Mongolia performs ninth successful liver transplant www.news.mn

Yesterday (January 23rd), surgeons from the National Centre for Cancer Research successfully performed their 9th liver transplant surgery. The operation took 15 hours with a team of 47 staff involved. The surgery was observed by representatives from the Irkutsk Regional Cancer Center who were there to observe the practices carried out by their Mongolian counterparts.

Four tons of traditional pastries delivered to the US www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/ ‘Anglo Freight’ Mongolia-the US joint company had four tons of Mongolian traditional pastries (Ul Boov) transported earlier last year’s Tsagaan Sar traditional holiday at the order of Mongolians in the USA. For this year, orders have increased, said D.Oyunbileg, general director of the company.

Putin vows to launch first Russian-built nuclear plant in Turkey in 2023 www.rt.com

One of Russia’s major energy projects in Turkey, the Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP), will soon become operational. It is expected to provide 17 percent of the country’s electricity needs.
“The implementation of a large-scale project for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Turkey, Akkuyu, is under way and complies with the schedule. They are building its first power unit, which we plan to launch in 2023,” Russian President Vladimir Putin announced.

China blocks Bing; Ghosn quits Renault; Central bankers talk www.cnn.com

New Delhi (CNN Business)1. Bing blocked in China: China just took Microsoft's search engine offline.

Microsoft confirmed on Thursday that Bing is "currently inaccessible" in China and said it was trying to figure out what was going on.
Bing is the last major foreign search engine operating in China after Google (GOOGL)pulled out in 2010, but it accounts for only 2% of the market.
US tech companies like Google, Facebook (FB)and Twitter (TWTR) have been largely blocked from the Chinese internet for years, but Microsoft (MSFT) has been able to operate a local version of Bing after agreeing to censor search results.
It was not immediately clear why Bing was taken down. Microsoft's president and chief legal officer, Brad Smith, said it's not the first time the company has encountered this kind of issue.
"These do arise periodically," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "But we're not aware of any ongoing negotiation or disagreement so we're working to understand it better."
Microsoft's setback comes as China and the United States are locked in a widening confrontation over technology and access to each other's markets that experts warn could be the start of an economic cold war.
2. Ghosn out: Carlos Ghosn has stepped down as head of Renault.
The high-profile auto executive, who has been in a Tokyo jail for more than two months, resigned as chairman and CEO of the French carmaker Wednesday night, a spokesperson for France's finance ministry said. The French government owns a 15% stake in Renault (RNLSY).
Ghosn's arrest on November 19 and subsequent detention has strained the global alliance he built between Renault, Nissan (NSANF) and Mitsubishi Motors. Japanese prosecutors have accused him of financial misconduct during his time as head of Nissan, charges Ghosn denies.
Nissan and Mitsubishi both fired him as chairman soon after his arrest. Renault is due to hold a board meeting on Thursday at which it is expected to name a new chairman and CEO to replace Ghosn.
Among the likely candidates are Chief Operating Officer Thierry Bolloré, who was appointed acting CEO after Ghosn's arrest. Jean-Dominique Senard, who is set to step down as CEO of tire manufacturer Michelin (MGDDY) later this year, could be named Renault chairman.
3. Central bankers talk: The European Central Bank will host its first policy meeting of the year on Thursday, with investors watching for signs that the continuing global slowdown could dent the region's growth, and delay the first ECB rate hike since 2011 expected this year.
"Risks are mounting that the current slowdown could be longer and deeper than the ECB had expected," Florian Hense, an economist at Berenberg, said in a note Thursday. Almost all economic data since the bank's last meeting in December has been "disappointingly weak with no sign that the current slowdown could peter out soon," he added.
Slowing economic growth, and the limited ability of central banks to fight it, has been a major talking point in Davos this week. The International Monetary Fund downgraded its global growth forecast on Monday shortly after China reported its slowest annual growth since 1990.
Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda and Bank of England governor Mark Carney will speak at Davos on Thursday.

Mongolia: Warning of a “kids’ crisis” as influenza outbreak grips www.media.ifrc.org

Ulaanbaatar/Beijing/Geneva, 24 January 2019 – An outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1) in Mongolia has been called a “kids’ crisis” by the Mongolian Red Cross Society, with children under five accounting for more than two-thirds of cases reported up to 18 January.

Mongolia hosts conference on GAP www.apo-tokyo.org

The conference helped reach a consensus on GAP standards to accelerate organic agriculture development in Mongolia.

