Mining Minister meets Ambassadors of China and India www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry G.Yondon on July 29 met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of China to Mongolia Chai Wenrui.

Speaker holds discussion on lowering loan interest rates with banking sector representatives www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On July 29, Speaker G.Zandanshatar held a meeting with executives of commercial banks to discuss lowering loan interest rates, increasing the amount of loans being given out to support export and production, and reforms in the bank and financing sector.

Deputy Governor of the Bank of Mongolia G.Enkhtaivan, General Economist D.Gan-Ochir, President of the Mongolian Bankers Association B.Medree, First Deputy CEO at Trade Development Bank of Mongolia O.Banzragch, First Deputy CEO at Khan Bank R.Munkhtuya, President of Golomt Bank G.Ganbold, CEO at TransBank M.Otgonbayar participated in the meeting.

Speaker G.Zandanshatar said, “Due to the global pandemic, our economy is in a challenging situation. During my meetings with the public, the first topic they bring up has always been the matter of reducing the interest rates for loans. The average annual interest rate for the banks in our country is currently at 16 percent. In the current situation, it is impossible for new start-up businesses in the field of industry to have profits of more than 5 percent in their first 5 years of operation. Therefore, we are faced with the necessity to lower loan interest rates and support small and medium enterprises through loans and interest subsidy.

Furthermore, by creating a new legal environment in the financing sector and doing a sector reform, banks will be able to restore their reputation and regain trust. Several important matters such as monetary policy, budget amendment, and the government action plan are going to be discussed at the irregular session of the Parliament, which will be held soon.”

President of the Mongolian Bankers Association B.Medree said, “Lowering loan interest rates are also in our interest as it reduces risk and increases the amount and availability of loans. However, there are various factors preventing the significant decrease in interest rates. Thus, sufficient studies must be conducted on precisely pinpointing exactly where the problems lie as well as how they should be resolved. Based on this, it is apparent that bold appropriate actions must be taken. For instance, it is of utmost importance for the parliament to renew the corresponding laws and legal environment for bank and financing sector operations.”

The executives of commercial banks put forth several suggestions, such as a policy on supporting banks, to have the Development Bank of Mongolia partner with commercial banks, the Bank of Mongolia to implement a policy on stabilizing interest rates, establish a single type of ATM and POS machine for all banks, and reduction in the required amount of reserves.

Pledging that the parliament will approve a resolution on defining the strategy to reduce loan interest rates during the forthcoming irregular session, the Speaker requested the representatives to officially submit their suggestions in order to include them in the parliamentary resolution.

Government action program for 2020-2024 under development www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The Government has started developing its action program for 2020-2024 and a bill on budget amendment. All government ministers, heads of corresponding agencies and authorities of the capital city are participating in a series of discussion being held by the Cabinet Secretariat of Government. The first chapter of the action program will reflect solutions to overcome current difficulties caused by the globally spread COVID-19 pandemic and subdue future challenges with the least possible economic damages.

Chinese banks urged to switch from SWIFT to domestic financial network amid looming US sanctions over Hong Kong www.rt.com

The Bank of China says the country should prepare for potential US sanctions by increasing use of its own financial messaging network for cross-border transactions on the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.
According to the report, greater use of the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) instead of the Belgium-based SWIFT system would also reduce exposure of China’s global payments data to the United States. Chinese state lenders have reportedly been bracing for potential US sanctions for serving officials who implement the new national security for Hong Kong.

Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google face claims of 'harmful' power www.bbc.com

The heads of some of the world's biggest tech companies have appeared before Washington lawmakers to defend their firms against claims they abuse their power to quash competitors.

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos said the world "needs large" firms, while the heads of Facebook, Apple and Google argued their companies had spurred innovation.

The appearance comes as lawmakers consider tougher regulation and competition probes are under way.

Some critics want the firms broken up.

Democrats pressed the tech titans on competition issues, while Republicans were more concerned about how they managed information and whether they were marginalising conservative views.

Congressman David Cicilline, the Democrat leading the congressional committee holding the hearing, said a year-long investigation by lawmakers had showed the online platforms had "wielded their power in destructive, harmful ways in order to expand".

He said he was convinced the firms were monopolies and called for action.

"Some need to be broken up and all need to be properly regulated," he said at the end of more than five hours of testimony.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai of Google, and Tim Cook of Apple insisted they had done nothing illegal and stressed the American roots and values of their firms.

What are the main concerns about the tech giants?
At the hearing, lawmakers accused Google of having stolen content created by smaller firms, like Yelp, in order to keep users on their own web pages.

Amazon's treatment of sellers on its site, Facebook's acquisition of competitors such as Instagram, and Apple's App store also drew attention.

