Mongolia to airlift around 250 its citizens from Australia www.akipress.com

The special flight will arrive in Ulaanbaatar from Sydney, Australia, on June 8, the operative team of the state emergency commission announced.

Light industry training centers established with EU funding www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ With financing of the European Union, “Industry of the Future” blended training center and “Textile - Knitwear Finishing Incubator Center” opened yesterday, on June 3. The centers are established within “Support to Employment Creation in Mongolia (SECiM 2) Project” jointly running by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry of Mongolia (MOFALI).

With the aims of empowering human resources of light industry sector, introducing international practices and increasing value of agricultural products, the training centers are relying on Armono, Research, Testing, Production and Business Corporation of Light Industry and Research and Development Institute of Light Industry.

At the opening ceremony of the centers, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Ch.Ulaan emphasized the significance of state policy and training of skilled personnel for development of agriculture and light industry, which are pillar sectors of economy of Mongolia, and raise value of labor of herders and manufacturers.

Minister Ch.Ulaan continued, “Even though the food, agriculture and light industry sector, which makes up 55 percent of total employees of Mongolia and covers over 70 percent of the territory, especially leather and cashmere sector have abundant potential, we have been unable to fully use it. Raising value of hard labor of herders is one of the pressing issues of the sector. Mongolia puts 20 million livestock into economic circulation a year. It means 20 million pieces of skin and leather, 20 thousand tons of wool and around 10 thousand tons of cashmere come from it and we have the potential for processing these precious raw materials, producing final products and supplying to the market. Therefore, establishing Scientific Research and Training Center of Light Industry at the ministry has significant importance to train its personnel and increase manufacturing of science and innovation-based products.”

Ambassador of the European Union to Mongolia Traian Laurentiu said that in March 2018, together with UNIDO we launched the EU funded SECiM Project. It has achieved substantial results such as transferring international technology and knowledge complementing national expertise, improving quality of raw materials and products. I would like to emphasize the opening of the Industry of Future blended training center as one of the examples of institutionalizing e-learning programs, which have been developed and introduced by UNIDO for building capacity of the sector. Just last week, we signed with the Minister of Finance, the Financing Agreement for the Direct Budget Support Programme. The EU granted Mongolia over 50 million euros to support the employment. 43 million euros will be direct transfer to state budget and 7.8 million euros will be for a technical assistance project. The Secim 2 UNIDO and FAO projects will continue its good lessons learnt in this four year. Technical Assistance project to be delivered together by the United Nations agencies. The objective of this technical assistance is to continue our support to the Mongolian SMEs and businesses in creating more sustainable jobs by focusing on youth employment and TVET capacity building for youth.

Iron ore price rises to USD 68.4 per ton www.zgm.mn

Mongolia exported crude oil worth USD 24.8 million and imported USD 273 million of petroleum products in the first five months of 2020, which means the oil industry deficit reached USD 248 million. Fuel import contracted by 7 percent to 206,000 tons compared to the same period of the previous year. It plummetted by 20 percent to USD 101.8 million in price. Diesel fuel import decreased by 20 percent to 335,300 tons from a year ago, financially dwindled by 34 percent to USD 171 million. Domestic crude oil consumptions have been lowered predom-inantly due to the pandemic. Specifically, oil consumption has been deteriorated as a result of the suspension of export and obstacles in the mining industry, according to the fuel importers. Rosneft Oil Company decreased its border price of oil products supplied to Mongolia. On this subject, the retail price of AI-92 gasoline has been reduced by MNT 475 per liter, AI-80 by MNT 380, AI-95 by MNT 440, and diesel fuel by MNT 590 since March. PetroChina Daqing Tamsag LLC exports oil through the Bayankhoshuu border checkpoint, while Donshin Oil LLC exports by railway. Railway export has not been disrupted in the last few months. However, exports from the Bayankhoshuu border resumed after a period of disruption. Currently, there is no hindrance to exports, said the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia (MRPAM)

