The lending marks ADB’s first project loans in Mongolia to focus on tourism and protected area management. They will benefit around 11,000 residents as well as improve local environmental conservation and climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. Khuvsgul Lake in Khuvsgul Lake National Park is Mongolia’s largest freshwater resource, while Onon-Balj National Park is the birthplace of Chinggis Khaan, a revered leader in Mongolia’s history.

“Tourism is the largest and fastest growing sector of the global economy, and Mongolia’s magnificent landscapes and unique heritage can capitalize on this,” said ADB Senior Environment Specialist for East Asia Mr. Mark Bezujien. “That said, ADB’s support will help ensure that tourism growth in Mongolia benefits local residents and preserves fragile environments over the long term.”

In 2017, tourism comprised 11.4% of Mongolia’s gross domestic product (GDP), while generating $1.2 billion in revenue and providing 121,500 jobs. Developing tourism is a government priority to help diversify the economy. By 2028, tourism is forecast to provide 11.0% of GDP, $2.1 billion in revenue, and provide 149,000 jobs. International visitors alone are expected to double to 1 million.

The Sustainable Tourism Development Project will improve planning for community-based tourism that will both support visitors but also create local income generation opportunities. It will also upgrade tourism infrastructure, including tourism centers such as the Chinggis Khaan Tourism Complex and ticket booths, install toilets and other waste management facilities that will benefit both tourists and the host communities, and improve park management to safeguard wilderness areas. It will also pilot test Mongolia’s first tourism concession manuals and eco-certification programs for protected areas.

ADB’s support is aligned with Mongolia’s National Program on Tourism Development, 2016–2030, and promotes the country’s strategies and efforts to diversify the economy, improve climate-resilient infrastructure, protect the environment, and increase economic opportunities for residents in rural areas. The government has identified a range of other sites for ecotourism development. These could benefit from lessons learned under the ADB project.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. In 2018, it made commitments of new loans and grants amounting to $21.6 billion. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

Crowd Credit provides debt capital to peer-to-peer lending platforms, balance sheet lenders, microfinance institutions, leasing/factoring originators or infrastructure, renewable, development projects through its crowdfunding platform based in Japan.

Ard Credit is a publicly listed non-bank finance company licensed by the Financial Regulatory Committee of Mongolia. It is a flagship of Ard Financial Group – a full-service financial holding company. Ard Credit was set up in April 2011 with the goal of providing access to inclusive financial services to Mongolians by leveraging the potential of innovative technologies.

Both organisations will be represented during MFC Annual Conference 2019 in Istanbul starting next days. Meet Ard Credit and Crowd Credit at the Speed Networking Session and Social Investors and Technology Fair!

According to the ministry on Tuesday, it obtained a transcript of the alleged broker mentioning encounters with Ambassador Chung Jae-nam while explaining the details of procuring a visa to South Korea, including associated costs and likelihood of obtaining the document.

Chung is suspected of colluding with the broker and illegally intervening in the South Korean government's visa application review process.

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions representing workers at overseas missions also requested the ministry probe allegations that Chung verbally abused embassy employees, including an incident where he screamed at employees while questioning the whereabouts of leftover food from an event in March.

The incident apparently led to Chung forcefully reassigning the employee in charge of the event.

The diplomat is also accused of misappropriating the embassy budget for personal expenditures.

The airline will provide the service every Monday and Tuesday with a Boeing 737; the travel time will be three hours and 20 minutes.

Established in 1997, SCAT serves over 33 domestic and international destinations with 18 aircraft.

The direct flights between Kazakhstan and Mongolia will support the development of relations and cooperation between the two countries, particularly, in the tourism and business sectors.