In response to claims Google had stolen content, Google boss Sundar Pichai said the firm held itself to the "highest standard"
Mr Cicilline said Amazon had an inherent conflict of interest, since it both hosts sellers and competes against them by offering similar products. Such practice has also come under scrutiny from European regulators.

"Amazon's dual role... is fundamentally anti-competitive and Congress must take action," he said.

However, some Republicans signalled they were not prepared to split up the firms or significantly overhaul US competition laws, with one committee member saying "big is not inherently bad".

Republican concerns focused on perceived political bias at the firms, which they accused of suppressing conservative views.

"I'll just cut to the chase - big tech is out to get conservatives," said Congressman Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio.

Tech giants face feeding frenzy
Four of the world's top technology company executives may have been testifying before the Judiciary Committee from a distance, but they were still caught in the middle of a political storm on Wednesday afternoon.

The stated purpose of the hearing was to address whether existing anti-trust laws provide sufficient regulation of transnational tech Goliaths. The reality, however, was that the proceedings - with each member of the committee receiving five minutes to speak - were more akin to a feeding frenzy, as corporate chiefs faced criticism from every direction

Democrats expressed concern that the companies were abusing their power by disadvantaging competitors or buying them out entirely. Republicans accused the witnesses of insufficient patriotism and being too cosy with the Chinese.

Both sides expressed outrage over how the companies managed speech and expression on their platforms. They didn't go far enough in removing hateful rhetoric and false information, Democrats said. They singled out conservatives for censorship, the Republicans countered.

Through it all, the witnesses thanked the questioners and took their lumps, perhaps confident that they could soon log off and get back to their work. While all the politicians seemed to agree that the big tech companies were a problem, their chances of arriving at any kind of solution seems unlikely.

What did the companies say?
Appearing by remote video, the executives defended their companies, saying their products helped smaller businesses and they remained vulnerable to competition from newcomers.

Apple boss Tim Cook said the business climate was "so competitive I would describe it as a street fight for market share in the smartphone business".

Mr Bezos, in his first appearance before Congress, denied that Amazon's multiple roles were a conflict of interest, but he admitted the firm was reviewing its handling of sales data from sellers on the site.

The company has been accused of using such information to launch its own version of hot-selling products.

Mr Bezos said Amazon rules forbid staff from looking at sales data from individual companies, but he conceded it was possible that employees had violated the policy.

"We are investigating that," he said.

In his prepared remarks, Mr Bezos said Amazon faced significant competition from firms such as Walmartand noted that the company lost money for years as it branched out into new areas.

"I love garage entrepreneurs - I was one. But, just like the world needs small companies, it also needs large ones. There are things small companies simply can't do," he said.

US President Donald Trump is a long-time critic of Amazon and threatened his own action on Twitter, writing: "If Congress doesn't bring fairness to Big Tech, which they should have done years ago, I will do it myself with Executive Orders."

He also told reporters that White House officials would be watching the hearing closely.

"There's no question that what the big tech companies are doing is very bad," he said.

Tech analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said "storm clouds" were building in Washington but he thought it was unlikely that Congress would come together on new legislation that would force tech companies to change.

"We think a legislative fix is the only one that creates a potential for limitations on these companies' ability to conduct business, whether that takes the form of higher taxes or new rules regarding market concentration," he wrote.

"Absent a legislative fix, we don't see meaningful change in regulation, although future acquisitions will most certainly be scrutinized and more difficult to close."

Energy Minister checks winter preparations of coal mines www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Minister of Energy N.Tavinbekh checked on site the winter preparations of Baganuur and Shivee-Ovoo JSCs.

Central Bank of Mongolia sells USD 615 million www.news.mn

As of today (29 July), one US dollar is being sold for MNT 2844.58 at commercial banks,while one Euro for MNT 3331.29, and one Russian Rbl for MNT 39.51. The Mongolian Tugrik continues to fall against the US dollar, theChinese Yuan (CHY) and the Euro, however, is rising against the Russian Rbl.

Czech Government provides charter plane for evacuating Mongolians www.news.mn

Mongolia has planned 14 charter flights in August for repatriating its nationals from pandemic-hit countries. According to L.Munkhtushig, Director General of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some 100 Mongolians stranded in Czech Republic have applied to return home through the International Migration Agency. In other words, not via the Mongolian MFA.

Rio Tinto raises dividend, sees ‘V-shaped’ China recovery www.mining.com

Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) said on Wednesday it saw a sharp V-shaped recovery in China as stimulus spurred industrial activity, helping its first-half profit handily beat market expectations.

Mongolia confirms two more COVID-19 cases www.xinhuanet.com

Mongolia confirmed two more COVID-19 cases after 630 tests had been carried out in the last 24 hours, a local health official said on Wednesday.