Countries required to partner in prevention of pandemic www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The 13th Biregional Meeting of National Influenza Centres and Influenza Surveillance in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia Region jointly organized by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization kicked off on August 21.

Over 140 representatives of 28 countries such as the U.S, Australia, Japan, Republic of Korea, People’s Republic of China and Indonesia, specialists of the central and regional offices of WHO, and scholars of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S, and the national reference laboratories for infectious diseases of Australia to discuss global pandemic influenza preparedness and countermeasures.

Minister D.Sarangerel: We must not forget that influenza caused the deaths of 50 million people worldwide

Opening the conference, Minister of Health D.Sarangerel said, “It has been over 100 years since the global spread of influenza that happened in 1918. We must not forget that the virus caused the deaths of 50 million people worldwide due to three breakouts. During this time of globalization where there is a high risk of a breakout with one virus is transmitted from one species to another, creating a new virus, it is required for countries to be always prepared, quickly exchanging information and work in partnership.

And it is for this reason that distinctive characteristic of influenza, cases of influenza in countries, surveillance, countermeasures of countries, laboratory diagnosis, immunization, pandemic preparedness, assessment of countermeasures and further measures of the two regions of WHO will be discussed at the conference.”

Dr. Chin-Kei Lee: Countries must work in partnership for pandemic influenza preparedness

Acting Director for Emergency at the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific Dr. Chin-Kei Lee said, “Countries must work in partnership for pandemic influenza preparedness.

Thus, the international conference on this issue is held annually, with the 13th meeting being successfully held in Mongolia. When the healthcare system is kept at a good level and it is capable of protecting its citizens from infections and diseases, it will not be a big issue even when the issue at hand is quite serious. On the other hand, as infectious diseases are not kept within the border, partnership between countries must be prioritized.”

Deputy Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza Ian Barr said, “Australia’s climate is very similar to the climate of Mongolia. There were a large number of cases for seasonal influenza in 2019. We use our laboratory-based surveillance system for countermeasures against influenza. If there is a case where a person’s death was caused by influenza, we closely monitor our surveillance system to find its cause. This year, the influenza season is starting quite early. In our country, if a person over the age of 75 is contracted with the virus, they are immediately brought to the hospital.”

Dr. and Prof. P.Nyamdavaa said, “The last global flu pandemic was ten years ago in 2009. It was for this reason that the countries of the world began to discuss what they should focus and partner for pandemic influenza preparedness. During this time of climate change, globalization, urbanization and increase in migration, influenza has begun to spread in various countries despite their borders. For instance, when the influenza A (H1N1) was registered as a new virus in 2009, it reached the level of a pandemic within just 3 months, covering over 100 countries.”

At the end of the three-day conference, a guidance book will also be published on ways to prevent cases of influenza, immunization, distinctive characteristics of influenza, and surveillance.

Fitch on Mongolia 2019 discusses Mongolia’s mining and banking sector outlook www.akipress.com

International credit rating agency Fitch ratings organized “Fitch on Mongolia 2019” forum in Ulaanbaatar on August 21, Montsame reports.

Being hosted for the third year, the forum brought together analysts and guests from leading institutions to discuss about opportunities and challenges the Mongolian economy faces today. This year, the Fitch on Mongolia 2019 focused on the Mongolia’s economic and banking sector, its policy challenges as well as mining industry of the country.

Apart from analysts from the Fitch Ratings, delegates from the financial and banking institutions of Mongolia, such as Bank of Mongolia, Development Bank of Mongolia, Khan Bank, Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industries took part in the event to introduce about the policy environment of the economic and financial fields of Mongolia and challenges and opportunities of doing business in Mongolia.

At the panel discussion under the theme “Views on Mongolia’s economic and banking sector outlook, and policy challenges”, guests touched on several issues, including macroeconomic developments and policy priorities, external financing challenges for the sovereign and banks, bank asset quality trends, banking sector capital needs and banks’ growth strategy and challenges. Speakers and guests of the discussion agreed that the Mongolian economy is still dependent on investment and funding from the outside market, which makes the country’s financial environment vulnerable to exchange rate changes. In addition, the developing vibrant democracy sometimes can be too vibrant because of its political instability. Another discussion was held to weigh on the developments and challenges of the Mongolian mining sector, policy framework for mining and non-financial corporates in Mongolia and capital market access for Mongolian corporates.

