Thank you Ms. Nyamgerel for your kind introduction and your dedication to this compact. Thank you Deputy Minister of Justice and Home Affairs Solongoo, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection Zulphkar, and Deputy Prosecutor General Chinbat for your commitment to countering human trafficking and protecting children.

I am so pleased to join you today to convene the third annual United States-Mongolia Child Protection Compact Partnership dialogue. I am eager to hear about the progress over the past year toward achieving the goals of the CPC Partnership, including identifying and assisting victims and holding traffickers accountable. I am also excited to discuss the next steps as we move into the final year of the partnership to sustain these efforts. I look forward to hearing about plans for the next year, as well as ways the United States can work with Mongolia to solidify the Partnership’s achievements beyond its completion.

From the CPC signing in April 2020 and throughout subsequent efforts to fulfill the commitments set forth in the Partnership, the Government of Mongolia has demonstrated its commitment to this fight. Government officials and CPC implementing partners – World Vision and the Asia Foundation – have navigated many challenges, including a global pandemic, and have successfully adjusted where necessary to advance our shared goals. Over the past three years, the CPC Partnership has provided tools and enhanced government efforts to strengthen the response to trafficking and adapt to a changing environment, so we can continue this critical work to help the most vulnerable.

Through the CPC partnership, we have paired $5.5 million in U.S. funding with the Government of Mongolia’s significant investment of resources and personnel. Together, we are working toward our shared goals of strengthening the Government of Mongolia’s capacity to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers of children in a victim-centered way; to identify and provide comprehensive trauma-informed care for children who are victims of these crimes; and to prevent child trafficking in all its forms.

This investment has yielded important accomplishments in Mongolia, including the establishment of the Multi-Disciplinary Task Force. I am happy to see so many of members of the task force here today. I am interested to hear how the Government of Mongolia plans to institutionalize and strengthen the Task Force so they can continue to assist victims and coordinate the response to trafficking cases. I was also glad to have witnessed the opening of five child friendly spaces in coordination with the National Police here in Ulaanbaatar. These spaces provide a place where children can get the support they deserve from the criminal justice system. It is important to note that these Child Friendly Spaces are staffed by people who have received advanced training and are prepared to ensure sustained, trauma-informed and age-appropriate care to children.

I am eager to learn more about the great work you are doing and the commitment from the Government of Mongolia and our implementing partners to help children. As part of this work, I encourage the Mongolian government to prioritize its own investment in anti-trafficking efforts. In particular, I would ask authorities across sectors to commit to improved efforts to identify suspected child trafficking victims and refer them to appropriate medical care. Improving identification of victims is a top priority of the CPC Partnership as the first step to ensure child victims receive appropriate support and care, as well as the justice they deserve. This must also include male victims of trafficking and victims of labor trafficking, who are often overlooked. As leaders on the front lines of this fight, you understand that identifying victims is a sign of progress, not failure. I urge you to talk about these issues with your colleagues and dispel any lingering misperceptions that identifying trafficking victims reflects poorly on the Government of Mongolia. I ask you today to pledge to redouble your efforts to identify victims so we can help as many children as possible in the final year of the Partnership.

Further, additional resources are needed to sustain the work of the CPC Partnership, including long-term staffing and maintenance of Child-Friendly Spaces, as well as institutionalization of the training and protocols we have developed. The Partnership’s final year must focus on sustainability so that children will continue get the assistance they deserve for years to come. I ask you to commit to ensuring sufficient resources to combat human trafficking and to provide trauma-informed support and assistance to victims, including children.

This morning, we will hear from various stakeholders, including Mongolian government officials and our implementing partners. We will hear about their accomplishments over the past year, challenges that remain, and plans for the coming year. I am especially interested to learn more from ministries and agencies about the government’s contributions to this Partnership, and how these contributions are improving outcomes for victims – particularly in victim identification, referral, and protection. I also look forward to hearing about plans to sustain the achievements of the partnership beyond the conclusion of U.S. funding next year.

Thank you again for joining us today and for your commitment to combat human trafficking. We have made great progress together, and I am confident we will achieve even more as we continue to work together to protect the children of Mongolia.

At the invitation of the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, the President of Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa is paying a State Visit to the French Republic on October 10-14, 2023.

During the Visit, the President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher paid a courtesy call on the President of Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa on October 11, 2023.

President Khurelsukh congratulated the President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher on his re-election as President of the Senate, winning the recent parliamentary elections in France.

