1 MONGOLIA MARKS CENTENNIAL WITH A NEW COURSE FOR CHANGE WWW.EASTASIAFORUM.ORG PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      2 E-MART OPENS FIFTH STORE IN ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, TARGETING K-FOOD CRAZE WWW.BIZ.CHOSUN.COM PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      3 JAPAN AND MONGOLIA FORGE HISTORIC DEFENSE PACT UNDER THIRD NEIGHBOR STRATEGY WWW.ARMYRECOGNITION.COM  PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      4 CENTRAL BANK LOWERS ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST TO 5.2% WWW.UBPOST.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      5 L. OYUN-ERDENE: EVERY CITIZEN WILL RECEIVE 350,000 MNT IN DIVIDENDS WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      6 THE BILL TO ELIMINATE THE QUOTA FOR FOREIGN WORKERS IN MONGOLIA HAS BEEN SUBMITTED WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      7 THE SECOND NATIONAL ONCOLOGY CENTER TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN ULAANBAATAR WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      8 GREEN BOND ISSUED FOR WASTE RECYCLING WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      9 BAGANUUR 50 MW BATTERY STORAGE POWER STATION SUPPLIES ENERGY TO CENTRAL SYSTEM WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      10 THE PENSION AMOUNT INCREASED BY SIX PERCENT WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      КОКС ХИМИЙН ҮЙЛДВЭРИЙН БҮТЭЭН БАЙГУУЛАЛТЫГ ИРЭХ ОНЫ ХОЁРДУГААР УЛИРАЛД ЭХЛҮҮЛНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     "ЭРДЭНЭС ТАВАНТОЛГОЙ” ХК-ИЙН ХУВЬЦАА ЭЗЭМШИГЧ ИРГЭН БҮРД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГ ӨНӨӨДӨР ОЛГОНО WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГИЙН ОРЛОГО 2040 ОНД 38 ИХ НАЯДАД ХҮРЭХ ТӨСӨӨЛӨЛ ГАРСАН WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ЭРДЭНЭС ОЮУ ТОЛГОЙ” ХХК-ИАС ХЭРЛЭН ТООНО ТӨСЛИЙГ ӨМНӨГОВЬ АЙМАГТ ТАНИЛЦУУЛЛАА WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     Л.ОЮУН-ЭРДЭНЭ: ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГААС НЭГ ИРГЭНД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГИЙН ХАДГАЛАМЖ ҮҮСЛЭЭ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ENTRÉE RESOURCES” 2 ЖИЛ ГАРУЙ ҮРГЭЛЖИЛСЭН АРБИТРЫН МАРГААНД ЯЛАЛТ БАЙГУУЛАВ WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ORANO MINING”-ИЙН ГЭРЭЭ БОЛОН ГАШУУНСУХАЙТ-ГАНЦМОД БООМТЫН ТӨСЛИЙН АСУУДЛААР ЗАСГИЙН ГАЗАР ХУРАЛДАЖ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     АЖИЛЧДЫН САРЫН ГОЛЧ ЦАЛИН III УЛИРЛЫН БАЙДЛААР ₮2 САЯ ОРЧИМ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     PROGRESSIVE EQUITY RESEARCH: 2025 ОН “PETRO MATAD” КОМПАНИД ЭЭЛТЭЙ БАЙХААР БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     2026 ОНЫГ ДУУСТАЛ ГАДААД АЖИЛТНЫ ТОО, ХУВЬ ХЭМЖЭЭГ ХЯЗГААРЛАХГҮЙ БАЙХ ХУУЛИЙН ТӨСӨЛ ӨРГӨН МЭДҮҮЛЭВ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19    

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Events

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MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

NEWS

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Mongolia logs 50 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases www.xinhuanet.com

Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia registered 50 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, raising its national tally to 2,073, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Monday.
"We conducted 12,252 tests during the past 24 hours, out of the total tests, 50 were positive in the capital city Ulan Bator," Amarjargal Ambaselmaa, head of the NCCD's surveillance department, said at a daily press conference.
Meanwhile, 30 more patients recovered from the disease, bringing the total recoveries to 1,493, Ambalsemaa said.
The Asian country has so far recorded four COVID-19-related deaths. Enditem
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Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, Recent Kennedy School Graduate, Appointed Mongolian Prime Minister www.thecrimson.com

Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, a recent Kennedy School alum, ascended to the post of Prime Minister of Mongolia on Jan. 27 following his predecessor’s resignation in response to protests over the country’s Covid-19 response.
Luvsannamsrai, who was confirmed by Mongolia’s parliament with 87.9 percent approval is, at forty years old, the world's seventh-youngest head of state currently in office.
Luvsannamsrai was raised in the rural mining community of Berkh, Khentii, and served two terms in Parliament after graduating from the Kennedy School in 2015. During his time at Harvard, Luvsannamsrai developed a close circle of confidants among Mongolian international students, ultimately recruiting several to work in Mongolia’s government.
Among them was Business School alum Batnairamdal Otgonshar, a former Wall Street investment banker, who returned home to become Mongolia’s Vice Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry.
“There were five graduate students from Mongolia during that time, and then we used to hang out basically every Friday at [the John Harvard statue],” Otgonshar said. “He used to tell us about Mongolian politics, and what we could contribute to Mongolia and how we see the long term vision for the country.”
Otgonshar said that Luvsannamsrai would use these discussions to encourage his peers to think about how what they learned in class could be applied to improve life in Mongolia.
Erdenetulga Rentsen, an HBS student from Mongolia, said Luvsannamsrai’s appointment represents a generational shift as well as a shift in national priorities towards digitally transforming Mongolia.
“It’s really a testament of change that’s about to happen in Mongolia,” Rentsen said. “With the world, the way it’s changing, right now, coal is about to get replaced with renewable energies and all sorts of other things. We only have a limited amount of time to essentially structurally change Mongolia for a different type of path and different types of prosperity.”
According to Rentsen, Luvsannamsrai is inspiring Western-educated Mongolian students to return home to shape their country’s future.
“I think in the past, when we do go to Harvard, we always have this feeling that we’ve been able to get out of a developing country, and then now we’ve finally arrived in the dream, America,” Rentsen said. “I think with Oyun-Erdene going back to Mongolia, and really creating this hope, but also bringing a lot of us back to Mongolia, I think it’s creating a new different channel.”
Zorigoo Tugsbayar ’15, another Mongolian student, said Luvsannamsrai’s return to his home country sets an example for other Mongolian students.
“He always had grand ambitions for the future of Mongolia. Obviously, I was a cynic back then, and I’m still a cynic now, but I’m truly impressed at how much he has accomplished so far,” said Tugsbayar, a former Crimson Multimedia chair. “I always have been conflicted whether to go back to Mongolia or not, but seeing someone of our generation be in such a decision-making spot makes the decision so much easier, perhaps.”
Rentsen said that only time will tell whether Luvsannamsrai’s vision will successfully translate into action.
“I think that he has been able to generate a lot of positive hope for the country, but that doesn’t mean that he has done his job,” Erdenetulga said. “He still has a lot to prove, for us and for the rest of the society.”
—Staff writer Brandon L. Kingdollar can be reached at brandon.kingdollar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newskingdollar.
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Trade balance shows surplus of USD 2.2 million www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. In the first 12 months of 2020, the total foreign trade turnover decreased by 6 percent or USD 877 million compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching USD 12.870 million.
This was due to a decrease of 1 percent or USD 43 million in exports and 14 percent or USD 834 million in imports. In the reference period, the trade balance showed a surplus of USD 2.282 millionin, an increase by USD 790 million compared to the the previous year, according to the Bank of Mongolia.
Trade with China accounted for 57 percent or USD 7.383 million of the total trade turnover. Whereas, the trade with Russia accounted for 11 percent or USD 1.457 million. Trade with Russia decreased by 19 percent, while the trade with China decreased by 16 percent respectively compared with the same period of the previous year.
The terms of trade index increased by 32 percent in December compared to the same period of the previous year and by 3 percent compared to the previous month, reaching 2,106. The increase was due to rising export prices for copper concentrate, coal and gold. The increase from the previous month was mainly due to higher import prices for copper and consumer goods.
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President Battulga visits Salkhit gold and silver deposit in Dornogobi www.montsame.mn

