submit a motion of confidence in his Government to Parliament for consideration.

O.Tsogtgerel, Chairman of the DP caucus, said: 

“There is an established international parliamentary practice whereby, when a policy conflict arises, a motion of confidence is put forward. If confidence is affirmed, the policy proceeds; if confidence is not secured, there is no need to deliberate on the accompanying legislation. The public can see the current state of the Cabinet.”

MP G.Ochirbat said the Government was including budget figures without sufficient analysis from budget experts, researchers, or auditors. He also raised concerns over issues involving the Prime Minister and a private school, as well as a matter involving MNT 50 billion that had emerged that morning.

“Our party will demand a detailed breakdown and work with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance to establish the facts. The materials prepared by the ministries are naturally processed in Excel files. Yet when members of the Standing Committee on Petitions request this data and make it public, the response is anger, with claims that ‘they are trying to smear me using an Excel file.

The Prime Minister should not speak in such a manner. Having previously served as a member of Parliament, Speaker of Parliament, Head of the Cabinet Secretariat, and Minister of Digital Development, and now serving as Prime Minister, he has overseen the adoption of numerous budgets and laws. Yet he is now submitting a budget in violation of the law himself.

The Democratic Party maintains that, together with the public, we must put an end to such improper practices.”

EBRD marks 20th anniversary of operations in Mongolia www.ebrd.com

-EBRD marks 20 years of investment and business support activity in Mongolia
-US$ 3.2 billion of financing committed to date through 172 projects
-Bank is the largest international financial institution lender to Mongolia’s private sector

This week, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) celebrates the 20th anniversary of its operations in Mongolia and the establishment of its Resident Office in Ulaanbaatar.

Over the past two decades, the EBRD has financed 172 projects worth a total of US$ 3.2 billion (€2.8 billion) in various sectors of the Bank’s most easterly investee economy. Ninety per cent of the Bank’s loans in the country have been extended to private companies, making the EBRD the largest lender to Mongolia’s private sector among the international financial institutions.

While the Bank’s cooperation with Oyu Tolgoi, the world's fourth-largest copper mine, which accounts for close to 30 per cent of national gross domestic product (GDP), remains a landmark investment, the EBRD has worked to expand its footprint outside the extractive industries and across Mongolia's private corporate sector. From automotive retail and heavy equipment to consumer goods and food security, sustainable real estate and green finance for businesses and households, the EBRD has played a key role in the development of the country's economy.

Over the years the Bank has built close relationships with a number of homegrown corporate groups, such as MCS, MSM, Tavan Bogd and Shunkhlai Holding, supporting their sustainable growth, the adoption of green technologies and inclusive employment practices. This market segment accounts for 43 per cent (US$ 570 million, or €494 million) of the Bank’s current portfolio in the country.

By working with Mongolia’s business conglomerates and smaller private-sector clients, the EBRD is not only offering much-needed working capital financing, but also stimulating innovation and the deployment of new technologies. For example, the Bank extended its first sustainability-linked loan in Mongolia to MCS Coca-Cola to fund a modern bottling line, an e-truck fleet and the achievement of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging targets. It supported the expansion of a convenience-store franchise model, creating hundreds of jobs (GS25), and introduced Mongolia's first FSSC 22000 food-safety certification (Ulaanbaatar Flour).

For many years the EBRD provided targeted support for the cashmere production chain (Mongolia manufactures around 40 per cent of the world's raw cashmere), spanning herder pasture management guidance, spinning capacity expansion, and a joint environmental impact assessment with leading producer Gobi and the Sustainable Fibre Alliance. Many of these projects have been supported by the EBRD’s Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC) programme, which is designed to transfer technology in the area of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Since providing its first loan to XacBank in 2006, the EBRD has significantly expanded its work with local financial institutions, which currently account for 31 per cent of its portfolio in Mongolia (US$ 411 million, or €356 million). Over 20 years, the EBRD's Mongolian banking sector activity has grown from small, single-purpose microfinance transactions into a core, multi-instrument channel for reaching the country's private small and medium-sized (SME) enterprises.

