In his opening remarks, Chairman of Ulaanbaatar Railway JVC D.Jigjidnyamaa noted that the forum is being organized within the framework of the 70th anniversary of the company’s establishment. He also expressed gratitude for the support from neighboring countries in facilitating landlocked Mongolia’s trade.

In addition to introducing ongoing railway projects and programs, Chairman D.Jigjidnyamaa informed that Ulaanbaatar Railway will operate the newly established regional logistics center in Zamyn-Uud. We are working to increase competitiveness of Ulaanbaatar Railway in the regional transport market, making it transit corridor linking Asia and Europe and increase the current capacity of 26 million tons up to 30 million by 2020, he noted.

Board member of Monlogistics Worldwide LLC B.Telenged, Head of Mongolian Metallurgical Association L.Bayraakhuu, First Vice Chairman of Ulaanbaatar Railway JVC I.B.Milostnyh and Director General of Mosgiprotrans JSC I.V.Mitsuk delivered presentations at the forum.

Minister of Road and Transport Development, MP B.Enkh-Amgalan noted that Russia-China bilateral trade turnover will soon reach USD 200 billion, while trade turnover between Mongolia and China is to reach USD 10 billion. Thus, Mongolia should be main transit of this major trade turnover. For that, it is necessary to upgrade the railway, especially main structure of the railway, its movable parts and extend the roads, he noted.

He then continued, “in addition to railways, we need to improve the road from the northern border to the southern border. In this regard, 204 km four lane road in route Darkhan-Ulaanbaatar and 20.9 km road in route Nalaikh-Ulaanbaatar are under construction. It is planned to connect the four lane roads to the northern and southern borders in the future. Moreover, we plan to increase the airway transit by cooperating with foreign airlines.”

Minister B.Enkh-Amgalan also noted that Mongolia established cooperation agreements on auto transit with a number of countries and informed about the upcoming agreement with Lithuania at the Economic Forum in St.Petersburg. He also emphasized that the country needs to work actively in the area of auto transit.

Photo exhibition dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Ulaanbaatar Railway opened at the forum.

Particularly, the price of oil decreased by USD 9 per barrel last week, which was a multiple-month sharp drop. However, the decline in crude oil prices will not have immediately trigger Mongolia’s fuel price to decrease. The oil price changes takes longer time to have an effect on Mongolia's economy.

The oil price changes take longer time to have an effect on Mongolia’s economy
The joint council on fuel price held a meeting on Tuesday and submitted a suggestion containing four or five articles. “Global price of oil usually rise in April and May. In addition, commodity prices rose in recent months, due to the Iranian ban and Libya and Venezuela crisis. However, prices are likely to decline this month. This will affect fuel prices in Mongolia from the upcoming month. In particular, the A92 petrol price will slump from June 15th. If the companies that increased the price of fuel without basis refuses to accept our conditions, their licenses will be suspended,” said the Deputy Director of Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia (MRPAM).

Mongolia purchases gasoline and diesel fuel at the price of the Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES). Average prices for Brent crude oil and uranium will be calculated from June 1-25 and import about 10 days from Angarsk, Russia. The price drop of the previous month will make a noticeable change in the economy from the middle of next month as the country accumulates an average rese.

The two-day conference had brought together more than 200 government officials, scholars and representatives from around 20 countries and international organizations, including China, Russia, South Korea, the United Nations and the European Union.

According to Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar, the conference would cover five topics of opportunities and challenges in Northeast Asian security environment, cooperation and competition dynamics in the region, regional energy cooperation, humanitarian challenges in emergency situations, and perspectives for dialogue in Northeast Asia.

Initially intended to facilitate a peaceful solution to the Korean Peninsula issue, the agenda of the conference had been expanded year after year, said Tsogtbaatar.

"There should be new attempts to establish regional security regime that includes all regional states. The Ulan Bator Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security is an excellent move towards this direction," said Yuan Chong, deputy director of Institute of Japanese Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, at the conference.

So far, the enterprise has provided the region with 800 jobs, with the company pledging to create an additional 1,000 jobs during the second stage of the project’s implementation.

Located 40 kilometers from the city of Tula, the new assembly plant is expected to produce 80,000 vehicles annually, with the share of locally-made parts at 30 percent at the initial stage. The Chinese automaker is planning to gradually increase the degree of localization, with production projected to rise to 150,000 cars-per-year.

“With the Tula Factory, we are helping stimulate local economic development as part of the Belt and Road Initiative,” Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, told journalists.

The plant has reportedly become the first full-process plant overseas. The enterprise, which covers all production stages including pressing, welding, painting and integrated assembly, will manufacture Haval Sport Utility Vehicles, reportedly China's leading SUV brand and part of the GWM group.

“I believe our globalization strategy has the potential to go beyond opening international markets – it will propel Haval to be a key player on the global auto stage,” Wei said.

Automobiles from the new factory will also be exported to neighboring countries, bolstering Tula’s foreign exchange income. The Chinese automaker signed a cooperation deal with the regional authorities in May 2014, having become a cornerstone investor in the Uzlovaya Industrial Park.

In early afternoon trading in New York, copper for delivery in July touched a low of $2.62 a pound ($5,775 a tonne), down nearly 2% from Tuesday’s settlement. Copper is now trading more than 20% below levels seen this time last year, technically placing the bellwether metal in a bear market.

Frank Holmes, CEO of US Global Investors, a Texas-based investment company with a long track record in the gold and resource sector, points out in a blog post that the global gauge of manufacturing activity gave the worst reading in seven years in May.