China-aided development center for disabled children handed over to Mongolia www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The handover ceremony of the China-aided development center for children with disabilities was held in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator on Thursday.

“We have better products and more knowledge,” says cooperative head. People in Need supports business in rural Mongolia www.clovekvtisni.cz

The majority of rural Mongolia still relies on herding as their main source of income. While farming, animal husbandry, and agriculture are also present in rural areas, entrepreneurs of small businesses lack the capacity to access information on financial resources and to develop income-generating activities.

In 2011, the government of Mongolia launched an initiative called the Soum Development Fund (SDF) to provide soft loans to rural entrepreneurs and help them finance their business endeavors. In order to access the SDF, entrepreneurs need to learn to write market fit business proposals, gather information about funding opportunities, and develop market linkages.

People in Need is supporting this process. Together with partners Mongolian Cooperative Training and Information Center (MCTIC), Knowledge Network (KN), and Mongolian Women Lawyers’ Association (MWLA), we are supporting and building capacity of 40 cooperatives, 10 civil society organizations (CSOs) and the local authorities of 10 soums in Arkhangai and Uvurkhangai aimags (provinces). This support is strengthening rural economic development through the Empowered People – Improved Livelihood (EP-IL) project funded by European Union and Czech Development Agency.

“I consider trainings very important to running a business successfully because as a result we have better quality products and better knowledge. Through the project we were able to get almost 70% of our knowledge on business development,” says Bayarmagnai Batsuuri, Chairman of “Ar Arvijin Delgerekh” Cooperative in Tsetserleg city, Arkhangai aimag.

Higher profit and capacity building for herders
Through cooperatives, People in Need indirectly contributes to improved livelihoods for herder families. Galbadrakh Purevsuren’s family joined the Ar Arvijin Delgerkh Cooperative in 2014. “For generations our family has been herding yaks, but since we joined the cooperative we were able to benefit from the animals we take care of and realized that our animals have good quality wool,” says Galbadrakh. They sell the yak wool to the cooperative, and at the end of each year receive dividends from the cooperative. Galbadrakh’s wife, Terbishragchaa, learned how to knit gloves, scarves, hats, and other small items through the trainings organized by the cooperative and sells them through the cooperative as well.

The family builds an additional yurt during the summer to host foreign tourists facilitated by the cooperative. Even though it is a seasonal business, the additional income helps. “The herders used to sell the yak wool to intermediaries and they would not get any further profits. Now as members of our cooperative, the herders are paid bonuses from the price difference,” says Bayarmagnai Batsuuri. “We also provide trainings on how to do business and other trainings that provide different skills to strengthen the herders’ capacity,” he adds.

A business plan as a compass
People in Need supports small entrepreneurs in developing their business plans. “The trainings I attended and the business cases we discussed through the project taught me that a well-developed business plan is an everyday business compass,” says Tungalag Tseren from Arkhangai aimag. After almost 30 years working as an economist at a local bank, Tungalag decided to try baking as a retirement business. She is now running a small bakery which supplies about 20 breads a day to local stores in her 4800 person soum Khotont.

Moreover, the EP-IL project helps CSOs, cooperatives, and other business entities better access locally available funding opportunities. The project disseminates information about the SDF and other funds on a grass roots level, and supports local authorities to improve local governance, citizen’s participation and dialogue between them and business entities.

Fairs and peer-to-peer visits improve market access 
“The project builds the capacity of target civil society organizations, cooperatives and micro, small businesses by delivering them not only cooperative governance, business management and marketing trainings, but also tailor-made trainings such as bee-farming, knitting, leather processing, uncommon vegetable growing, and baking,” Urana Dashtseren, PIN Program Manager, explains.

The project also organized peer-to-peer experience sharing tours, including tours to big national factories, and facilitated the participation of cooperatives in national and local trade fairs and exhibitions to improve market access. It also equipped target CSOs and cooperatives with a tool to develop market demand based business proposals and plans. Now, target groups know about local level funding opportunities, 32 out of 40 cooperatives developed business proposals in collaboration with CSOs, and six of them received loans from local government funds.

Government to support domestic purchase www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The first meeting of Industrial Policy Council at Prime Minister of Mongolia took place on January 23.

Mongolia launches campaign to boost banking sector development www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has launched a campaign to promote the development of its banking sector, local media reported Wednesday.