The roster of financial intermediaries includes both major lenders, such as Khan Bank, XacBank and most recently Golomt Bank, as well as microfinance institutions, such as Transcapital and VisionFund. The size of transactions has also scaled up from smaller deals of less than US$1 million (€0.8 million) decades ago to the largest EBRD-to-bank financing package in Mongolia's history (US$170 million, or €146 million, to Khan Bank).

The range of instruments has expanded from straightforward senior loans to blended concessional packages, risk-sharing guarantees, trade facilitation deals and syndicated structures that mobilise international capital alongside the EBRD's own. There are several flagship programmes in place: Women in Business, Youth in Business and the Green Economy Financing Facility. They help to convert partner banks’ balance sheets into an effective mechanism for deepening the EBRD's reach across Mongolia's small and micro business sector.

Sustainable infrastructure makes up the largest part of the EBRD’s portfolio in the country, at 26 per cent (worth US$ 337 million, or €292 million). It includes standalone projects, such as the construction of a 220 km-long transmission line and a 250-bed cardiovascular hospital in Darkhan, which will be become the first EDGE-certified (a green building certification system) facility of its type in the country. Under the EBRD Green Cities flagship programme, Ulaanbaatar's Green City Action addresses various challenges, from access to water, heating and affordable housing to the construction of another cardiovascular hospital in Ulaanbaatar.

Co-financing and technical support provided by many donors (such as the European Union (EU), the Green Climate Fund, Japan, Taipei China, the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative and others) have been instrumental to the successful implementation of the Bank’s projects in Mongolia. These funds are helping to de-risk and upscale private-sector lending, reducing the cost and risk of extending finance to smaller, higher-risk borrowers.

Sustainable mining remains an important part of the Bank’s portfolio in Mongolia. The EBRD has recently provided an US$ 80 million (€69 million) working-capital loan to Oyu Tolgoi, a client since 2015. It is part of a US$ 350 million (€301 million) package co-arranged with the International Finance Corporation (alongside ANZ, HSBC, Khan Bank and XacBank) to support the mine's underground development, advanced mining technologies and sustainability programme.

Since its launch, the EBRD's Advice for Small Businesses programme has supported nearly 1,000 enterprises across Mongolia with tailored advisory projects delivered by local and international consultants. The programme has also helped almost 6,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises benefit from specialised business training and mentoring, while a further 15,500 have accessed a range of business development and networking opportunities.

Beyond direct support for businesses, the programme has strengthened the capacity of hundreds of local consultants, helping to build a sustainable local business advisory market in Mongolia. The programme is supported by the EU, Japan and Korea through the EBRD Small Business Impact Fund and the Women Entrepreneurs Financing Initiative.

Chinese Analyst Downplays Mongolia’s Leverage Over Russia-China Gas Pipeline www.chinaglobalsouth.com

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev said early this month that President Vladimir Putin had renamed the long-planned Power of Siberia 2 pipeline the “Power of Baikal.” The proposed 2,600-kilometer route would carry up to 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year from the Yamal and West Siberian fields through Mongolia to China, exceeding the existing Power of Siberia line’s 38 bcm capacity.

The announcement revived debate in China over whether Mongolia could one day exploit its position as a transit country to restrict Russian gas flows.

Writing in the Chinese news and commentary outlet Guancha, Zhang Chenyi, an international relations scholar affiliated with Moscow State University’s Faculty of Global Studies, argued that Mongolia’s dependence on its two giant neighbors limits that risk.

“Mongolia may hold the valve in a geographical sense, but it would struggle to turn that valve into a strategic weapon against China at low cost,” Zhang said.

A Route Closer to China’s Main Gas Markets

Mongolian route offers China advantages over an earlier proposal to send West Siberian gas directly into Xinjiang through the Altai Mountains.

Xinjiang already produces substantial volumes of gas and serves as the entry point for pipeline supplies from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Adding another 50 billion cubic meters there would concentrate more imports in western China and require the gas to travel thousands of kilometers to major northern and eastern markets.

A pipeline entering through Inner Mongolia would arrive closer to major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong. It could also connect with the Shaanxi-Beijing pipeline system and China’s national gas grid. The route avoids the difficult terrain and protected areas along the Altai border, reducing construction challenges.

Mongolia’s Valve Comes With Constraints
Mongolia recorded approximately $27.1 billion in foreign trade in 2025. China accounted for $18.7 billion, or 69.2 percent, of that trade and purchased 89.4 percent of Mongolian exports. Coal and copper concentrate together generated more than four-fifths of the country’s export earnings.

