Ambassador to Russia meets Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ On February 18, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the Russia Federation D.Davaa met with a delegation led by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors at Gazprom public joint-stock company of Russia.

APO Releases Report on Strengthening the Mongolian Productivity Organization and Increasing Productivity within Mongolia www.apo-tokyo.org .

In a newly released report, the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) recommends how the Mongolian Productivity Organization (MPO) could expand its ability to undertake productivity promotion and improve its visibility as the country’s leading productivity organization. The report outlines a major transformation program requiring substantial resources and national initiatives. The key recommendation concerns the small staff size of the MPO and its available resources. The MPO needs to win major long-term client contracts from the public or private sector or significantly increase its membership to generate sufficient funds for improved programs and services.

The ideal option in the immediate future is for the MPO to obtain a substantial contract from the government for the development of a national strategy on productivity enhancement. The MPO should encourage and support the Mongolian government in relaunching the National Productivity Award, including assistance in introducing a Business Excellence (BE) initiative. Public-sector organizations that start the BE journey often become world-class institutions. If it succeeds, this endeavor could be a game-changer for Mongolia, involving the entire public sector and private enterprises in a transformation program managed by the MPO.

APO support for national productivity organizations under its Specific National Program (SNP) addresses institutional needs to enable effective productivity-related strategies and programs to be developed, implemented, and sustained. The objective of the SNP consultancy for the MPO was to review strategies, organizational structure, funding models, staffing, approaches to governance, leadership, human resources, services and programs, business activities, operations and systems, etc., as emphasized in the report recommendations.

APO Secretary-General Dr. AKP Mochtan presented the Report on Strengthening the Mongolian Productivity Organization and Increasing Productivity within Mongolia to the MPO, represented by the APO Director for Mongolia and Chairman and Executive Director Yamaaranz Erkhermbayar, in Ulaanbaatar on 21 January 2020. It will serve as a reference for transforming the productivity movement within Mongolia, and the Secretary-General wished the MPO every success in the process.

In order to involve local stakeholders, especially those from the public sector, in implementing the recommendations outlined in the report, Secretary-General Dr. Mochtan had opportunities for discussions with public officials from the Cabinet Secretary’s Office; Office of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports; Mongolian National Audit Office; Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry; and University of Livestock. All are committed to enhancing productivity from the national to the sectoral and organizational levels. “The Mongolian National Audit Office welcomed the report from the APO and would like to focus on addressing public-sector productivity by learning from the experiences of other APO members,” according to Deputy General Auditor Tengis O. Secretary-General Dr. Mochtan affirmed that aspiration, explaining that, “In the end, the government should better serve and meet the expectations of the citizenry and the private sector in the country, which was one of the highlights of the report.”

General budget revenue amounts to MNT 67.2 billion in January www.zgm.mn

In January, state budget revenue reached MNT 67.2 billion which had a deficit in 2019. Budget revenue increased however, its surplus declined compared to the previous year. Government expenditure turned MNT 40 billion eliminating budgets of local, social insurance and human development. The total of grants and income amounted to MNT 767.7 billion while expenditure and net lending reached MNT 641.3 billion. The tax revenue went upward mainly affected by budget exceed expenses. Tax revenue reached MNT 656.4 billion, increased by 4.8 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. This growth was mainly driven by a rise of 63.9 percent in value-added taxes, and 4.1 times increase in the property tax year on year. It is estimated that the budget deficit is MNT 2 trillion to 5.1 percent of GDP in 2020. After that new risk has followed up. According to the government’s decision, coal export completely suspended through ports of Gashuunsukhait, Shiveekhuren, Bichigt, and Bulgan until March 2, 2020. In the first two months of 2019, Mongolia exported 1.9 million tons of coal, gaining export revenue of USD 163.4 million. Both Mongolia and China’s traditional celebrations occurr in February. Same as last year, it is estimated that Mongolia will lose USD 163.4 million in coal exports due to government sanctions.

The Hu makes theme song for Star Wars game www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Mongolian hunnu rock band The HU has made a song in a fictional ‘alien’ language for the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order action-adventure game.

Sport Relief forced to scrap Mongolia trek for new challenge over coronavirus fears for Nick Grimshaw and co-stars www.metro.co.uk

Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Mongolia www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Moody's conducts periodic reviews through portfolio reviews in which Moody's reassesses the appropriateness of each outstanding rating in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. Since 1st January 2019, Moody's issues a press release following each periodic review announcing its completion.

Mongolia launches campaign to help China fight coronavirus www.montsame.mn

The government of Mongolia has decided to launch a campaign to provide assistance to China to help contain the outbreak of coronavirus and appointed Minister of Environment and Tourism N.Tserenbat as a head of a working team responsible for the campaign.

Aviation industry revenue drops 5 percent www.zgm.mn

In January, revenue from the aviation industry amounted to MNT 31.1 billion, a decrease of five percent from the same period of the previous year. This was mainly due to the restriction made under the prevention of coronavirus outbreak in Mongolia. However, rail revenue reached MNT 62.7 billion, up 15.2 percent from January 2019. This was mainly due to freight earnings and mining products, in particular, iron ore and zinc concentrates. During the same period, the number of passengers by air increased by 3.4 percent and the number of passengers by rail increased by 19.4 percent respectively.

Inflation reaches 5.6 percent in January www.zgm.mn

In January, inflation stood at 5.6 percent, which is lower than the central bank’s target. Thus, it has been fluctuating around 5 percent for the last three months in a row. The weakening effect of supply factors also triggered inflation to stabilize. Meat prices, which have been increasing by 30 percent and burdening the CPI, decreased by about 16 percent. On the other hand, this indicates a slowdown in economic growth. At the end of 2019, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) proposed the central bank to reduce its interest rate and support the economy. However, the policy rate remained untouched at 11 percent. The inflation is likely to gradually slow down to around six percent under the influence of supply factors in the first three quarters of this year. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the central bank anticipates that the baseline effects will grow slightly and the inflation may stabilize around the target level.

MIAT selects Sabre for ambitious growth plan www.news.mn

National carrier ‘MIAT’ Mongolian airlines announced yesterday (18 February) a new alliance with the Sabre Corporation, which is a technology and software company powering the global travel industry. The long-term agreement to implement Sabre’s market intelligence global demand data solution will, it claims, “provide robust market insights as the airline moves forward with highly ambitious growth plans.”