A 5.0 magnitude earthquake has been recorded approximately 18 km northeast of Jargalant soum, Tuv aimag.

The quake struck around midnight at 0.50 am today on September 8. Residents of Tuv, Bulgan, Selenge, Darkhan-Uul, and Orkhon aimags as well as Ulaanbaatar city have reported having felt tremors, reports the National Emergency Management Agency.

The Ministry of Health reported today, September 8 that 3,677 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the past 24 hours. More specifically, 1,469 new cases were detected in the capital city, with 2,208 cases in rural regions.

As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mongolia now stands at 243,719. In the past 24 hours 3,392 patients have made recoveries.

Furthermore, six new COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 982. Currently, 19,440 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 whilst 29,639 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

Mongolia reported 3,963 new cases of COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Sept 7.

1,383 new cases were detected in the capital city, 2,580 cases in rural regions.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mongolia now stands at 240,042.

8 deaths have been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 976.

20,439 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 whilst 29,639 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

3,560 patients recovered in a day.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the local lender XacBank are contributing to the development of dairy farming and processing in Mongolia by supporting the expansion of the country’s leading dairy company Suu Milk.

In a joint transaction, XacBank will be providing a local currency loan equivalent to US$ 4.8 million to Suu Milk, while 65 per cent of the risk on the loan will be assumed by the EBRD under a risk-sharing facility signed between the two financial institutions.

The funds will be used to finance the expansion of production capacity and the renewal of Suu Milk’s transport fleet, including the acquisition of new delivery trucks serving more than 2,500 nomadic herders across Mongolia. New ice cream, dairy production and packaging equipment will widen its range of products, extend their shelf life and raise food safety standards.

These improvements will lead to significant reductions in the consumption of energy and water. Suu Milk is also committed to adapting its operational policies and practices to provide new employment opportunities for women.

Technical assistance funded by the European Union helped Suu Milk improve its accounting and financial reporting practices and enhance the firm’s marketing.

Suu Milk is the oldest dairy company in Mongolia and was founded in 1958. It sources milk supplies from 19 collection points in the country and has more than 420 employees.

In Mongolia, the EBRD works to help build a diverse economy by developing the private sector and supporting infrastructure improvements. The Bank has invested more than €1.84 billion in 116 projects in the country since it started operations there in 2006.

On September 6, the Presidium of the Citizens’ Representative Khural of the Capital City virtually convened to discuss matters such as the loan agreement for the project on sustainable roads and transport in Ulaanbaatar city.

The five-year project will be implementing measures aimed at comprehensively renewing the capital city’s streets and roads, and effectively planning the public transportation system.

With USD 115 million in total financing for the project, USD 100 million is planned to be financed through a foreign loan.

In the framework of the project, it is planned to widen the roads at Bayankhoshuu and Unur Khoroolol to four-lane roads, and turn the Narny Zam road into a four to six lane road. Furthermore, a special lane will be created for public transport, and a safe environment will be created for pedestrians and bikers. As the capital city’s Peace Avenue is currently over capacity by 3-4 times, the Narny Zam road is also planned to be extended in both directions by 4-6.9 km.

On August 2021, the Bank of Mongolia purchased 1.9 tons of precious metal, raising the BoM’s total precious metal purchase of 2021 to 12.9 tons.

The figure shows that the amount of purchased precious metal decreased by 1.8 tons compared with the same period of previous year, reports BoM.

In August, the BoM branches in Darkhan-Uul and Bayankhongor aimags bought 109.5 kg and 162.1 kg of precious metals respectively.

The average price of BoM’s purchase of 1 gram of gold was MNT 163,323.50 on August.

India is in talks with the Russian energy giant Novatek to buy a 9.9% stake in the Arctic LNG 2 project, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday citing its sources.

According to people familiar with the matter, the purchase of shares is being discussed by Indian companies Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and Petronet LNG.

India’s energy minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, said last week during Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum that “A number of new potential investments have been discussed, including Vostok Oil, Arctic LNG 2, petrochemical projects.” He added: “I am sure that in the coming months, all this will lead to a strengthening of relations between Russia and India, especially in the energy sector.”

The minister also said he sees the potential for increasing supplies of liquid hydrocarbons and gas from Russia to India.

Since 2018, Russia has been successfully shipping liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India as part of its mounting exports of energy resources to the country. Moscow has also invited New Delhi to explore potentially lucrative oil and LNG projects in the Arctic.

Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 facility on the Gydan Peninsula includes the construction of three LNG trains, with a total production capacity of 19.8 million tons per year. The project is expected to be launched in 2023.

On September 6, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a new country partnership strategy (CPS) for Mongolia covering 2021–2024 to help the country recover from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and lay resilient foundations for inclusive and sustainable growth.

ADB’s operations in Mongolia over the 4 years will focus on three strategic priorities: inclusive social development and economic opportunity; climate-resilient infrastructure; and sustainable, green, and climate-conscious development.