Mongolia also depends on Russia for around 97 percent of its petroleum-product imports. Fuel shortages would directly affect its mines and the trucks carrying coal to China.

“Mongolia has thus formed a pronounced two-way dependence: its energy supply to the north is closely tied to Russia, and its export market to the south is closely tied to China,” Zhang wrote. “This structure makes it very difficult for Mongolia to choose one side and bear the cost of a prolonged confrontation with the other.”

Zhang also dismissed the prospect of Russia using its fuel leverage over Mongolia to engineer a cutoff. Moscow needs a new long-term buyer for its gas after losing much of its European market. China is the only nearby customer capable of absorbing 50 bcm a year. A deliberate interruption would cut Russian export revenue and risk leaving production stranded.

Supplier Concentration Is the Longer-Term Risk
For Zhang, China’s more consequential concern is supply concentration. The existing Power of Siberia pipeline, a planned 10 bcm Far Eastern route and the new 50 bcm project would bring Russian pipeline capacity to China close to 100 bcm a year. Further expansion could push it above that level.

Large volumes of inexpensive Russian gas could gradually displace Central Asian supplies, seaborne LNG and higher-cost domestic production, which helps explain Beijing’s caution over the project. 

by Rudy Lu
September 15, 2026

Mongolia, Rio Tinto agree to amend Oyu Tolgoi contract, increasing Mongolia’s returns by MNT 13 trillion www.gogo.mn

The Government of Mongolia and Rio Tinto Group have reached an agreement to amend the Oyu Tolgoi project’s Shareholders’ Agreement, originally established 17 years ago, which is expected to increase Mongolia’s future returns from the project by approximately MNT 13 trillion.

The two sides also agreed that dividend distributions from the Oyu Tolgoi project will begin in 2027.

Prime Minister N.Uchral announced on social media that the amendments include measures to reduce project costs. The total cost reduction is estimated at approximately MNT 30 trillion, including about MNT 8 trillion through lower management fees and the elimination of overlapping costs, and approximately MNT 22 trillion through lower interest rates on shareholder loans.

Representatives of the Mongolian side also said the parties had reached a mutual agreement to begin dividend distributions in 2027 and increase Mongolia’s returns from the project.

Following the negotiations, Rio Tinto Chief Executive Simon Trott highlighted the progress made in cooperation between the two sides.

“Today, we have made significant changes to the shareholders’ agreement. We have reduced the interest rate on shareholder loans and lowered management service fees. This is a historic moment and represents very important progress. 

Rio Tinto’s commitment to working with Mongolia on dividend distributions to Oyu Tolgoi shareholders and increasing Mongolia’s returns, adding that teams from both sides would continue working to reach and finalize a unified solution”, he said. 

Trade Surplus Grows 3.6-Fold to USD 6.0 Billion www.montsame.mn

MONTSAME National News Agency, in cooperation with MICC Mongolia International Capital Corporation, is delivering a weekly overview of domestic and international capital markets and economic developments to its readers.

Weekly Capital Market and Economic Review (September 7–13, 2026)

MONGOLIAN STOCK EXCHANGE

A total of 13.7 million securities worth MNT 6.81 billion were traded on the Mongolian Stock Exchange last week. By trading value, Khan Bank JSC, MGL Aqua JSC, Tavantolgoi JSC, APU JSC, and the Future Tech Innovation mutual fund were the most actively traded securities. One block trade was carried out during the period: 4.5 million shares of MGL Aqua JSC (MGLA) changed hands at MNT 276.18 apiece, worth a total of MNT 1.2 billion.

Overall market sentiment was weak last week, with the TOP-20 and FTI indices both declining. The MSE A index, however, edged higher, pointing to pockets of positive sentiment. The FTI index's 1.23% drop reflected relatively weak performance among small- and mid-cap stocks. Although the market's broader trend was slightly negative, some sectors and stocks retained room for growth, and investors continued to show steady interest in large, financially sound companies.

