Mongolia and Taiwan: a growing trade relationship www.news.mn

Despite the distance and limited trade figures between the two countries, Mongolia is a crucial partner for Taiwan due to its abundant metal resources; however, for a country that once built the largest empire in Eurasia, it remains remarkably mysterious to many Taiwanese.

The way we shop has fundamentally changed. That's good news for Alibaba www.cnn.com

Rising US-China tensions halt copper price rally www.mining.com

Industrial metals fell back on Friday as warnings about rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies overshadowed a massive economic stimulus announced by Beijing, the world’s top commodities consumer.

Gold price up as pressure builds on US-China relations www.mining.com

Gold rebounded on Friday as ongoing concerns about the economic fallout of the covid-19 pandemic were compounded by fears of rising political tensions between China and the US.

13 parties, 4 coalitions and 137 independent candidates file to run for elections www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. The General Election Commission (GEC) announced that it has completed receiving documents of candidates nominated by the political parties or coalitions as well as independent candidates, who are registered to participate in the 2020 election to the State Great Khural.

Mongolia’s GDP slumps by 6.1 percent in Q1 www.zgm.mn

Mongolia’s gross domestic product dropped by 6.1 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported on Wednesday. According to the NSO, the economy amounted to MNT 7.2 trillion in the first three months of this year.

Exploration and mining license application process: the example of the State of Victoria in Australia www.news.mn

In most countries, extractive companies are required to apply for and hold an exploration or mining license prior to carrying out any exploration activities on land. Mongolia utilizes a licensing regime, which means that “all rights and obligations are the same for any license holder, regardless of the resource mined, the entity type, or the origin of the investment”[1]. In reality, Mongolia accepts two types of exceptions, the type of resource (petroleum, radioactive materials and construction materials) and the size of an operation (i.e. small-scale mining in an effort to formalize artisanal mining in 24 provinces). Given the importance of extractive industries in the country’s economy, Mongolia has been making continuing efforts to improve its legal environment according to global standards and best practices. The parliament amended certain articles of the Minerals Law of 2006 (Minerals Law) in October 2017 to modify the license attribution procedures. Transparency International Mongolia states in their Mineral Licensing Corruption Risk Assessment that, “some of the requirements are formalized and are appropriately and sensibly applied to most license-holders, but most are applied incoherently, particularly at the provincial level. Most of the executed contracts and permits are not publicly accessible.”[2] License attribution procedures and beneficial ownership are not always transparent, leading to bribery, conflict of interest, corruption, resource mismanagement and loss of livelihood for indigenous populations. Women, marginalized groups and local populations are too often underrepresented in the decision process, despite community consultation and approval being a right protected under international law and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

The Australian Victoria State Government Agency published complete guidelines to help licensees and license candidates through their application, which prove to be a wonderful source of information for civilians as well.[3] Their example can benefit Mongolia’s policy to improve the accountability and the transparency of license attribution and approval processes, where corruption starts.

The Australian government allows applications for four types of license, exploration, retention, mining and prospecting[4], whereas Mongolia only differentiates exploring and mining licenses. An exploration license allows its holder exclusive rights to explore for specific minerals. However, companies are prohibited to use equipment (other than non-mechanical hand tools) or explosives to excavate on the land, and to remove or damage trees and shrubs. Optional, a retention license can be granted for ten years between the exploration and mining stages, when a mineral resource has been identified but more time is necessary to conduct further evaluation work, planning, or establish the economic or technical viability of mining the land. A mining license enables the holder to work the ground, excavate and extract minerals. Prospecting licenses allow prospectors and small-scale miners to explore or mine in an area less than 5 hectares. In Australia, the process to apply for an exploration license starts with an application form that includes the company details, expertise and experience in mining, the project details, the funding, etc. If there is no competition, the applicant obtains the highest ranking. Otherwise, the agency will analyze each applicant’s merit and ability to meet certain requirements to determine the highest ranking. After this phase, the applicant who obtained the position must advertise their application to notify the public of their intentions to provide the opportunity for objections. It shows from the government an imperative for prospectors to be transparent and engage communities even before their application is accepted or denied. During that phase, the Ministry assess that the application meets the criteria of having an appropriate program of work, being

able to finance the proposed work and rehabilitation, and being a fit and proper person to hold a license[1].