The President of Mongolia expressed satisfaction with the development of relations between Mongolia and the French Republic with the efforts of the two countries. He also appraised the crucial role of close cooperation between the legislative bodies of Mongolia and France in creating a favorable legal environment for expanding cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

The two sides exchanged views on enriching bilateral relations and cooperation with economic and investment content and support each other in achieving the common goals of bringing the relations between Mongolia and the French Republic to a Strategic Partnership.

French Senate President Gérard Larcher wished the President of Mongolia success on his State Visit to France. The French Senate President expressed his commitment to supporting all efforts aimed at expanding Mongolia-France relations and cooperation, besides the cooperation of parliamentary friendship groups of the two countries.

Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa signed the Senate Hall's Honorary Guest Book, leaving a message.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is forecasting 2023 GDP growth for Mongolia of 5.5%, following on from last year’s 5.0%.

Mongolia will likely see a 4.5% GDP expansion in 2024, the Fund added in its newly published World Economic Outlook (WEO) October 2023 edition.

The IMF, which cautioned that the global economic recovery remains slow, with growing regional divergences and little margin for policy error, also gave revised consumer price and current account balance projections (see Mongolia highlighted in tables below).

In an executive summary of the latest WEO, the IMF said: “The global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remains slow and uneven. Despite economic resilience earlier this year, with a reopening rebound and progress in reducing inflation from last year’s peaks, it is too soon to take comfort.

“Economic activity still falls short of its prepandemic path, especially in emerging market and developing economies, and there are widening divergences among regions. Several forces are holding back the recovery. Some reflect the long-term consequences of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and increasing geoeconomic fragmentation. Others are more cyclical in nature, including the effects of monetary policy tightening necessary to reduce inflation, withdrawal of fiscal support amid high debt, and extreme weather events.”

B.Choijulsuren, Minister of Energy, reported:

- U.Khurelsukh, President of Mongolia will attend the "Belt and Road" international forum in China next week. During the forum, Mongolia and China will sign several documents. One of them is a loan agreement for the Erdeneburen hydropower plant. And relevant decisions of Chinese government agencies have been made. Preparations from Mongolian side have been made.

Loan of USD 253 million, 95% of the total cost of the Erdeneburen hydropower plant construction project which is USD 266 million, will be received from China. The loan term is 20 years, and the interest rate is 2%. The loan repayment will start after seven years.

According to the government resolution, I will sign the loan agreement. The Ministry of Finance will represent the government as the client, and the energy system of the western region will participate as the borrower. If the loan agreement is concluded in October, the plant will be operational after five years. This means that the loan will start to be repaid two years after its commissioning.

We spoke with Ms. Matilda Dimovska, who has taken the role of UNDP Resident Representative in Mongolia since September 4. In her role, Ms. Dimovska acts on behalf of the UNDP Administrator and as the Head of the Country Office, has the overall responsibility for the operational activities of UNDP in Mongolia. In her interview, she shared her first impression of Mongolia and her insights on accelerating sustainable development in Mongolia.

There are many newly appointed representatives and delegations coming into Mongolia, and I am very much delighted to see, in particular, female representatives amongst them including Chinese Ambassador. I would like to start our interview with your first impression of Mongolia since you came here only a month ago?

I am extremely excited to come to Mongolia as I have never visited the country before. Out of many critical indicators to define the beauty of Mongolia, the two things stand high in my first impression of Mongolia from the very fresh eyes as I came here only a month ago as you mentioned. First, the uniqueness and second the potential of the country. And I see my job to bring the uniqueness and the potential to their full utilization for the benefit of Mongolian people. The uniqueness of Mongolia is deeply rooted in its eternal blue sky, nomadic culture, wide landscapes, and the resources of young population who are so eager to modernize and bring their voices in society. The question then becomes how to blend all these different critical aspects and uniqueness of the country to serve the development needs, the needs of both people of the country and the government.

Speaking of potentiality of the country, I see the commitment and understanding of the criticality of sustainability of the development including the Sustainable Development Goals during my meetings and inclusive consultations with a number of representatives from different sectors including the government, media, development organizations, and business and banking sectors since I arrived in Mongolia. The deep commitment towards sustainable development, in fact, denotes the great potential of the country. If it is combined with the willingness of the people, the commitment becomes a great asset and a resource for collective willpower. Then, the question becomes how to tailor all these commitment and willpower towards the development path or the development solutions that augment human development respective of everyone. Everyone means, in the current world, people from all generation including old and young. The new growth model emerges around the world and across different regions. The UNDP focuses on ways and methods to incorporate its main pillars into the

development of Mongolia.