According to MBF, there is no way but to acknowledge the fact that there is a need for professional workers in the construction sector. The scope of construction is expanding much further this year in specific as the Government budgeted MNT 1.6 trillion, which is five times higher than in 2017 and doubles the amount of 2018. “The companies are still offering jobs for professional staff; however, the availability of professional labor remains low. There are several reasons for this. For example, the Mongolian labor force in the Republic of Korea has been increasing constantly. We are also working to train young graduates in vocational training and industrial centers, and improve their skills,” addressed a spokesperson of MBF.

49,300 Mongolians are currently living and working in South Korea. In 2014, 64,900 Mongolian citizens had a travel visa to South Korea, which then increased to 108,100 in 2017. Secondly, the labor interests towards the mining industry are causing a decline in construction due to higher labor value and other factors.

There is a lack of sustainability in the construction sector, which is seasonal and stops in the winter. Therefore, the construction workforce creates brigade and it is difficult to build human resources. In particular, construction workers are rarely official. Most of them are temporarily contracted. About 12,000 people graduate from vocational schools, of which 40 percent are working in the industry, according to a survey conducted by MBF.

An official study says over 90,000 people work in the construction sector; however, some studies show that less than 60,000 people are employed. This sector is seasonal, so it is difficult to clearly indicate the number of employees. For this reason, it is hard to train employees and to work with sustainable settlements.

The latter received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Portuguese Republic to Mongolia, Mr. Jose Augusto Duarte, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Spain to Mongolia, Mr. Rafael Dezcallar de Mazarredo, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Swiss Confederation to Mongolia, Mr. Bernardino Regazzoni, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Croatia to Mongolia, Mr. Dario Mihelin, in this regard.

President Battulga welcomed the ambassadors to Mongolia and encouraged them to make efforts towards developing economic, social, and people-to-people relations with Mongolia from Beijing.

During the one-on-one meetings, President Battulga exchanged views with the ambassadors on ways to fully utilize the opportunities for cooperation in the sectors of food, agriculture, light industries, tourism, and energy. President Battulga also gave brief information on certain projects that are ready for implementation in the above-mentioned sectors and expressed his readiness to connect them with the corresponding officials and support their cooperation with the government.

Putin has already greenlighted the project, Kommersant reports, citing a letter from the presidential aide, Andrey Belousov. The adviser to the Russian leader suggested creating a business-plan for the hub to prove its efficiency. The document is reportedly set to be reviewed by the government by September 1.

The construction of the port in the region has been under consideration since the 2000s.

An additional terminal for passengers and cargo is under construction in the same area, in the coastal town of Pionersky.

The new port could potentially attract a cargo base using the federal government support, Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of INFOLine-Analitika told Kommersant. The analyst stressed, however, that it may still face some difficulties in finding investors.

Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Director of the UNESCO Beijing Cluster Office Ms. Marielza Oliveira noted that education is key to achieving all the SDGs. She highly appreciated Mongolia’s achievement in education sector and expressed gratitude for introducing new approach to educational services suitable for herders. In her presentation, Ms. Marielza Oliveira highlighted the link between progress in education and sustainable way of living, poverty reduction and economic growth that does not leave anyone behind. Investing in education will help raise climate change awareness, prevent violence, reduce crime, improve health, nutrition and gender equality, innovate and transform economies, providing skills for green jobs. For education to be transformative in support of the new sustainable development agenda, ‘education as usual’ will not suffice, she noted.

Minister of Education, culture, Science and Sports Yo.Baatrabileg delivered presentation on ‘Challenges and Implementation of the SDGs’. As reflected in the Government Action Plan for 2016-2020, Mongolia aims to provide every child with preschool education, develop secondary education system in line with international standards, ensuring quality, improve the vocational education and higher education system and develop lifelong education system. He also emphasized that Mongolia’s investment in early childhood education is among the highest rate in the world, according to the global report by UNICEF ‘A world Ready to Learn’. However, children of remote rural areas, suburban districts and newly settled residents still not fully enrolled in schools and kindergartens.

Following the presentations, representatives of the IPU member states shared the challenges they face in education sector, measures taken in this regard and their experiences in reducing poverty through education.