“ADB will build on the strong foundations of past engagement as a leading development partner, while innovating to boost the climate change response, strengthen the business environment, and ensure that the COVID-19 recovery drives lasting reforms in areas such as health and social protection,” said ADB Country Director in Mongolia Pavit Ramachandran. “It will retain flexibility to continue to respond to COVID-19 and be ready for emerging priorities.”

Under the first strategic priority, ADB will support Mongolia in helping those affected by the COVID-19 crisis to recover and to fulfill their potential by giving them better access to finance, jobs, health, and skills. ADB will drive innovation by linking COVID-19 response efforts with medium-term reforms in health and social protection to enable Mongolia to build forward better.

On the second strategic priority, ADB will make significant investments in transport and connectivity to help increase competitiveness in Mongolia. This will reduce congestion in Ulaanbaatar as well as create sustainable development opportunities in rural areas. ADB will drive innovation by embedding maintenance in these investments, adopting climate-resilient designs, leveraging cofinancing to promote greener solutions, and enhancing opportunities for private infrastructure financing.

ADB will also strengthen resilience, including macroeconomic resilience, and ensure the sustainable use of resources and green development. It will work closely with the government to meet Mongolia’s nationally determined contributions on climate change and secure a greener future for Mongolia, in particular through a gradual shift away from coal, adoption of better livestock practices, and a transition away from the intensive resource use that characterized much of Mongolia’s development.

Under the new CPS, ADB will reduce the number of projects but not its overall commitments. A more selective approach will maintain lending levels but reduce the overall number of sovereign operations in favor of larger and more programmatic operations capable of delivering sustained impact.

First, it will drive the COVID-19 response in the near term to ensure that the government can achieve a sustainable recovery and that the most vulnerable can participate in the recovery. Second, ADB will coordinate closely with development partners to choose its focus within sectors. Third, ADB will group its interventions geographically, with an initial focus on western Mongolia, to ensure maximum development impact by aligning rural and urban operations. Fourth, ADB will prioritize project readiness. Finally, ADB will prioritize projects with strong potential for private sector participation to strengthen the role of the private sector in Mongolia’s development trajectory.

The CPS is aligned with Mongolia’s Vision–2050 and the Government Action Plan, 2020–2024, which aim to ensure the COVID-19 recovery by boosting economic revitalization, job creation, and more inclusive and sustainable development.

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

It was reported during the press conference held by the Staff to the President today that President U.Khurelsukh has submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court to lift the vetoes invoked on the revised Law on Jurisdictions and the amendments to the Law Against Corruption.

In particular, the previous President Kh.Battulga invoked a line-item veto on Article 1 of the Amendments to the Law Against Corruption, which rules that the Director of the Independent Agency Against Corruption (IAAC) to be appointed at the recommendation of Prime Minister for a 6-year term, and partial veto on Law on Jurisdictions, which states that members of the General Council of Courts and Judicial Disciplinary Committee will be appointed by a working group headed by a parliament member and established by the Speaker of the State Great Khural (Parliament). The Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the veto, but the State Great Khural refused to accept the conclusion.

Ya.Sodbaatar, the Chief of Staff to the President, clarified during the press conference that the current President is requesting to lift the veto before the session of the Constitutional Court which will be held soon regarding this issue. He said, “Over the past 30 years, we have taken a number of measures to ensure the judicial independence, which has been one of the most controversial issues in society and among lawyers. Today, the President of Mongolia, U.Khurelsukh, is relinquishing two of the powers that the former Presidents of Mongolia have had over the past 30 years. In particular, the President is relinquishing his presidential powers to appoint judges, hold judges accountable, and appoint the director of the Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC) “

The Chief of Staff to the President underscored that in order to continue the order of justice and judicial reform that President U.Khurelsukh initiated when he was the Prime Minister, he is creating conditions for the normal implementation of the revised Law on Jurisdictions and the Amendments to the Law Against Corruption that have been stalled for the last eight months due to the previous President's vetoes and appeals to the Constitutional Court.

“The President will overthrow the old mechanism of appointing and holding judges accountable, and this power will be transferred to the State Great Khural as stated in the revised Law on Jurisdictions. Moreover, the Director of the Independent Agency Against Corruption (IAAC) will be appointed at the recommendation of Prime Minister for a 6-year term as ruled by the Amendments to the Law Against Corruption. Thus, the major reforms aimed at ensuring the judicial independence and strengthening social justice are starting today” he added.

President Khurelsukh virtually attended the Far Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on September 2 and offered to connect Europe and Asia through Mongolia by developing Russo-Sino-Mongolian infrastructure projects in rail, roads and energy. He also spoke about Mongolia acting as a transit link to the Asia Pacific, Eurasia, Far East Asia and East Asia regions.

It is high time to explore the question of Mongolia’s regional affiliation as the global power transformation impacts Asia.

Asia has many regional organizations, like ASEAN and APEC, but there are none for Northeast Asia. Interregional organizations like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and ASEAN Regional Forum address Northeast Asia but they overlap with other regions.

