Mongolia’s cashmere exports rise by 30 percent www.news.mn

Mongolian cashmere sector exports have increased by 30 percent since a new national programme was approved by parliament in 2018. According to Ch.Ulaan, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Inductries, more than 1600 jobs have been created in the cashmere sector since 2017 as production capacity has increased. Mongolia exported cashmere products worth USD 434, 7 million in 2019, which was an increase of 30 percent on 2017. As part of the initiative, Mongolia has also hosted an international cashmere forum which was attended by over 350 representatives from 17 countries.

China-Mongolia border port sees over 500 China-Europe freight trains www.chinadaily.com.cn

HOHHOT -- A total of 537 China-Europe freight trains passed through the port of Erenhot in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region as of Thursday this year, according to local customs.

Trial of former Mongolian PM: political saboteur or scapegoat? www.news.mn

The high-profile trial of a former Mongolian prime minister has been attracting much attention. Earlier today (23 April), a Mongolian court decided that former Prime Minister M.Enkhsaikhan must be kept in custody until the next hearing, which has now been postponed until 5 May. M.Enkhsaikhan is being accused of political sabotage and the abuse of power over an ‘unsigned’ agreement regarding the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine project.

Mongolia to send meat to Russia to help combat COVID-19 www.xinhuanet.com

Mongolia will send meat and meat products worth 1 million U.S. dollars to Russia to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Mongolian parliament speaker Gombojav Zandanshatar said Thursday.

Website of the Millennium Challenge Account - Mongolia launched www.montsame.mn

Mongolia and Coronavirus - a view from the United Kingdom www.mongolianbritishcc.org.uk

by John Grogan - On the evening of Saturday January 25th I organised the annual Burns supper in Ulaanbaatar where the nighttime temperature can drop to -40c. A bagpiper from Glasgow dressed in a kilt and fortified by the finest Scottish whisky played outside the venue. With his rendition of ‘Scotland the Brave’ he welcomed a variety of ambassadors, business representatives and a Scottish judo team far from home. The event had been planned from my kitchen table in Yorkshire with the help of my business partner who is an adventure travel entrepreneur from Glasgow and the Honorary Consul for Mongolia in Scotland no less.

Yorkshire firms have imported cashmere from Mongolia for many decades. Stanley Burton, son of the founder of Leeds clothing retailer Burtons, visited the country twice in the 1970’s. He fell in love with the place and supported Leeds University with funding for Mongolian studies. I myself first visited as part of the inaugural parliamentary delegation from Westminster in 1998 just a few years after Russian troops pulled out and a democratic government was elected.

The relevance of my tale to the struggle against coronavirus is simple. The day after the Burns Supper on January 26th ( a Sunday) the Mongolian Cabinet met and stopped all large public gatherings because of fear of the virus . Our dinner was to be the last of its kind for many months. All schools and colleges were closed. Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh said simply

‘This is a time to govern ….I will prioritise the health and well being of the Mongolian people first, then the economy’.

Over the next few weeks international flights were cut back to a skeleton service allowing Mongolians to return from abroad and ex patriates to leave. The borders with mighty neighbours Russia and China were sealed to all but essential goods traffic. On February 12th the Government banned celebrations of Mongolian New Year (Tsagaan Sar) when large groups of family members and neighbours would normally have gathered together to celebrate. To put this date in some context more than a month later in England crowds would be gathering for the racing at Cheltenham. I myself left Mongolia in the final days of January and was frowned on at the airport for not wearing a mask. As of April 19th there have been just 32 cases in Mongolia of coronavirus with no fatalities. All of these were people arriving from abroad. Through careful contact tracing and testing community spread of the virus has until now been stopped in its tracks. For weeks the Mongolian Parliament has been meeting online and recently approved an economic stimulus package.