On February 6, 2021, President of Mongolia Battulga Khaltmaa worked in Dornogobi aimag and visited the Salkhit gold and silver mine.
In compliance with Constitution of Mongolia, which pronounces the principle of natural resources belonging to the people of Mongolia, special licenses for the Salkhit gold and silver deposit that had been effective until 2043 and 2047, were revoked in 2018 and the deposit was taken under state ownership.
In 2019, the special mining licenses were transferred to the state-owned Erdenes Solver Resources LLC, subsidiary of Erdenes Mongol LLC, and mining activities have been launched without any investment from the government budget.
The commercialization of the Salkhit deposit in such way, which allowed one-time pension-backed loan forgiveness to seniors is a true and good example of how Mongolia appropriately distributed benefits from natural wealth to its people for the first time in its history, reports the Office of the President of Mongolia.
During the President’s working trip, T.Munkhbayar, CEO of Erdenes Silver Resource LLC introduced that MNT 105 billion or USD 37 million will be funded to the Bank of Mongolia /on February 8, Monday/ to distribute MNT 1 million to each pensioner, who had not taken out pension-secured loans in 2019 and were not benefited from the law on one-time cancellation of pension-backed loan debts. About 194,000 seniors are expected to receive around MNT 210 billion in total within May 2021.
With a view to strengthen public-private partnership, the Erdenes Silver Resource LLC is contracting domestic business entities for the development of the Salkhit deposit. Moreover, an ore concentrate with capacity twice as high as the current concentrate with an annual capacity of producing 300,000 tons of ore is scheduled to be commissioned in May 2021.
While on the visit to the deposit, President Battulga reminded that the deposits’ production capacity, output and revenue must be enhanced so that the Mongolian people are able to reap the benefits from natural wealth and support their livelihoods. “Small and large scale mines in 21 aimags across the country, including the Kharmagtai gold deposit, should learn from the example of the Salkhit silver and gold deposit, and by bearing the responsibility of their own management, without obtaining loans or budget support and with the help of Mongolian workforce and engineers.
The Salkhit deposit covers a total area of 2,887.85 hectares in Gurvansaikhan soum of Dornogobi aimag and according to a feasibility study made in May 2020, the deposit has reserves of 808.3 tons of silver and 1117.1 tons of gold and the resources are likely to double or triple by intensifying exploration works.
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Mongolia raises already high social insurance taxes – again! www.news.mn

In Mongolia, men’s average life expectancy is 66, however, the Government aims to increase the retirement ages to 65. Therefore, Mongolian tax payers cannot pass on their pension savings to their children. This means, Mongolians will die without benefitting enough to receiving pension after paying taxes their whole lives.
Furthermore, the Mongolian Government increased social insurance taxes by 2 percent from 1 January, 2021, bringing the total to 26 percent – the highest rate in the world!
The Mongolian Parliament approved an amendment to the Law on Social Insurance Taxes in 2017 to increase taxes from 7 percent per employee and employer to 9.5 percent, again a raise by 1 percent in 2018, by 0.5 percent in 2019 and 2.5 percent in 2020. However, the increase of 2.5 percent in 2020 was delayed until January, 2021.
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China has just launched world's largest carbon market www.rt.com

