Within the five-year agreement, ‘Erdenes Silver Resource’ LLC is to supply fine silver bars with not less than 850-980 percent purity and receive the amount of payment as stated in the agreement. Speaker of Parliament G.Zandanshatar and Governor of the Bank of Mongolia B.Lkhagvasuren witnessed the signing of the agreement by CEO of ‘Erdenes Mongol’ LLC P.Gankhuu, CEO of ‘Erdenes Silver Resource’ LLC T.Munkhbayar and head of Reserve Management and Financial Markets Department of the BoM A.Enkhjin.

During the event, Speaker G.Zandanshatar remarked, “We believe that operations of Salkhit silver deposit will help to increase Mongolia’s foreign currency reserve. The signing of a five-year cooperation agreement between Erdenes Mongol LLC and the Bank of Mongolia lays a foundation to establish a Sovereign Wealth Fund. Article 6.1st of the Constitution of Mongolia reads, “The land, its subsoil, forests, water, fauna, and flora and other natural resources in Mongolia shall belong exclusively to the people and be under state protection.” The income from the deposit will be accumulated at the Sovereign Wealth Fund.”

CEO of Erdenes Silver Resource LLC T.Munkhbayar said, “According to the company’s business plan, it aims to extract and refine 750 tons of silver in five years and sell to the Bank of Mongolia. We plan to refine 25-30 tons of silver in the first year. We could refine 500 kg of silver in a very short period. Today, we are presenting a sample of the fine silver to the State Fund of Treasury, the Bank of Mongolia. From next June, our plant will start operating with its full capacity.”

It has been decided to determine the loan interest rate and term of loans to be issued by commercial banks for reserve meat preparation in accordance with the Mongol Bank policy rate, agreeing with the companies.

The office told Xinhua the loan approved in mid-December will be used to improve livestock health and increase the value of meat, dairy and other livestock products by commercializing targeted value chains at select locations.

"Improving livestock health and livestock productivity by commercializing the value chain will enable greater economic diversification and contribute to broad-based employment and income growth in rural areas and at the same time improve food security and food safety," said Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank country manager for Mongolia.

Mongolia, a landlocked East Asian country, has a vast area of pasture lands. Official data show there are more than 230,000 herder households with livestock animals nationwide, and the number of livestock animals surpassed 66.46 million by the end of 2018.

Despite a great potential for development, Mongolia's livestock sector is faced with major challenges including low productivity, animal health issues, and vulnerability to climate change and extreme weathers, according to the World Bank.

This will be the third time that Ambassador Kobayashi has been appointed as Tokyo’s top envoy to Mongolia. The ambassador’s long experience will be beneficial for expanding economic cooperation and the strategic partnership between Japan and Mongolia, noted President Kh.Battulga.

One of the top projects on the agenda is a railway project connecting the Tavan Tolgoi mine and the Gashuun Sukhait Border Crossing. Tokyo has been paying great interest in the project; it is likely to become an important field of joint cooperation between Mongolia and Japan.

Impostors represent one of the main current challenges in the field of identity fraud. The training aimed at supporting Mongolia in its efforts to decrease the number of criminals crossing its borders under a fake identity, thereby contributing to wider efforts to combat transnational threats in compliance with OSCE commitments and international standards.

Twenty-five experienced representatives of National Police, the General Authority for Border Protection, the National Institute for Forensic Science, Customs General Administration and Immigration, and teachers of the University of Internal Affairs participated in the training.

The event had a strong interactive component, which included practical exercises on recognizing an imposter, hands-on work on original and forged documents, as well as how to use forensic equipment to identify forged documents.

Twenty-five high-quality hand-held magnifiers used during the course were donated by TNTD/BSMU to the participants who interact and screen travellers as part of their daily duties.

As a result, an average salary of the public servants will be between MNT 900 thousand and MNT 1 million and 70 thousand.

ERC's new office building is one of the few buildings in UB with solar electricity generation panels and will supply almost 60 percent of the building's electricity needs. It will reduce greenhouse gas emission by 138 tons a year, contributing to 35 percent emission reduction target of the construction sector.

Mongolia recently updated its ambitions to reduce GHG emissions & increased its promise from 14 percent to 22.7 percent by 2030. Construction sector accounts for 65 percent of total emissions, thus investing in greener buildings offers compelling benefits for mitigating emissions through energy efficiency.

Source: UNDP Mongolia

Minister of Finance of Mongolia Ch.Khurelbaatar and Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of the Development Bank of Belarus Ivan Varenitsa signed separate agreement under the ‘General Agreement on Export Loans between the Governments of Mongolia and Belarus’ on 20 December.

According to requirements and standards for fire fighting and rescue operations, Mongolia’s fire brigades should have nine types of 501 fire-engines. However, only six types of 240 fire-engines are being used in the operations in Mongolia, which make up 48 percent of the required number.