You also worked in post-communist countries before. What do you see as similarities and differences between those countries? What makes Mongolia distinguished from other post-soviet countries you worked?

I have been privileged to have worked in post-communist countries before. In any of those countries, there are differences as well as similarities. Both of which have to be well-considered. In terms of similarities, those are the countries that have legacies in their system inherited and they underwent profound political, economic, and social transformation. There are many important aspects emerged as common in result of dramatic structural changes such as the criticality of the governance system, public administration, and civil servants. Moving away from central economy to a marked based economy requires significantly long time and capacities of institutions to lead the changes which marks the common challenges in transformation faced by all these countries.

The nomadic culture and traditions that Mongolia has in addition to sparsely populated territory indicates the foremost uniqueness of the country. Mongolia’s economy is hugely dependent upon mining which certainly has benefits but also comes with risks in terms of environmental sustainability and the impact of the growth that’s based on extraction of natural resources on the planet. In terms of geopolitical aspects and location of the country, Mongolia rests between the two important global players shaping its foreign policy as well as development options for the country. These are the factors that places Mongolia different from other post-communist countries, yet are extremely important to determine the development of the country. I agree that I have come with vast work experience in post-soviet countries but it is crucial to apply the importance of that experience into the uniqueness of Mongolia and support the country in its quest for a growth model that will serve for human development and responsible for future generation.

UNDP within the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework has adopted Country Programme document for Mongolia between 2023-2027 which has set forth the program priorities for the country’s develop-

ment. Can you please share with us the special features of that programme?

UNDP Country Programme is the compact agreement with the country indicating what the UNDP will be focusing on for the next five years. This is the document firmly anchored in the government’s development aspirations and is an integral part of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework as the UNDP is the prominent member of the UN development

system in the country. It covers five years and the outcomes are regularly reviewed. We have to be sure to respond to what needs to be improved and as accordingly we adjust the program from time to time. This year marks the first year of the implementation of this country programme document. We agreed to work towards three main directions of changes in which the UNDP aims to carry out positive contributions to the country including first, supporting the economy that is diversified, inclusive, and green. Second direction is focused on supporting climate adaptation as Mongolia is very much affected by climate change by strengthening mechanisms for sustainable and inclusive management of natural ecosystem and resources. Third, we aim to support institutional capacities to improve transparency and accountability and reduce corruption through an approach to inclusive governance based in human rights and promotion of gender equality as a pre-condition for other aspects of development to happen. Broadly speaking, the mandate of the UNDP, in general, is to support any country for its attainment and successful implementation of SDGs. We are now in the midst of implementing Sustainable Development agenda, yet we have seven more years to go. Two weeks ago in New York, leaders of the world met, discussed the state of the implementation of the SDGs, and determined the need to accelerate its implementation. In Mongolia, we need to dig deeper and look into several main areas as triggers for positive changes in other areas and sustainable development. We very much reflect upon integrated approaches to establish access to energy, transition to renewables, improvement of development projectors that will reach the gap between policy and implementation, and effective mobilization of financing derived from public funds to achieve sustainable development.

As mentioned earlier, in the compact agreement established with the government as well as in the priorities of the UNDP, the promotion of gender equality and participation of women specifically at a decision-making level, takes up a great importance. Within the last years, Mongolia has been active in terms of promoting gender equality. What is your

stance on the implementation of gender equality in the country? How satisfied areyou with the Mongolia’s performance

and progress achieved in the promotion of gender equality thus far?

Many thanks for this question. I am very much thankful that our work in gender equality has been well recognized and am very pleased to have our donors’ support including KOICA. With their support, we are able to support women’s empowerment, in particular, women’s political participation. We are very pleased and proud of the fact that UNDP is contributing to the collective state of thinking and is able to push women for a stronger political participation that resulted in 30 percent of quota in the electoral code for women’s participation nomination. This is, in fact, a great accomplishment. We are keen to support the implementation of this decision. Indeed, this increased gender quota could become key anchor in increasing number of female Members of Parliament in the coming elections. On the other side, increased participation of women in the parliament for the upcoming election demonstrates the possibility of the ways to break the cycle of traditional stereotypes in the country that harm women. Mongolia has been indeed progressive in many indicators showcasing gender equality, but there is still some sort of restrictions. Men and women have not been equally seen in decision-making processes. I will give you only two examples. The country currently ranks 133rd out of 190 countries in terms of women's representation in decision-making, with only 17 percent of parliamentary seats held by women, falling below the global average of 26 percent. Second, we recently conducted studies on perceptions of women in decision making among public. Strikingly enough, the result from the Gender and social norms Index published by the UNDP this year, showed that 97 percent of the people believed that men become a better fit for political engagement and better political representatives which illustrates the predominating traditional norms and stereotypes against women and explains why women in general have lack of political participation in Mongolia. This, of course, can be changed and will be changed to create equal access to not only the decision making but also to economy and other sectors. We need to change the stereotypes and traditional norms that describe women as good in certain sectors such as textiles in some countries. In order to create green and inclusive economy, women’s participation is equally important.