The global Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) slid to 49.8 last month, signalling contraction in factory activity globally for the first time since 2012.

While technically in expansion mode (a reading above 50) US May PMI recorded its worst print since the aftermath of the 2008/09 global financial crisis.

China’s official PMI figures also slid below 50 last month with the employment sub-index tumbling to its lowest level in more than a decade. With the country consuming nearly half the world's copper, the price of the red metal is closely correlated with domestic factory conditions.

According to a new World Bank report, the value of global trade for 2019 has been revised down a full percentage point, to 2.6% — slightly below the pace observed during the 2015-16 trade slowdown and the weakest since the global financial crisis.

The Company has signed a seismic services contract with Mongolian company Micro Seismic. The contract will cover a ~120 km 2D program that targets specific drilling leads (rather than prospects – as advised to the market on 8 May 2019) and is scheduled to commence post final regulatory approvals.

Microseismic have prior experience in acquiring seismic in Elixir’s licence area (for mining companies) and the Company looks forward to working with them over the coming months.

The Company has also recently received formal responses to its drilling tender process which closed last Friday. There were five respondents, which comprised one international drilling company and four Mongolian companies.

In recent days, a number of non-complying approaches have also been received. These responses are currently under review and the Company aims to select a drilling contractor by the end of June.

The drilling campaign, comprising up to three fully tested coal bed methane (CBM) coreholes, will closely follow the seismic program and is currently expected to commence in or around September 2019.

The approvals process continues to progress, with the Company recently completing a Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) for the Nomgon IX area and which has now been lodged it with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism for review and approval. The Ministry’s sign-off of the DEIA is the final regulatory approval Elixir requires prior to the commencement of physical exploration activities.

Elixir’s Managing Director, Mr Neil Young, said:

'Our exploration program in Mongolia is progressing in line with our plans for 2019, which are of course now fully funded. Our engagement processes with local contractors continues to identify strong in-country capabilities. We are targeting specific CBM drilling targets and the seismic program not only supports the refinement thereof but is also designed to support the resource upgrading a successful drilling campaign will deliver'.

The BoM is continuing to inject liquidity to strengthen the weakening exchange rate of the MNT, as well as holding a policy to increase foreign currency reserves. Although the FX reserves have increased by 3-4 times over the past three years, international organizations previously estimated FX rates to stabilize if the reserve expanded by another USD 1-2 billion. Accordingly, the greenback reserves, which currently stands at about USD 3.8 billion, need to to reach at least USD 5.5 billion in the following years.

As of April 18, the BoM purchased USD 660 million from "Oyu Tolgoi", "Erdenet Mining Corporation" and "Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi" LLC this year.

The strategic deposits have a benefit of bringing in foreign currency into the economy that has no available room for making profits except from exporting minerals. Therefore, the private sector representatives were able to raise funds via loan notes in the international market and to expend the accumulated exchanges in the domestic financial markets for the past few months.

Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia, the first private entity that brought in FX notes from foreign investors to Mongolia, is aiming to raise USD 300-400 million bonds from the international market. Tavan Bogd Group is also planning to draw an investment with a net amount of USD 150 million.

The parties reviewed current state of bilateral cooperation in politics, defense, economy, trade, investment, mining, agriculture, construction, infrastructure, education, culture and humanities, discussing further actions.

Minister D.Sumiyabazar emphasized that Canada has been actively supporting Mongolia’s democracy and transition, becoming one of the major investors in Mongolia. It was also highlighted that Canada is an important part of the country’s third neighbor policy.

The sides noted that mining sector will remain as priority of bilateral cooperation and emphasized the importance of furthering diversification of economic cooperation, expanding agricultural cooperation and increasing bilateral trade.

Mongolian side expressed gratitude for the fruitful programs implemented in Mongolia under the Development Program of Canadian Government. The parties exchanged views on improving effectiveness and expanding the scope of cooperation.

Minister D.Sumiyabazar also expressed appreciation for the development of ice hockey in Mongolia, emphasizing the opportunities to expand relations and cooperation in winter sports and judo in the future, strengthening people-to-people relations through sports and cultural exchange.

The parties have been organizing roundtable meetings alternately in two capitals every two years since 2003.

Hunnu Air is a privately-owned Mongolian airline that performs more than 70% of overall domestic scheduled services from its Ulaanbaatar hub, as well as supplying charter flights to Mongolian mining sites, including Oyu Tolgoi. The company also conducts international scheduled and charter services to neighboring countries, such as Russia and China.

CDB Aviation is a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing, a 35-year-old Chinese leasing company that is backed mainly by the China Development Bank.

A meeting of the TRAM project – Trade Related Assistance for Mongolia (EU TRAM) – last month discussed establishing a yak and camel wool cluster to manufacture end products and promote them overseas.

According to the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the aim is to create high-standard products as competitive as Mongolian cashmere goods.

Launched in March, 2018, EU TRAM is a four year project, worth almost EUR 5 million with the aim of increasing and expanding Mongolian products, and contributing to sustainable economic growth and development of the country. It has special focus of specific products/sectors with high potential export.

Mongolia has preferential duty-free access to the EU market under GSP+ scheme, yet there is low usage of these benefits due to low capacity of Mongolian products to fulfill EU market requirements. This is largely due to the lack of necessary standards and regulations.

Global costumers already felt that Mongolian cashmere and wool products are pure natural with zero harm to health besides warmness and well-fitting. (source: just-style)