For many years, China sacrificed environmental stewardship at the altar of economic growth, adopting a growth-at-all-costs strategy.
The economy-first mentality helped Beijing lift 850 million of its citizens from dire poverty but also made the country the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
However, that has been rapidly changing under president Xi Jinping who has vowed to adopt more stringent environmental policies as he seeks to temper the hardline stance that dominated previous administrations. Shortly after Xi Jinping's election in 2013, China introduced the "Green Fence" operation designed in part to improve the quality of the plastics waste coming into the country before following it up two years later with the "National Sword Campaign" that effectively banned the importation of plastics into the country.
Last year, the president reiterated his environmentally friendly stance after he announced that the country had set a firm goal to become carbon neutral by 2060.
And now China has just launched a nationwide carbon trading marketplace in what could become one of its most significant steps taken to lower GHG emissions and achieve its climate goals.
China, which accounts for 28 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, has become the world's first major economy to launch a national carbon emissions trading market.
China's carbon market
Many countries across Europe, as well as some parts of the US, have implemented carbon markets that force companies to offset their carbon emissions by investing in green projects that neutralize their emissions.
For now, China's emissions trading system will cover its extensive power industry, including ~2,000 power generation facilities, which represent about 30 percent of the nation's total emissions. However, over time, the platform will expand to encompass heavy industries like oil, gas, steel, aluminum, cement, and chemicals.
Though undoubtedly ambitious, questions are already being asked about China's new carbon marketplace. For instance, the government plans to allocate emissions allowances for free but will begin to auction allowances "at a future appropriate time". This kind of leeway suggests that Beijing is still wary of the effect that carbon pricing could have on profitability and economic growth.
That said, a survey of market participants indicates that prices are likely to start at around 41 yuan ($6.3) per ton of CO2, rising to 66 yuan per ton in 2025 and 77 yuan by 2030.
That's well below the $50 to $100 range by 2030 suggested by a commission on carbon prices formed in 2017 if the markets and prices are to have any impact on behavior.
Carbon offsets might not work
Though widely used by the developed economies, the efficacy of carbon offsets as a means to control climate change is increasingly being brought into question.
Scientists, activists, and concerned citizens have highlighted how companies are now using carbon offsets as a free pass for climate inaction. The types of carbon offset projects that are implemented are diverse, ranging from forestry sequestration projects to energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. The world needs to lower annual emissions by 29-32 gigatonnes of equivalent carbon dioxide (CO2e) by 2030 to have a fighting chance to stay below 1.5°C. That's ~5x the current commitments by companies, organizations, and governments. We need to lower our GHG emissions by 45 percentover the next decade if we are to avert catastrophic planetary changes.
The sad truth is that trees planted today simply can't grow fast enough to come anywhere near achieving this goal, and the majority of carbon offset projects will never be able to curb the emissions growth if coal power plants and gasoline vehicles continue to dominate.
UNEP has warned that the biggest risk posed by carbon credits is that they tend to encourage complacency. According to UN Environment climate specialist Niklas Hagelberg:
"UN Environment supports carbon offsets as a temporary measure leading up to 2030, and a tool for speeding up climate action. However, it is not a silver bullet, and the danger is that it can lead to complacency. The October 2018 report by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change made it clear that if we are to have any hope of curbing global warming we need to transition away from carbon for good: by travelling electric, embracing renewable energy, eating less meat and wasting less food."
Whereas a carbon offset represents an action that effectively sequesters carbon, RECs are like a property deed representing a part of a renewable energy source, such as a solar or wind farm.
By buying RECs and pairing it with electricity from the grid, companies, and organizations directly support the development of renewable energy infrastructure. RECs provide access to alternative energy sources to areas that do not have the capacity to produce their own renewable energy.
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China’s tech giants face new anti-monopoly rules www.bbc.com

New anti-monopoly rules for China's tech giants were introduced on Sunday.
The guidelines, which formalise draft laws released in November, come as regulators try to crack down on anti-competitive behaviour.
The rules are aimed at stopping China’s e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com from abusing their dominant market position.
Specifically, the rules stop e-commerce platforms from forcing vendors to deal exclusively with them.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) wants to stop price-fixing, predatory pricing and unreasonable trading conditions.
There are also rules against restricting technologies and using data and algorithms to manipulate the market.
The guidelines will also apply to financial technology and payments companies such as Tencent’s WeChat Pay and Ant Group, Alibaba’s payments affiliate.
SAMR said reports of anti-competitive behaviour had been increasing, and that it was facing challenges regulating the industry.
“The behaviour is more concealed, the use of data, algorithms, platform rules and so on make it more difficult to discover and determine what are monopoly agreements,” SAMR said.
Tougher approach
The new rules come into effect as China takes a firmer line against alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
On Monday, SAMR announced it had fined online discount retailer Vipshop nearly $500,000 (£364,000) for unfair competition.
Between August and December last year, the retailer had developed a system to obtain information on brands it and competitors sold, which gave it an advantage.
The regulator said Vipshop used its system to influence user choices and transaction opportunities and to block sales of particular brands.
SAMR is also currently carrying out an antitrust investigation into Alibaba, which it first announced in December.
The investigation followed Ant Group’s decision to drop a planned $37bn share market launch after regulators intervened.
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Mongolia seeks Rio backing to terminate mine agreement www.ft.com