Mongolia has an annual income per capita of less than 5000 US dollars per head but they have successfully marshalled their resources. Perhaps in Europe we need to be a little more respectful and willing to learn from others around the world. The country is a genuine democracy – you do not have to be an authoritarian superpower like China to successfully keep the virus at bay. Like most of its neighbours in Asia both government and citizens were attune to the threat of a pandemic because of the recent experience of Sars. In the West, although pretty well every expensive exercise of risk analysis conducted by governments or businesses in the last two decades identified pandemics as a major threat, the response has been more uncertain and faltering. At its most basic countries like Mongolia, Taiwan and New Zealand from the outset aimed to prevent community spread of the virus and then eliminate it. In much of Europe the plan has rather been to delay the pace of infections which has resulted in a much greater cost in terms of loss of life and business activity. Surely in the future a much more robust international response to the threat of pandemic with early warning systems needs to be introduced. It is of course possible that the next such virus will be more virulent still and that is the assumption on which our planning must be based as it most certainly will be in Mongolia. For the moment it is becoming obvious that without a vaccination or drugs to treat the virus no exit plan from lockdown in the United Kingdom is going to be credible without the widespread availability of testing; a system of contact tracing; a ready supply of masks and more checking of arrivals at airports. Meanwhile the challenge for Mongolia will be to gradually lift the current restrictions without risking a more widespread outbreak of the virus.

800 years ago Genghis Khan conquered half of the known world. Perhaps his descendants have something to teach us about the battle against coronavirus today.

John Grogan

Chair of the Mongolian British Chamber of Commerce

Two charter flights to be arranged to Seoul to bring home citizens from abroad www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ According to the State Emergency Commission’s decision issued today, April 23, some changes were made in MIAT Mongolian Airlines operated-charter flights to bring Mongolian citizens abroad to their home country.

Mongolia trade deficit may ease as oil plunges www.zgm.mn

Oil prices came under renewed pressure on Wednesday following a historic two-day price plunge below zero, as markets struggle with an enormous glut amid the coronavirus outbreak.Mongolia, which spends more than 10 percent of its export revenue on fuel import, is likely to benefit from the trade with Russia if oil prices continue to plummet. Fuel accounts for 54.1 percent of the country’s import products from its northern neighbor, one of the world’s biggest oil producers. Brent futures, the benchmark for Europe in London, ended April 20 down sharply but still above USD 25 a barrel. The price of oil, which is referred to as black gold, is expected to drop further. Expectations are that production will fall by 1.7-2.0 million barrel per day by the end of 2020. It remains to be seen if the pace of the production fall will enough to stem the collapse in price. OPEC and its allies recently announced a record production cut of 9.7 million barrels per day starting May, even though the announcement has failed to excite the oil market.Moreover, the plunge in oil has dragged down stocks globally, with Asian equities slipping broadly on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.77 percent while South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.4 percent.

COVID-19 impacts construction sector www.zgm.mn

As the entire economy has been hit hard by the outbreak of the COVID-19, the construction industry is currently facing dramatic and disruptive challenges. Specifically, construction operations which to be funded by budget investment are slowing down and major housing projects have been remained stagnant this year. The supply of construction and building materials is holding up due to logistics; however, there are no difficulties in construction sectors such as shortages in importing materials. Mongolian Builders Federation highlighted “Since most of the construction materials are produced domestically, it is possible to operate completely the main construction and frameworks during this difficult time.” Barilga.mn also reported that the previous recession in the construction sector was not completely resolved, but the next crisis occurred.

Copper export price stands at USD 5,178 per ton in April www.zgm.mn

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) estimated the quoted copper export price in April at USD 5,178 per ton but copper prices have plummeted this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, copper demand is rising and the price is recovering slightly, as the business operation of China, the main consumer, resumes. Oyu Tolgoi investor Rio Tinto said in a report that China’s copper turnover has been recovering but supply is being cut off due to uncertainty in other parts of the world. In addition, the MoF calculated the export price of zinc at USD 1,905 per ton. Since the beginning of this year, the standard price of zinc has fallen by 18 percent. Mongolia’s main zinc exporter Tsairt Mineral LLC said, “Export is proceeding normally, but the price slump is the big challenge.” The average aluminum export price in April was estimated at USD 1,610 per ton. Among the major base metals, aluminum had the biggest loss. The fluorspar concentrate price was up to USD 385, while fluorspar ore is estimated at USD 324 per ton. Since the beginning of this year, Mongolia’s fluorspar exports have increased by 28 percent to 176,100 tons, amounting to USD 44.3 million. “If COVID-19 condition in Russia worsens further it could be adversely affected on export,” said General Director of Baylag Jonsh LLC. Furthermore, it is estimated that the coking coal price is USD 177, soft coking coal is USD 74.8 and coking coal concentrate is USD 126.59 from April export.