As for Mongolia, according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), “mining licenses are awarded on a ‘first come first served’ basis.”[2] Granting a license through application represents a corruption risk as it is the initial stage. The interests of companies to obtain exploration license is high because it provides the right to apply for the mining license on a priority basis. However, information about eligibility of the applicant and to which extent they meet the requirements is not transparent nor available to other parties, such as local authorities who are required to approve of the application (such as the governors of the Aimag and the Soum).

The Fit and Proper Person Policy[3]

The “Fit and Proper Person” concept is integrated in numerous international and national legislation. This policy sets out the moral and conduct standards that will be considered by the Minister for Resources (or Ministerial delegate) in assessing a license applicant’s status as a ‘fit and proper person’, under the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 (MRSDA) in the Victorian State. This assessment is required in order to be granted a license of any type (exploration, retention, mining or prospecting license). If an applicant or license holder fails to meet these requirements, the license must not be attributed or must be cancelled. “The MRSDA establishes a legal framework to eliminate or minimize risks posed to the environment, to members of the public or to land, property or infrastructure.”[4]

Different factors are considered to assess the trustworthiness of an applicant’s status as a fit and proper person, such as their professional experience, professional ethics and behavior, respect of legal framework, norms and regulations, etc. “Assessing a person’s status as a fit and proper person involves considering their overall suitability to carry out a proposed activity and takes meaning from its context. This typically includes considering a range of relevant factors, such as the activities in which the person will be engaged, the nature of the activities and how the activities are regulated. A range of other factors is often taken into consideration to assess a person’s overall status as a fit and proper person to undertake an activity, including the seriousness of previous unacceptable behaviors (including resultant harms and penalties), singular or repetitive patterns of unacceptable behaviors, reformed behaviors, mitigating circumstances and time elapsed.”[5] The implementation and the respect of these high standards aim at ensuring that “only those persons with the appropriate expertise, professional integrity and high standards of personal behavior are authorized to undertake certain types of activities, in the public interest.” As such, it is not a fixed, one-time-only evaluation. License holders may need to submit updated information to inform the assessment of their continuing status as a fit and proper person.

Accountability and transparency of the mining sector would greatly benefit from a stricter policy regarding applicants’ backgrounds and their expertise to undertake projects that are potentially harmful for the environment, people livelihood and fundamental human rights. The Victorian Government’s Fit and Proper Person policy provides a good example of how countries can implement and apply higher standards to combat corruption from the early stages off a mining project.

Mongolia to host Naadam Festival despite pandemic www.news.mn

Mongolia’s Next Election Will Feature New Types of Candidates -The breadth of Mongolian democracy is widening www.thediplomat.com

May 16 was the deadline for candidates in the June 24 parliamentary election in Mongolia to be nominated. Suddenly, many new candidates are running in the 2020 election — as independents, with new parties, and with the established parties.

Over the past decade, voter frustration with established parties has been building up. While these established parties will likely take most of the 76 seats in the State Great Khural, the decision by many independent thinkers to stand for election suggests that belief in democracy remains strong and that a reinvigoration of public participation in setting Mongolia’s course may be possible.

In the 2016 parliamentary and 2017 presidential elections it became apparent that Mongolian voters had developed doubts about some of their political institutions, especially political parties, and perhaps were even questioning democracy. For example, over 8 percent of voters submitted a blank ballot in the second round of the 2017 presidential election, actively voicing their displeasure with the two candidates. In recent years, Mongolia has also been roiled by a series of corruption scandals that have further tainted politicians’ reputation. This has led to fears about democratic backsliding.