The government of Mongolia is seeking Rio Tinto’s agreement to terminate the deal that underpins the construction of a $6.75bn underground copper mine in the Gobi Desert, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
The ruling Mongolian People’s party and its new prime minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene is facing pressure from parliament to replace the underground development plan for the Oyu Tolgoi mine.
But rather than act unilaterally and risk future foreign investment projects in the country, Ulan Bator has asked the Anglo-Australian miner whether it is prepared to mutually terminate the plan and replace it with an agreement that offers better terms, the people said.
The underground expansion of Oyu Tolgoi has been dogged by problems and disputes with the government. The project — Rio’s most important — is already $1.5bn over budget and almost two years behind schedule.
The government threatened last month to halt development, saying the delays had eroded the economic benefits the country had hoped for.
At peak production Oyu Tolgoi will be the fourth-biggest copper mine in the world, producing almost 500,000 tonnes a year from its existing open pit and underground mine. A decision on whether to start complex caving operations must be taken by June. First production is expected in October 2022.
Oyu Tolgoi, the country’s biggest source of foreign direct investment, has created thousands of well-paid jobs and generated almost $3bn of taxes and fee revenue over the past decade.
Signed in 2015, the UDP, also known as the Dubai agreement, put the underground project back on track after an earlier dispute between Rio and the government.
The agreement — and $4.4bn of project financing — was pulled together by Rio’s former chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques and the nation’s then-prime minister Chimediin Saikhanbileg.
It set out the fee Rio will receive for managing the project as well as the interest rates on the cash Ulan Bator has borrowed to finance its share of the construction costs.
However, the UDP was never approved by Mongolia’s parliament and has become a focal point for critics who say the country should receive a greater share of the financial benefits from mine.
A parliamentary resolution was passed in December 2019 ordering the government to improve the terms of the UDP.
“The government has to fix the legitimacy issue,” said one person with knowledge of the discussions. “Mutual termination of the UDP would achieve this.”
Rio has already told Ulan Bator it is prepared to “explore” a reduction of its project management fees and loan interest rates, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.
However, it is unlikely to agree a new development plan unless it also addresses some of the company’s concerns. These include a long-term power solution and Oyu Tolgoi’s budget for 2021.
Rio’s negotiations are now being led by Bold Baatar, a Mongolian national who was recently appointed to run Rio’s copper business.
“I acknowledge the government’s wish to improve the underground development plan and I am looking forward to discussing that with them, I hope in a way which promotes investor confidence in the country,” Baatar said in a statement.
The push to replace the UDP comes ahead of presidential elections in June, which the government hopes to win to complete a clean sweep of Mongolia’s hybrid parliamentary-presidential system. The government declined to comment.
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34 new cases of COVID-19 detected, total reaches 2,023 www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. It was reported during today’s press briefing of the Ministry of Health that 34 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed after involving 14,978 people in PCR testing nationwide yesterday.
The confirmed cases were identified among close contacts of previously detected cases as well as people who were involved in testing voluntarily. No new infections were recorded in other aimags.
As of today, the total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Mongolia now stands at 2,023, with 1,463 recoveries.
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Mongolian yak leather soccer ball has potential to be recognized in the world www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. “Mongolian-made soccer balls have the potential to be recognized by international standards,” said Stefanie Burry (PhD), Head of the Swiss Cooperation in Mongolia at her meeting with D.Terbaatar, General Secretary and other officials of the Mongolian Football Federation, on February 4.
In Mongolia, the project ‘Mongolian ball’ was launched in 2018 under the motto ‘A Ball for Every Child’. Within the project, yak leather soccer balls are being produced. The ball, primarily designed for children, is at its development level and it can be a quality product and an official game ball.
During the meeting, MFF expressed to support and promote locally made ball from traceable raw materials/yak leather supplied by herder families and certified by Responsible Nomads. Mr. Terbaatar said that the MFF would join hands with the Swiss Cooperation in Mongolia to promote locally made balls in the FIFA and international markets.
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