Mongolia, Kazakhstan to build gold and silver refining plant www.akipress.com

Mongolia and Kazakhstan established an agreement on building and commissioning a gold and silver refining plant during a Mongolia-Kazakhstan Business Forum held on October 11 in Nur-Sultan, Montsame reported.

Nationwide harvesting reported www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. During the spring sowing 2019, 512.0 thousand hectares were cultivated for crop, including 364.8 thousand hectares for grain of which 340.0 thousand hectares were for wheat; 14.8 thousand hectares for potatoes, 8.0 thousand hectares for vegetables, 82.4 thousand hectares for oil plants and 42.0 thousand hectares for fodder plants.

Singapore overtakes US as world's most competitive economy www.cnn.com

Hong Kong (CNN Business)Singapore has knocked the United States out of the top spot in the World Economic Forum's annual competitiveness report.

Facebook's digital currency dealt another blow www.bbc.com

Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency must not go ahead until the company proves it is safe and secure, according to a report by the world biggest economies.

In a blow to the social media giant, the report by the G7 group of nations warns cryptocurrencies like Libra pose a risk to the global financial system.

The draft report outlines nine major risks posed by such digital currencies.

It warns that even if Libra's backers address concerns, the project may not get approval from regulators.

The warning comes just days after payments giants Mastercard and Visa pulled out of the Libra project, citing regulatory uncertainty.

The G7 taskforce that produced the report includes senior officials from central banks, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board, which coordinates rules for the G20 economies.

It says backers of digital currencies like Libra must be legally sound, protect consumers and ensure coins are not used to launder money or fund terrorism.

While the report, which will be presented to finance ministers at the IMF annual meetings this week, does not single out Libra, it says "global stablecoins" with the potential to "scale rapidly" pose a range of potential problems.

Stablecoins like Libra are different to other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, because they are pegged to established currencies such as the dollar and euro.

Stifle competition
While this is designed to limit big swings in their value, the report says global cryptocurrencies like Libra can pose problems, including for policymakers setting interest rates.

The report also warns that Libra could stifle competition among other providers and even threaten financial stability if users suddenly suffer a "loss of confidence" in the digital currency.

The draft report says: "The G7 believe that no stablecoin project should begin operation until the legal, regulatory and oversight challenges and risks are adequately addressed".

It also cast doubt over the viability of the project even if Libra's backers satisfy concerns raised by governments and central banks.

"Addressing such risks is not necessarily a guarantee of regulatory approval for a stablecoin arrangement," the report says.

Facebook is facing intensifying international scrutiny of its cryptocurrency project.

A separate FSB report, published on Sunday, warned that the introduction of "global stablecoins" poses a host of regulatory challenges.

Launch delay
In a letter to G20 finance ministers, Randal Quarles, FSB chairman, warns that these challenges "should be assessed and addressed as a matter of priority".

The FSB is working with officials around the world to identify potential regulatory gaps, and will publish a report next summer.

Facebook has already warned that regulatory scrutiny may delay or even impede the launch of Libra.

Libra is not the only digital currency that faces scrutiny.

JP Morgan's JPM Coin, which is backed by US dollars, is a stablecoin that is also likely to be examined.

'Pressure builds'
The Libra Association, including Facebook, will hold its first board meeting in Geneva on Monday.

As well as Mastercard and Visa, Stripe, eBay and Paypal have also withdrawn from the scheme, which is also backed by ride hailing companies Uber and Lyft.

The G7 report acknowledges that cryptocurrencies potentially provide a faster and cheaper way to move money and make payments and says the current system is often "slow, expensive and opaque".

There are currently 1.7 billion unbanked and underserved consumers who could benefit from wider access to financial services, it adds.

Facebook and the Libra Association declined to comment. A G7 spokesman could not be reached for comment.

However, Facebook's executive in charge of the Libra project said earlier this month that losing the backing of major firms was "liberating". David Marcus added: "You know you're on to something when so much pressure builds up."

