Mongolia bans civil servants from playing in casinos www.xinhuanet.com

ADB: Mongolia’s economy growth seen as positive www.news.mn

Workshop on SME Development Policy takes place www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A workshop titled ‘Supporting SME Development Policy of Mongolia’ is taking place April 2-3, co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ts.Davaasuren delivered opening remarks, emphasizing the importance of improving the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) development policies and taking actions based on the best international practices.

He also noted that with the implementation of the OECD project ‘Enhancing Competitiveness in Central Asia’ access to finance for SMEs was eased, giving the opportunity to expand domestic and foreign markets, increase investments, thereby positively impacting economic growth and employment.

In order to improve access to finance for SME, it was suggested to increase the number and types of services provided by the SME Development Fund, ease collateral requirements of the Credit Guarantee Fund and improve the administrative process for obtaining credit.

The workshop will be conducted in Darkhan city on April 5, involving the local administration and SMEs.

Mongolia’s infrastructure receiving financial boost www.worldhighways.com

Finance packages from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will pay for infrastructure development work in Mongolia. The US$334 million loan from the ADB will be used for five infrastructure projects, with a significant slice being directed towards improving the road connecting capital Ulaanbaatar with Darkhan, Mongolia’s third largest city which lies to the north. This route is of importance as to the north of Darkhan, it crosses the border into Russia and links with Ulan-Ude in East Siberia. Upgrades to regional roads and border crossings will also be amongst the work being prioritised. Meanwhile the $300 million loan from the EBRD will also be used to improve infrastructure.

On track: Russia & China start laying railway across Amur River bridge www.rt.com

Construction companies have started laying rails on a cross-border bridge between Russia and China, Heilongjiang Daily newspaper reports. It will be operational this year and is expected to take bilateral trade to new highs.
The railroad bridge will be part of the long-awaited infrastructure which is aimed at connecting Russia’s Far East with China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province.

U.S. Ambassador supports reforms in judiciary and legal organizations www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/ Parliament Speaker G.Zandanshatar received U.S.Ambassador to Mongolia Michael S.Klecheski on April 1.

At the outset, Mr. Zandanshatar said that Mongolia considers the United States as its third neighbor, while expressing gratitude for its continued support for Mongolia to build its market economy and democracy that respects human rights and freedom.

Mentioning that Mongolia-the U.S. relations are highly valued by Washington, Mr. Klecheski said it is willing to expand bilateral relations in politics, economy and social sectors and render constant support for Mongolia’s goals of prosperity and reforms. The Ambassador was also interested about amendments to the Law on Legal Status of Judges, recently passed by the Parliament.

In turn, Mr. Zandanshatar said, “Our citizens are criticizing judiciary very seriously. There is clear evidence that there are violations of human rights, failures of a principle to work ethically and acts to serve politicians but not to citizens. Our fundamental objective is to combat corruption and white collar crime and build justice. Also, this is what our people desire for. …Acts of some officials of courts, Independent Anti-Corruption Agency and Prosecutor’s Office are a serious threat to Mongolia’s young democracy. Legal organizations that must have a legal control on each other turned into self-defendants and shield of their own illegal acts. We are taking steps to change this immoral system. We aim to have independent, transparent and just judiciary.” He also gave some information on judicial system, legislation and appointments.

Moreover, they also exchanged views on issues to strengthen government, make a reform in public service and implement the Law on Civil Service which has come into force.

One more issue touched upon during the meeting was about the Mongolia Third Neighbor Trade Act. Mr. Zandanshatar requested the Ambassador to back the trade act on duty-free treatment of Mongolian cashmere and other textile garments export to the U.S. Mr. Klecheski said, “Even though it is currently unpredictable what decisions the Congress will make, I, as the Ambassador, will support any initiative on expanding trade and economic relations established with Mongolia.” “Supporting aspirations of you to reform judiciary, we are willing to share experience and train and re-train staff of legal organizations,” added the Ambassador.