Amid a fairly successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mongolia is holding its parliamentary election on June 24 on its usual four-year cycle. Equally cyclical is yet another revision of the electoral system, this time reverting to the 2008 system of multi-member majoritarian voting. Mongolia has been divided into 29 electoral districts (provinces and capital city districts) which will each elect two to three MPs. This electoral system is rarely used in national elections elsewhere; it is known to be unfavorable to women candidates but may benefit prominent candidates, whether they are new or long-established.

A total of 670 candidates are running in the election; 208 are independents. Two parties and one electoral coalition are running full slates of candidates. The Ulaanbaatar district of Sukhbaatar has the greatest number of candidates (28) competing for three seats, while western Uvs, with its 20 candidates, has the greatest number outside the capital.

When considering whether this election might bring an important shift in Mongolia’s political culture, there are three different kinds of new candidates in this election: new candidates with the established parties — Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), Democratic Party (DP) and Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) — candidates in new(ish) parties (especially the National Labor Party), and independents.

Some of the fiercest battles will be fought in urban electoral districts. In Ulaanbaatar’s Sukhbaatar district the three candidates running for the governing MPP include the current and previous foreign ministers, D. Tsogtbaatar and Ts. Mukh-Orgil, respectively, but they are pitted against former DP Prime Minister R. Amarjargal; prominent economist and a leading figure of the upstart National Labor Party, B. Munkhsoyol; and leader of the neo-nationalist movement “Bosoo Huh Mongol,” P. Shinjeeravdan, in a battle for three parliamentary seats among 28 candidates in that district.

By contrast, there are many rural provinces where the established party candidates seem stacked to make it highly unlikely for any new candidates to win a seat. Eastern Mongolian Khentii, for example, boasts current Prime Minister U. Khurelsukh, current Cabinet Secretary L. Oyun-Erdene, and former presidential candidate and champion wrestler B. Bat-Erdene as candidates for the MPP.

Perhaps the trend of more and more relevant newcomers in the city is an acknowledgment of the long-time political dominance of the capital, which the distribution of seats in the country has not quite caught up with.

Women could potentially contribute to a change in political culture. Political parties and coalitions are required by the Election Law to have women make up a quota of at least 20 percent of candidates. Currently, among the two major parties, the MPP has 16 and the DP has 17 female candidates, just over the 20 percent quota. One of the major electoral coalitions is the Right Person Electorate Coalition, with 16 women out of their 59 candidates (27 percent).

The atmosphere around this year’s election is different from previous contests because of the diverse set of candidates; it ranges from politicians who have dominated politics for the past 30 years to the ones who have made names for themselves on (social) media as well as the leaders of neo-nationalist movements and human rights activists. The active use of social media presents an opportunity for level playing fields for candidates to engage with voters. Many voters express the view that they have been through seven cycles of broken (reform) promises in the past, so some may be leaning toward the new voices that are presenting themselves in this election.

Many of the new candidates who have cast their political frustrations aside and embraced the possibility of being elected in what remains a free contest may not win. But there is some chance at least that their campaigns will showcase the possibility of a different relationship between the electorate, candidates, and parties. This would signal a real shift in Mongolia’s political culture that could nudge political discourse in the direction of concrete policy debates that have been lacking in previous elections. This signal may be particularly important to young voters, whose understanding of democracy is still evolving.

Bulgan Batdorj is starting the Ph.D. program in Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia in the fall of 2020. Julian Dierkes teaches in UBC’s Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs.

ADB, Mongolia sign grant to improve transport services in ger areas www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ On May 21, The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Mongolia signed a $2 million grant to improve the accessibility, safety, security, and quality of transport services along the Chingeltei street corridor in the ger areas of Ulaanbaatar city. Signing the agreement on behalf of Government of Mongolia was Minister Khurelbaatar Chimed, while ADB Country Director for Mongolia Pavit Ramachandran signed on behalf of ADB.