Mongolian parliament backs new embassies in Abu Dhabi and Minsk www.news.mn

At its plenary session on Friday, (October 11) the Parliament discussed and approved proposals for the establishment two new embassies in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates and Minsk, the capital of Belarus as well as opening a General Consulate in Manzhouli, a city in the eastern part of China’s Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. The proposals were presented by D.Tsogtbaatar, Minister of Foreign Affairs to parliament.

Mongolia ranks 102nd in Global Competitiveness Report www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. The Global Competitiveness Report series released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) introduced this year’s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), in which Mongolia scored 52.6 point and stood at 102nd out of 141 countries. It means that the country showed a 0.1-point decline or dropped by 3.

Big shareholder backs Rio Tinto to fix Mongolia www.afr.com

One of Rio Tinto's biggest Australian shareholders backed chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques to find a way through the company's troubles in Mongolia, saying it was "always going to be a tricky place to invest" and the Australian Foundation Investment Company has confidence issues delaying its copper mine there will be resolved.

From Mongolia to Iraq, the stories of Liverpool's global love affair www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

There are few football clubs with the global appeal of Liverpool. From Africa to Asia, South America to South Australia, there are vocal supporters, as passionate and faithful as those who live on Anfield Road.

The scale of LFC’s global fanbase has been made more apparent by the many pre-season tours of the last few years. This is now a truly modern club – perhaps the biggest in the world – connected to all corners of the Earth by the internet, by social media and fan forums.

On a Saturday afternoon, it is not just at Anfield where fans gather to watch their team, to sing You’ll Never Walk Alone and feel a part of something. It is in Ulaanbaatar, in Nova Scotia, in Kigali and in Buenos Aires too.

LFC Stories spoke to several fans from around the world on supporting the club from afar, and the inimitable appeal of Liverpool for people of all backgrounds.

Amarsaikhan Orso – Mongolia

I live in Ulaanbaatar – the capital city of Mongolia. I watched the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain on a black and white TV as an 11-year old boy, which is probably my earliest recollection of being drawn to football as a sport. Back then Mongolia was under a socialist regime; we had a single national and one other Russian channel. It was a lucky chance that the Russian team was participating that year, so I was able to watch multiple games broadcasted.

My father who worked for a political party read a lot of Russian newspapers, including Soviet Sport (now Sport Express) and Football & Hockey. I found out about Liverpool, which was dominating the fields of England and Europe, from the publications and was instantly a fan of players such as Ian Rush. After watching the FIFA World Cup in 1982, I decided to root for the team of England. Maybe I was drawn to their style since as a kid I liked to play as a winger and do header goals.

At the start of 2000, I started working as a brand manager to import the Carlsberg beer from Copenhagen, Denmark to Mongolia. Now everyone knows that Carlsberg was the main sponsor of our team at the time. I’d like to believe that at this point, I connected with Liverpool on a deeper level and it became a very special part of my life.

After the 2005 Istanbul final, Liverpool fans in Mongolia experienced a spike in numbers. During that time, social media platforms weren’t as prominent as they are now, so we used to gather on sports forums to discuss our opinions, predictions, and commitment to our club. This was a start of great friendships and companionships within the fan club. In 2009, a couple of fans decided to organise a meet up and proposed the idea of creating the fan club, which officially opened on 7 November 2010. I was chosen as the Head of the Fan club and I am still carrying the role to this day with pride.

Within the fan club, we have organised various games and events such as The Reds` League and Reds` Cup. It’s become a habit of ours to gather and watch the games together for the Champions League games. Over 1500 Kopites came together to watch on TV this year`s Champions League Final in Madrid. We have been included in multiple promotional videos of Liverpool FC and we are extremely happy about being a part of this global fan base.

MBD will represent "Reed Exhibitions International" in Mongolia www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com

Reed Exhibitions International is a business unit of the RELX Group which is the global conglomerate listed on the London and Amsterdam Stock Exchanges.

Bye-bye Boeing: Russia’s biggest airline cancels 787 Dreamliner order www.rt.com