As we have seen from your biography, you have held a number of leadership roles in many different countries. We see that women face many obstacles and challenges on their way to achieve a leadership position. Giving your experience, what were the challenges you observed in your career and can you please share with us the situation of gender equality in your home country, the Republic of North Macedonia?

I have been very lucky to have held different levels of positions including leadership positions in my career. I believe that my experience resembles that of many women holding leadership roles. Occasionally, we have to face subtle stereotypes and have to double our efforts to succeed which put us in situations where we feel like we need to work extra hard. Navigating in this male-dominated world indeed requires an extra effort. Most of the times, it comes at the expense of family. I think many women, who progressed in their career to leadership roles, share these similar experiences.

In my home country, North Macedonia we do have gender quotas and adopted lots of regulations to support women’s participation. But having them on paper is one thing and implementing them in reality is different. I get upset when I hear about women still play traditionally seen roles and they accept that roles. Supporting women’s participation means to break the cycle of stereotypical views and norms and to make everyone including the women themselves aware of gender equality. It is about knowing what the gender equality is all about, challenging the stereotypes, and working together with citizens and civil society organizations to break the cycle. I would say it as a call to societal effort which is extremely

important to promote gender equality.

Could you please share with us your educational background and your journey to be part of UNDP?

I am an economist and I hold Master’s degree in Economic Policy and Development. By being economist has helped me in my career. I have spent almost 20 years of my career at the UNDP holding different roles and positions. I served as UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Uzbekistan which provided me the abundant-ly good work experience with the UNDP. I also led the Country Office Support Team at UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub for Europe and the CIS and in that capacity, I supported Country and Project Management Offices in the region. I also worked as Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Turkey, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Moldova, which was the country fast transiting into democratic system

and Assistant Resident Representative of UNDP in Georgia. I love the development and I think supporting the development of the country is exceptional work that the UNDP carries out. Being part of it is a big privilege to me. Before joining the UNDP, I also worked with the private sector in my home country where I was managing the finances of one of the major private companies. I also worked at the government. I have combination of work experience from private, public, and international development sectors which I think is useful, at least in my case, to easily relate myself to the interest of different sides of the development and bring them together.

What kinds of work does the UNDP undertake to support the government’s effort to fight against corruption?

Thank you for that question. Certainly, the good governance is one of the key components of the priorities of the UNDP stipulated in the agreement with the government. Corruption is the impediment to the development for obvious reasons for misuse of resources that could have been devoted to better enhancement of health and education. It reduces societal trust in the government and it definitely is the main area of focus of the work that we will do in the future. In Mongolia, UNDP has been supporting the anti-corruption efforts ever since the establishment of its operation in Mongolia. We are very much proud at the establishment of our cooperation with the Independent agency of Anti-corruption and adoption of the anticorruption law as well as the recent government initiatives. It is great to see the active involvement and activities of that independent agency. Recently, we have also supported the monitoring and reporting mechanisms against corruption which we incorporated based on exemplary cases and experience from Republic of Korea in collaboration with the UNDP’s Seoul Policy Center. Corruption is the critical issue for the development. Over the past one month, I have seen significant potential in anti-corruption efforts including during the opening of the parliament session. UNDP will be looking into more ways to further support the anti-corruption efforts.

How would you incorporate resources and potential of youth in your future works of supporting development of the country?