As the government of Mongolia has long announced the sectors of mining, agriculture and tourism are the three crucial areas to focus on towards the economy development, the participating analysts noted that the country’s potential of export is great.

While the participants of the forum acknowledged that domestic political stability and policy certainty would contribute most to attracting investment in Mongolia, government officials also presented about the government policy and measures being taken in order to build the economic development and reduce the impacts of the global commodity price on the export products of Mongolia.

Also at the event, Andrew Fennell, Director of Asia Pacific Sovereigns of the Fitch Ratings introduced about some key rating drivers for Mongolia. As the Fitch Ratings has recently affirmed Mongolia's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) at 'B' with a stable outlook, the key influencing factors were the country's robust growth outlook, improving fiscal metrics and strong governance indicators as well as its narrow economic base and a volatile political landscape.

Canada grants asylum to Turkish nationals under UN protection in Mongolia www.stockholmcf.org

Eight Turkish citizens whose passports were revoked by the Turkish government and whose legal residence in Mongolia ceased at the end of July traveled to Canada on August 11 immediately after Canada decided to grant them asylum, Bold Medya reported on Thursday.

Mongolia welcomes 215 thousand tourists in the first half of 2019 www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism reported Mongolia received around 215.780 tourists in the first half of 2019. Compared to the same period of last year, the number increased by 6.4 percent or 13 thousand tourists. The highest number of foreign tourists came from Taiwan, China, which is 2020 tourists. The number of Taiwanese tourists to travel in Mongolia increased by 30 percent from that of last year.

Russian army general praises cooperation with Mongolia www.news.mn

O.L.Salyukov, General of the Army and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces, visited Mongolia on 20-22 August.

Mongolians alarmed by alleged Russian radiation cover-up www.newa.mn

Russia has been accused of covering up the extent of radioactive contamination after a mysterious explosion at a military site in the country’s remote northwest. Elevated radiation levels — of up to 16 times the average — were detected 40 km from the city of Severodvinsk in the aftermath of the event, according to The New York Times.

Market value up 4.83 percent in H1 www.zgm.mn

Market value increased by 4.83 percent, to MNT 2.6 trillion in the first half of 2019. Total of 376.9 million shares worth MNT 82.3 billion was traded at the primary and secondary market in the reporting period. 79,800 government securities worth MNT 7.9 billion were traded Trade at the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) totaled MNT 90.2 billion, increasing by MNT 12.1 billion or 16.1 percent compared to the same period of last year. Stock trading accounts for 91.24 percent or MNT 82.3 billion, government securities trading 8.76 percent or MNT 7.9 billion of the total trade.

Copper price bears “overlooking decent fundamentals” www.mining.com

The price of copper came under pressure again on Thursday amid worries about a global economic slowdown, particularly in manufacturing, vital to overall demand for the bellwether metal.

Mongolia’s renewable energy potential to attract greater investment www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On the first day of the Boao Forum for Asia Ulaanbaatar, B.Byambasaikhan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Business Council of Mongolia delivered a presentation on the business and investment opportunities in Mongolia. “The Boao Forum for Asia international event being held in Mongolia is not a coincidence. Mongolia’s presence on the platforms of the Asia and the Pacific region is regularly increasing and its relations with its southern neighbor, China are developing on a higher level. I believe, for the purpose of maintaining this relationship stable, economy and businesses of the two countries should be more open to local business companies, which will result in successful accomplishment of infrastructure and other projects” he said. Chairman B.Byambaikhan also emphasized about the Mongolia’s potential of exporting its renewable energy, which is confirmed by various studies and more detailed research are being performed at the moment regarding its possibility.

State policy on tourism approved in Mongolia www.akipress.com

The state policy on tourism was approved today by the government of Mongolia, Montsame reports.