INDEX

UNIT

CHANGE

TOP 20 Index

63,054.98

-0.56%

MSE A Index

24,470.87

+0.17%

MSE B Index

15,254.90

-0.06%

FTI

1,053.71

-1.24%

COMMERCIAL BANKS' FOREIGN DEBT GROWS 2.6-FOLD IN 3 YEARS

The foreign debt of Mongolia's commercial banks reached USD 4.4 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2026, up USD 1.3 billion, or 41.2%, from a year earlier. Compared with the second quarter of 2023, commercial banks' foreign debt has grown 2.6-fold, now accounting for 11.4% of the country's total external debt.

By structure, foreign direct investment and intercompany lending account for the largest share of total external debt, at USD 17.6 billion, or 45.0%, followed by the government at USD 8.4 billion, or 21.5%, other sectors at USD 7.6 billion, or 19.3%, and commercial banks at USD 4.4 billion, or 11.4%. While banks' foreign debt rose 41.2%, the government's foreign debt fell 3.2%, foreign direct investment and intercompany lending fell 1.9%, and the Bank of Mongolia's foreign debt fell 29.5%.

Rising foreign funding gives banks more diversified sources of lending capital, but it also increases their exposure to exchange-rate movements, the cost of foreign financing, and refinancing risk. Going forward, attention should therefore be paid not only to the overall level of debt but also to what types of loans and investments this funding is being channeled into and to how soundly banks are managing their foreign-currency risk.

At the same time, the government's domestic debt rose 60.2% to reach MNT 2.0 trillion, reflecting the government's growing reliance on domestic sources to finance its spending.

TAVANTOLGOI OVERTAKES KHAN BANK IN MARKET VALUE

Valuations of major companies on the Mongolian Stock Exchange rose last week, lifting the number of companies with a market capitalization above MNT 3 trillion to two. Shares of Tavantolgoi JSC (TTL) climbed 37.7% over the week, pushing its market value to MNT 3.2 trillion and briefly overtaking Khan Bank JSC (KHAN) as the exchange's most valuable listed company. TTL's share price then fell 5.4% last Friday, while KHAN's rose 2.6%, returning Khan Bank to the top of the market-value rankings.

Three of the five companies valued above MNT 1 trillion are banks, underscoring that the banking and mining sectors remain the main drivers of Mongolia's equity market. At the same time, while two companies have now crossed the MNT 3 trillion threshold, none is valued near MNT 2 trillion, pointing to a clear valuation gap among the exchange's largest listed companies.

According to Mongolian Stock Exchange data, a total of MNT 872.2 billion in trading was carried out between September 7 and 11. Of this, coal accounted for MNT 699.4 billion, iron ore MNT 9.2 billion, and molybdenum concentrate MNT 56.8 billion, while securities trading made up the remaining MNT 106.8 billion—showing that trading in mining commodities, not only equities, contributes substantially to the exchange's overall activity.

EXPORTS RISE 57.2%, TRADE SURPLUS WIDENS

Mongolia's exports reached USD 14.4 billion in the first eight months of 2026, up USD 5.2 billion, or 57.2%, from the same period last year. As a result, the country's foreign trade balance posted a USD 6.0 billion surplus, 3.6 times larger than a year earlier.

Mining output drove the rise in exports: exports of copper ore and concentrate grew by USD 2.8 billion, and coal exports by USD 1.9 billion. Exports of unprocessed and semi-processed gold rose by USD 255.6 million and combed cashmere by USD 97.1 million, also contributing significantly to export revenue growth.

In terms of export structure, copper ore and concentrate accounted for 43.7% and coal for 37.0% of total exports, together making up more than 80% of the total, while gold accounted for 5.6%.

China remained Mongolia's main export market, receiving USD 13.3 billion worth of goods, or 92.7% of total exports. Of goods exported to China, copper ore and concentrate made up 47.1% and coal 40.7%.

These figures show that growth in the volume and price of copper ore, concentrate, and coal exports was the main driver of Mongolia's export growth in the first eight months of 2026, with mining remaining the principal source of export revenue.

PM Uchral: Government Mobilizing All Resources for Citizens www.montsame.mn

Uchral Nyam-Osor, Prime Minister, took part in the opening of the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions' fair, themed "Social Partnership – Cooperation," where he presented the 2026 revised budget, the 2027 draft budget, and nine related decisions and policies.