We have the resources of the UN Youth Advisory Panel and we hope that youth guide us as well. We are very much benefitting from that mechanism. On the other hand, youth still need to be supported to make use of their full potential in addition to providing mechanisms for authorities for their engagement. In particular, I would like to see youth engagement in digitalization and green economy which are the focus of areas at the UNDP. The voice of youth is critical and we will be looking into youth support and engagement much more in the future concerning green transition and more specifically, green energy and transition to renewables which ultimately defines the state of future generation. Hearing their voices, feedback, and support on this subject matter and their engagement in crafting our policy and growth model in respective of that time of transition is extremely important. We don’t need to teach youth on the use of digital tools, they know it much better than those at the government. But they need to be connected to the world and facilitated for making that connection and for tailoring their skills to developing digital economy. Encouraging them to take part in the digital economy brings up the foremost importance and becomes the topic of the future.

TMK Energy Ltd is acquiring the remaining 33 percent stake of Talon Energy Ltd in the Gurvantes XXXV Coal Seam Gas Project in the South Gobi Basin of Mongolia for full ownership of the asset.

TMK and Talon have executed a binding heads of agreement in which TMK will retain ownership of Talon’s 33 percent earned interest in the Gurvantes XXXV project via the acquisition of Talon’s wholly owned subsidiary, Talon Energy Pte. Ltd in a stock and cash transaction.

The proposed acquisition remains subject to both Talon and TMK shareholder approval, targeted for late November. The acquisition is subject to all parties obtaining the necessary corporate, governmental, regulatory, and third-party approvals, consents, and waivers. The transaction completion is expected in early December, TMK said in a statement Wednesday.

The consideration for Talon’s earned rights is up to 1.1 billion fully paid ordinary shares in TMK and up to 550 million listed options in TMK on the same terms as that of the TMK options that currently trade under the ticker TMKOB, exercisable at $0.016 (AUD 0.025) on or before April 30, 2026, according to the statement.

TMK currently owns 67 percent of the Gurvantes XXXV project, which covers an area of 3,243 square miles (8,400 square kilometers) and is in what is considered one of the most prospective coal seam gas basins globally, the company said. The project is located near the Chinese-Mongolian border and is close to the extensive Northern China gas transmission and distribution network and to several large-scale mining operations with high energy needs.

Approximately 90.982 million TMK shares and approximately 45.491 million TMK listed options will be retained by Talon, some of which may be distributed to Talon's advisers to satisfy certain transaction costs resulting from the transaction, with the amount to be determined at the sole discretion of the Talon board.

Under the transaction, Talon is to commit up to $545,600 (AUD 850,000) in cash to satisfy Talon’s obligations to contribute to any funding for expenditure or other commitments under Gurvantes XXXV‘s project agreements.

“After extensive discussions and negotiations with Talon, we are pleased to have reached a binding agreement that consolidates 100 percent of the ownership of our flagship asset within TMK”, TMK Energy CEO Brendan Stats said. “Our most recent operations update confirmed that the Gurvantes XXXV Project Pilot Well Program remains firmly on track and is continuing to meet our expectations, with gas rates and water production all pointing towards a successful long-term test result.”

“Consolidating 100 percent ownership under one well-funded ASX [Australian Stock Exchange]-listed entity provides TMK with full control and flexibility to maximize the value of the Gurvantes XXXV Project for the existing TMK shareholders and the new TMK shareholders from Talon. The proposed transaction has been structured in a way that is highly value accretive for existing TMK shareholders through the consolidation of 100 percent of the project with minimal dilution and provides the incoming Talon shareholders with a zero-cost exposure to the enormous potential of the Gurvantes XXXV Project”, Stats added.

TMK’s largest shareholder Tsetsen Zantav, who has a relevant interest of approximately 32.06 percent, has confirmed that he intends to vote in favor of the Transaction at the upcoming TMK shareholder meeting, the company said in the statement, adding that each TMK director is also in favor of the transaction.

To contact the author, email rocky.teodoro@rigzone.com

On the northern outskirts of Choir, capital city of Mongolia's Gobi Soumber Province, a patch of land of about one hectare has been dug with dozens of trenches. These are not ordinary trenches, but are carefully designed to intercept sand and collect snow.

The patch of land is a part of the experimental demonstration zone of about 20 hectares jointly built by Chinese and Mongolian scientists, who have been exploring ways to achieve ecological restoration of desertified grasslands.

Mongolia has been suffering from serious ecological degradation and sandy desertification, as exemplified by frequent sandstorms in winter and spring, which also affect surrounding countries such as China, the Republic of Korea and Japan.