During the meeting, Mr. Zandanshatar and Mr. Klecheski emphasized the importance of expanding cooperation between the State Great Khural (Parliament) of Mongolia and the U.S. Congress, organizing reciprocal visits of parliamentarians for sharing experience and intensifying relations of inter-parliamentary groups.

Mongolia keen to strengthen parliamentary cooperation with DPRK: parliament speaker www.xinhuanet.com

Nationalistic purchase-National production-2019 exhibition held www.zgm.mn

"National Production-Public Procurement" 2019 exhibition, which is aimed at connecting local producers with government organizations and promoting products opened at Misheel Expo yesterday. At the event, government agencies reviewed the qualities of goods and services purchased from domestic manufacturers over the years. It also provided advice on how to prepare public procurement, how to obtain a certificate of conformity, and how to manage tender offers.

The Municipality of Ulaanbaatar City has bought more than 100 types of products from domestic manufacturers this year. In 2018, 74 products were purchased at MNT 6.4 billion and this number is expected to increase to MNT 10.6 billion this year. As a result of the exhibition, the sales of domestic factories have increased; thus, the organizers are planning to hold the event annually.

About 150 industrialists and 50 governmental organizations have attended the exhibition. The fair exhibited domestically manufactured wool, leather, and wooden products. Furthermore, several local products, such as construction materials, souvenirs, cosmetics, innovative products, and work clothes were displayed.

The government announced the year 2019 as "Public Purchasing Year", calling for the promotion of national production in order to reduce imports, increase employment and budget efficiency. In February, the government revised the list of goods and services that meet the quality and standards of domestic purchasers. The list included 155 types of products such as machinery, parts, leather, fur, wool, cashmere, woven, felt goods, wood, and packaging.

70 percent of Mongolians use Facebook www.news.mn

The number of Facebook users in Mongolia has reached 2.2 million – no less than 70 percent of the population! The 2019 ‘Social Media and Appropriate Use’ forum has been held at the State House in Ulaanbaatar. The event was jointly organised by the Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC), the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs and the Authority for Family, Child and Youth Development.

Panel discussions are being held at four general sessions, namely: ‘social media usage of Mongolia and international tendencies’; ‘social network security and child protection’; ‘opportunities of social media – creating a positive approach’; and the ‘appropriate use of social media and social media literacy’.

Opening the fourth session, Mr. George Chen, Head of Public Policy for Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mongolia at Facebook, delivered a presentation. He noted that the company is mostly focused on privacy policy and security. He said, that the company will cooperate with Mongolian regulators in fighting fake news and in deleting fake accounts.

Mongolia Subscribes to the IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard www.imf.org

Mongolia subscribed today to the International Monetary Fund’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), the first case where implementation of the enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS) has facilitated advancement to the SDDS. Under the e-GDDS, Mongolia launched a National Summary Data Page—a one-stop online publication portal—laying the foundation for moving to the next tier of IMF data standards, the SDDS. In this process, Mongolia has benefitted from a project in the Improvement of Data Dissemination in the Asia and Pacific Region, financed by the Japanese government, which aims to assist countries to improve data dissemination under IMF’s data standards initiatives.

Louis Marc Ducharme, Chief Statistician and Data Officer of the IMF, welcomed this major milestone in the country’s statistical development. “I congratulate the authorities for subscription to the SDDS. It underscores Mongolia’s strong commitment to transparency, as well as the adoption of internationally accepted best practices in statistics.”

The SDDS, established by the IMF in March 1996, is intended to guide members in the provision of economic and financial data to the public. Subscription to the SDDS enhances the availability of timely statistics according to an advance release calendar, thereby contributing to sound macroeconomic policies and the proper functioning of financial markets. Although voluntary, a subscribing member commits to observe the standard and to provide information (metadata) about its data dissemination practices. This information is made publicly available on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB).

The DSBB now provides comprehensive documentation in English on the statistical practices of Mongolia for SDDS data categories, hyperlinked to country data included in the National Summary Data Page, maintained by Mongolia’s National Statistical Office. Mongolia’s SDDS information is available at http://dsbb.imf.org/Pages/SDDS/CountryList.aspx.