The Prime Minister said the basic pension would be paid starting November 1, 2026, with the MNT 769,000 pension rising to MNT 1 million. Pensions would rise by an average of MNT 380,000. Energy tariffs would not be increased. Under the revised budget, MNT 200 billion had been allocated to the energy sector, with half (MNT 100 billion) earmarked for repairs and renovation and the remaining MNT 100 billion provided as subsidies.

The government aimed to channel MNT 3.5 trillion in dividends from state-owned enterprises into the budget to raise citizens' pensions and wages and improve people's lives. He noted that, had this not been included in the budget, the funds would otherwise have been supplied to the market through the boards of the state-owned enterprises. Under the 2026 revised budget, the salaries of civil servants would be increased by 50%.

16,000 households would be covered by the mortgage loan program. A preferential loan program to support the middle class would also be implemented. He said the government was fully mobilizing its resources for citizen-focused decisions such as raising wages and pensions and providing mortgage housing. The government's core policy was to support everyone who wants to work and build something. He noted that Mongolians had not received a single dividend payment from Oyu Tolgoi in 17 years and that the government had now officially secured a commitment to receive dividends from Oyu Tolgoi, with the dividend expected to total around MNT 3 trillion.

Tamir Enkhbaatar, President of the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions, said he considered the government's policy of increasing citizens' real income to be the right approach and noted that there remained a need to further raise wages going forward. He also expressed support for establishing specialized high schools in each region, implementing the Cambridge curriculum, and the government's housing policy.

Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod cross-border railway reaches 54% completion www.gogo.mn

Installation of the railway superstructure for the Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod cross-border railway project has officially begun, with overall construction progress reaching 54.15% as of September 14, 2026.

The project includes the installation of 32.6 km of railway superstructure. To date, 2.5 km of narrow-gauge superstructure has been installed, along with five turnouts and 2,304 reinforced concrete sleepers at three locations.

Under the project's second package, which covers the long bridge, 2,382 pile foundations, 291 intermediate piers, and 666 girders have been manufactured. Installation of 426 girders has been completed to date.

Russian customs data not updated despite EAEU trade agreement taking effect www.gogo.mn

The inaugural meeting of the Joint Committee overseeing the implementation of the Interim Trade Agreement between Mongolia and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and its member states was held to review the agreement’s implementation and identify practical challenges.

The meeting was co-chaired by J.Enkhbayar, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Development, and Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade at the Eurasian Economic Commission.

B.Lkhagvajav, President of the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI), noted that while the agreement has created new opportunities for Mongolian exporters, its implementation has revealed challenges related to tariff concessions, customs clearance, payment settlements, and data synchronization.

In particular, exporters have encountered outdated data in the Russian customs system, discrepancies in signatures on certificates of origin, and requests for additional “Form B” certificates.

Participants also noted restrictions related to veterinary and quarantine requirements affecting the export of milk and dairy products to Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, the 2nd Mongolia-Russia Regional Forum began on September 14, featuring B2B meetings that enabled business representatives from the two countries to establish direct contacts and discuss opportunities for trade, investment, and cooperation.

More than 100 companies from Mongolia and Russia participated in the meetings, highlighting new business opportunities emerging from Mongolia’s interim trade agreement with the EAEU.

The participating sides also signed memoranda of cooperation and agreed to expand bilateral business collaboration.

Molybdenum Concentrate from Erdenet Mining Corporation Sold on the Exchange for the First Time www.open.kg

On September 10, 2026, trading took place at the Mongolian Stock Exchange, where molybdenum concentrate produced at the Erdenet Enterprise was auctioned. The product, containing at least 44% molybdenum, was offered in a volume of 520 wet metric tons (WMT) and 468 dry metric tons (DMT) with a starting price of $28,317.9 per ton.

As a result of active trading, the price of the molybdenum concentrate increased by $5,450 per ton. Thus, the final transaction price amounted to $33,767.9 per ton, and the total amount of the successfully concluded deal reached $15,803,377.2.

The Mongolian Stock Exchange is actively working on expanding the range of traded goods. In this direction, new "Rules for Establishing and Complying with Trading Contract Standards for Molybdenum Concentrate" were developed and approved in 2026, as well as amendments to the general "Rules for Trading in Mineral Products." The successful results of the first trades confirmed the effectiveness of the implemented changes.