Winter and spring are snowy and windy seasons in Mongolia, and the flat terrain there allows the wind to disperse sand and snow leeward. "We have been using our Chinese experience to help Mongolia block the flow of sand and make better use of snow, a precious water resource," said Li Shengyu, a professor from Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG), Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He explained that the method called micro-terrain reshape has also been used in places with similar environmental conditions in China, such as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

By digging trenches to a depth of about one meter, and then piling the excavated earth on the sides, an uneven terrain is created. "The rough terrain makes the wind-blown sand and snow flow to accumulate in the trenches, where the snow melts and becomes an important water resource," Li said, adding that they then planted some shrubs and grass in the trenches, which grew well from the sustenance provided by the snowmelt water and sand deposition.

The whole process seems to be simple but the technique lies in the details, said Lei Jiaqiang, a professor at the XIEG.

"For example, we need to adjust the direction of the trenches according to the direction of the wind, and we also need to control the depth of the trenches depending on wind speed. At the same time, the plants planted in the trenches need to be drought-tolerant with high resistance to adversity," Lei added.

Moreover, to prevent the evaporation of the snowmelt water, the Chinese scientists put some new materials in the trenches, such as impermeable sand, a special type of sand that is breathable but does not allow water to permeate.

"We've found that this approach costs less and helps grasslands achieve recovery naturally," Li said.

In addition to this micro-terrain reshape method, Chinese scientists have also applied other techniques to control desertification, such as rapid establishment of protection forests by machine, fly-seeding, enclosing of sandy pastures, and utilisation of the restoration potential of natural ecosystems.

According to statistics from the XIEG, compared with the pre-treatment period, the grassland in the demonstration zone saw a 50 to 208 percent increase in above-ground pasture production, an 88.29 percent reduction in surface sand flux, and a 10 to 45 percent increase in vegetation cover, respectively.

"These positive results prove that this approach has great application prospects, and we hope to promote this model in more areas," said Li.

These cooperation efforts between Mongolian and Chinese scientists have already delivered positive impacts on desertification control and land degradation research, said Akhmadi Khaulenbek, an expert at the Institute of Geography and Geoecology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

"I believe our collaboration will not only positively impact Mongolia, but also other East Asian countries affected by yellow dust storms that originate on the Mongolian plateau. We can solve pressing regional and global issues together and improve the well-being of people," he said.

Desertification is the cancer of Earth, which can spread to other areas, causing environmental and social problems, Lei said.

"The causes of desertification are very complex and are affected by climate change, human activities, geographical environment and so on, and so we need to apply different approaches according to different local conditions," Lei explained.

At present, the XIEG is actively carrying out cooperation on desertification control in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) participating countries, and has set up several demonstration zones in Central Asia and Africa.

"Desertification governance is closely related to sustainable development and building a community with shared future for mankind. In the future, we can make use of more modern technologies, such as big data, artificial intelligence and the BeiDou system, to achieve harmony between human and aeolian environments," Lei added.

Tourist numbers between Russia, China and Mongolia could be restored to pre-pandemic levels in 2024, Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Vakhrukov said at a meeting of the three countries' tourism administration chiefs on Tuesday.

"With all Covid restrictions now lifted, we are seeing a gradual restoration of tourist flows, and we hope that next year, after all our current bilateral and trilateral cooperation mechanisms have been further built upon, tourist flows between our countries will return to the pre-pandemic levels," Vakhrukov said at the meeting in Wuhan, China.

Russia is taking measures to stimulate inbound tourism, he said. These include introducing electronic visas from August 1 for nationals of 55 countries, and some 70,000 people have used the mechanism in the two months since, he said. Another mechanism launched on August 1 is visa-free group travel, thanks to which the number of such visa-free exchanges with China has now reached 60,000 trips, Vakhrukov said.

Russia plans to introduce a Tourist Card by the end of year to simplify cashless payments for foreign tourists, he said.

Russia is also developing its tourism infrastructure by supporting the industry in priority areas through building more hotel rooms and new points of attraction, he said.

For his part, Chinese Vice Culture and Tourism Minister Du Jiang proposed forming common tourist brands, integrating tourism with science, technology and other spheres, and improving the trilateral (Russia-China-Mongolia) mechanisms of tourism cooperation. He also invited Russia to take part in a China outbound tourism international exhibition next month.

In the first half of 2023, Chinese citizens made almost 140,000 trips to Russia. This is more than during the entire pandemic. Over the same period, Mongolian citizens made over 115,000 trips. The number of tourist trips to Russia forecast for the whole of 2023 is 360,000 from China and 250,000 from Mongolia.