Mongolia’s regional belonging has been a debated topic for decades. It can be part of Northeast Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, or the Asia Pacific region depending on whom you ask.

What role can Mongolia play in NE Asia? Credit: erina.or.jpWhat role can Mongolia play in NE Asia? Credit: erina.or.jp

What role can Mongolia play in NE Asia? Credit: erina.or.jp

Regional re-orientation and why it mattered for Mongolia

The regional affiliation of nation-states became important with the end of the Cold War. Previously the world was divided into two blocs - the Western and Eastern, free world and communist camps. Mongolia belonged to the communist or eastern bloc countries and was less mentioned as an Asian country or even Northeast Asian.

Mongolia's question about its regional association started with the collapse of the Soviet system. As soon as Mongolia declared itself a democratic country and free-market economy in 1992 the international community welcomed and embraced it into a new regional affiliation.

Japan became the main donor for the country’s early transition. In 1993 Mongolia declared that it would follow a liberal and pragmatic foreign policy.

During the transition of 1990s, Mongolia re-oriented itself as a Northeast Asian country.

The US and other regional countries warmly welcomed this re-orientation. The US in particular started to regard Mongolia as part of the Asia Pacific and welcomed Mongolia to many regional activities and events. New regional affiliations helped Mongolia to strengthen its democratic achievements.

Becoming a Northeast Asian Country

Having written several articles on this topic and spoken at many international conferences, it is my view that Mongolia, together with China’s northeast provinces (Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang), the Russian Far East, the Koreas and Japan geographically constitute Northeast Asia.

A working definition of a region is the contiguous geographical area that is widely considered to have important commonalities sufficient to differentiate them from other areas.

Elements of regional unity include geography; ethnicity and language; political, economic, religious, and historical ties; a sense of community; and organizations or institutions.

The geographic center of the Asian continent is considered to be in Russia's Tuva province. That means Mongolia, sharing a border with Tuva, is literally next to the heart of Asia. But there are few ties between Mongolia and Tuva beyond ethnic and historical connections and a tiny volume of cross-border trade.

Northeast Asia is inhabited by ethnic groups affiliated with Mongolians like Koreans, Japanese, non-Han ethnic groups in northern China, Manchus, Buryad Mongols, Evenks and Tunguses. Many of these ethnic groups speak Altaic and Turkic languages.

Neighboring political systems in Russia and China are authoritarian while North Korea is totalitarian. The other countries are democracies. Economically the countries of the region have different models; their sense of community is weak, and international organizations among them do not exist.

The Tumen River Project under the UN, which promised to build a regional partnership between China, Mongolia, Russia and South Korea, is still in an early stage of development after almost three decades.

In short, the Northeast Asian region has existed only on paper and in the minds of academics.

But properly identifying the regional ties of a country is important. It either separates or unites people and societies. Regions are a source of group identity and can reflect political and national agendas by facilitating international cooperation.

Nonetheless, Mongolia has lacked strong and effective regional affiliations due to its geographic location sandwiched between Russia and China.

Regionalism as an ideology

Regionalists see regions as promoting cooperation, an antidote to the national conflict and rivalry. In this view, the EU is held up as a model.

Whilst the EU model might be attractive for ASEAN members, it is a far-stretch for Northeast Asian countries. Major impediments exist, such as the history of Japanese occupation of neighboring countries pre-WWII and the re-writing of their history textbooks, which offends millions of people in those countries, especially in Korea and China.

Second, the rise of mainland China and its ambitious policy towards its neighbors and tensions in the Taiwan Strait is another obstruction for effective regional integration.

Korean peninsula’s nuclear threat and territorial disputes over islands in the region do not help either. Strong regional bonds are lacking in Northern Asia compared to Southeast Asia.

Mongolia’s role in the region

Mongolia boasts good relationships with all Northeast Asian countries, including North Korea. This has been the country’s unique asset. Leveraging this strength Mongolia can be a matchmaker in the region for disputing countries and continue its role as a mediator between North Korea and Japan.

And whilst its regional affiliation may not be clear, perhaps that is Mongolia's unique strength - as hinted by President Khurelsukh at the Vladivostok Economic Forum on September 2.

Therefore, it is helpful to think of Mongolia as a land bridge and economic corridor between Central Asia and Northeast Asia, Europe and Asia, the Confucius and Islamic worlds. As a center for nomadic civilization with a strong preference for open space and freedom, Mongolia is an open-ended transit link rather than a closed part of any region.

Note: Professor Dr Jamsran Bayasakh is a former Director of the Institute of International Affairs, Mongolian Academy of Sciences. Prior to this, he was Senior Lecturer and Director of Faculty of International Relations and Diplomacy, School of Foreign Service, National University of Mongolia.

Dr Bayasakh studied sinology and Chinese history at the Leningrad State University, Leningrad, former USSR. He gained his Ph.D. from the Institute of History, Academy of Sciences of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar on the history of Mongolia: "Historical Annals of South Song Dynasty as Historical and Ethnographic Sources of the 13th Century Mongols”.