Trade deficit of petroleum totals USD 248 million as of May www.zgm.mn

Mongolia exported crude oil worth USD 24.8 million and imported USD 273 million of petroleum products in the first five months of 2020, which means the oil industry deficit reached USD 248 million. Fuel import contracted by 7 percent to 206,000 tons compared to the same period of the previous year. It plummetted by 20 percent to USD 101.8 million in price. Diesel fuel import decreased by 20 percent to 335,300 tons from a year ago, financially dwindled by 34 percent to USD 171 million. Domestic crude oil consumptions have been lowered predom-inantly due to the pandemic. Specifically, oil consumption has been deteriorated as a result of the suspension of export and obstacles in the mining industry, according to the fuel importers. Rosneft Oil Company decreased its border price of oil products supplied to Mongolia. On this subject, the retail price of AI-92 gasoline has been reduced by MNT 475 per liter, AI-80 by MNT 380, AI-95 by MNT 440, and diesel fuel by MNT 590 since March. PetroChina Daqing Tamsag LLC exports oil through the Bayankhoshuu border checkpoint, while Donshin Oil LLC exports by railway. Railway export has not been disrupted in the last few months. However, exports from the Bayankhoshuu border resumed after a period of disruption. Currently, there is no hindrance to exports, said the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia (MRPAM)

Mongolia's SMI shows upward tend in may www.zgm.mn

Mongolia’s Sales Managers’ Index (SMI) is moving upward to a positive trend in May, according to the World Economics. This was due to the rapid recovery in the Business Confidence Index last month. However, the index remains below 50 points. Other key indicators show a slight improvement in the Sales Growth Index, while the Jobs Index shows weak demand. Mongolia’s economy has been hit hard by the pandemic, which was triggered by a temporary stagnation in China’s economy. As China opens up its economy, and many factories become more able to produce at nearly full capacity, the economy of Mongolia is following suit and responding positively. There is some way to go before the trend lines indicate renewed growth, but all indexes suggest the economy is moving in a positive direction, highlighted the World Economics. Mongolia is ranked 81 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business, according to the latest World Bank annual ratings. The rank of Mongolia deteriorated to 81 in 2019 from 74 in 2018.

Zijin takes control of Tibet copper miner for $548m www.mining.com

China’s Zijin Mining Group Co said on Sunday it would pay 3.88 billion yuan ($548 million) to acquire a majority stake in a mining firm with rights to two copper deposits in Tibet.

Russia to buy $1.5 billion worth of pipes to develop Arctic projects & pump gas to China www.rt.com

Russia’s energy major Gazprom has announced a record tender to purchase almost 100 billion rubles worth of pipes ($1.5 billion) for its natural gas projects, including the Power of Siberia mega pipeline.
Deliveries are expected to start this year and continue till the end of 2022, according to the data published on state trading platforms. They will be overseen by Gazprom Invest, the company arm in charge of its largest investment projects.

New U.S. Government Project to Strengthen Women and Youth Engagement in Mongolia www.mn.usembassy.gov

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia – The U.S. government today announced the launch of the Strengthening Women and Youth Engagement in the Electoral and Political Processes in Mongolia project that will elevate the role of women and youth in civil society and the political process.

IMF Executive Board Approves US$99 Million Disbursement Under the Rapid Financing Instrument to Mongolia to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic www.imf.org

WASHINGTON, DC – The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved Mongolia’s request for emergency financial assistance under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) equivalent to SDR 72.3 million (about US$99 million, or 100 percent of quota) to meet urgent budgetary and balance of payment needs stemming from the outbreak of COVID-19 and to support the most affected sectors and vulnerable groups.

BoM purchases 1.7 tons of precious metal in May www.montsame.mn

In May 2020, the precious metal purchase of the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) was 1.7 tons, raising the BoM’s total precious metal purchase of 2020 to 8.5 tons, of which 6.8 tons were gold and 1.7 tons were silver. It means the amount of precious metal purchase increased by 4.3 tons compared with the same period of previous year.