The first official sponsor of Growth Summit Ulaanbaatar 2019 is Petrovis, Mongolian Business Database's official partner and also partner for inclusive growth for SME's. www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com

Floating nuclear power plant to light up China www.rt.com

Construction of the first Chinese floating nuclear power plant will begin within 2019, according to Luo Qi, head of the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) of China.
It will be a marine platform equipped with scaled-down nuclear reactors, which can provide electricity and heat to areas with difficult access, such as remote areas, islands, and offshore oil and gas platforms, Luo told the Global Times.

Mongolia to hold major folk art festival to promote tourism www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia will hold a major folk art festival in its southern province of Dundgovi on Aug. 9-11 to attract more tourists by promoting traditional folk art, a local official said on Sunday.

President proposes changes to the revised draft of Law on corporate income tax www.president.mn

President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga forwarded (on March 20) an official letter to Chairman of the State Great Khural G.Zandanshatar regarding a proposal on changes to the revised draft of the Law on Corporate Income Tax which is under consideration of the ongoing extraordinary session of the State Great Khural.

Asiana Airlines Wins Rights to Operate on Korea-Mongolia Route www.newsworld.co.kr

Second-air carrier to employ A330-300 with 290 seats on the route with its affiliate Air Busan allowed to operate Busan-Ulaanbaatar route, which breaks up monopolistic operation of the air route

The Korea-Mongolia route has been exclusively operated between the national flag carriers of the two countries – Korean Air Lines and MIAT Mongolian Airlines – since 1991 when the two countries signed an aviation agreement.

The Aviation Traffic Deliberation Committee of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Infrastructure said on Feb. 25 that it has approved the rights for Asiana Airlines to operate three weekly flights, breaking up the monopoly on the air routes between Incheon (Seoul) held by Korean Air Lines and MIAT Mongolian Airlines.

The committee gave the rights to Air Busan to operate a flight once a week between Busan and Ulaanbaatar. Asiana Airlines holds a large stake in Air Busan. With Korean Air still maintaining its six weekly flights, the number of flights on the Incheon-Ulaanbaatar increased to 9.

Asiana will utilize its A330-300 planes to serve the new route, a mid-sized passenger plane with 290 seats. An official of the airlines said they appreciate the decision by the committee to break up the monopoly on the air routes enjoyed by its domestic rival air carrier and the Mongolian air carrier for over 30 years, allowing it to operate on the routes.

“We will see that nothing will cause us to operate the flights on the new routes less than perfect.” the airline stated.

The fare for the Incheon-Ulaanbaatar flight rose to as much as 1 million won per passenger as the monopoly on the flight routes dragged on for over 30 years, although a one-way flight on the route took only three hours and 40 minutes.
Jeju Air, T'way Air and Eastar Jet plan to add the new routes to their existing schedules, noting their low fares. They pleaded that they should end the monopolistic control of key routes by the two major carriers.

When Korea and Mongolia signed the aviation treaty in 1991, they agreed to have only Korean Air and MIAT Mongolian Airlines to serve the new route.

Korean Air launched its maiden flight to Mongolia from 1996 and has been operating six weekly flights on the international route with the number of the seats on the flights totaling 1,656.

There were constant pleas for increasing the number of flights on the route as time passed by and number of the passengers rising every year due mainly to the exchanges between the two countries growing every year with the tickets getting harder to buy and the fare rising due to the limited seats.

The number of air passengers between Korea and Mongolia came to around 330,000 last year, rising around 10 percent annually since the air route first opened in 1996. Korea and Mongolia agreed in an aviation meeting held in January to increase the weekly flights to 9 adding three more flights with the number of seats increased to 2,500 to take care of the problems.

Asiana Airlines Inc; formerly Seoul Airlines) is one of South Korea's two major airlines, along with Korean Air. Asiana has its headquarters in Asiana Town building in Seoul.

The airline has its domestic hub at Gimpo International Airport and its international hub at Incheon International Airport (70 kilometres from central Seoul).

As a member of Star Alliance, it operates 14 domestic and 90 international passenger routes, and 27 cargo routes throughout Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania.

In 2004, the airline added Airbus A330s and the Boeing 777-200ERs to its fleet, and expanded its routes into mainland China. Currently it provides international services to 71 cities in 23 countries on 91 routes, and domestic services to 12 cities on 14 routes.

It also provides international cargo services to 29 cities in 14 countries on 28 routes by Asiana Cargo, the airline's freight division.

Development Bank of Mongolia to give soft loans to gold companies www.news.mn

The ‘Mongolia Gold 2019’ conference and exhibition is currently taking place at the Corporate Convention Centre in Ulaanbaatar. The two-day forum, which is meeting place today and tomorrow (22-23 March) has been organised by the Mongolian Gold Producers’ Association and Mongolian Mining Exchange. The event is being supported of the Bank of Mongolia, public sector, gold miners, foreign investors and professional institutions. Nearly 400 delegates are currently participating in the conference.

IFC and partners promote modern livestock technologies in Mongolia to boost productivity www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/ On March 21, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, in collaboration with FAO, Mercy Corps, and AmCham Mongolia, launched an initiative to promote modern livestock technologies in Mongolia, thereby boosting the sector’s productivity and competitiveness. The initiative will create a first-of-its-kind platform to bring together beef and dairy business leaders, industry experts, and policymakers, who will share their expertise to bolster the country’s livestock sector.

Livestock has long been a priority sector for Mongolia because of its contribution to inclusive economic growth and export diversification. The adoption of modern technologies will allow herders and farmers reach much higher yields. Artificial insemination, for example, allows local dairy farms to supply high-quality milk all year round, ensuring constant cash flow through longer contracts with processors. Cattle farms have also used such technology for better breed purposes, increasing meat output by three times.

Jean-Pascal Nganou, Acting Country Manager for Mongolia, World Bank said, “The livestock sector offers an opportunity for Mongolia’s economic diversification. At the World Bank Group, we support the creation of a conducive business environment to enable Mongolian farmers and herders to achieve their full potential.”

An inaugural session on ‘Pioneers in Beef and Dairy Development in Mongolia’ was hosted in Ulaanbaatar to mark this partnership.

“The private sector is key to driving innovations on the ground. Sharing experiences around these innovations can be a powerful source of change in support of economic diversification and achievement of sustainable development goals in Mongolia,” said Vinod Ahuja, FAO Representative in Mongolia.

Wendy Guyot, Country Director of Mercy Corps Mongolia observed, “The private sector will drive market-led change in Mongolia’s livestock sector like it has in other countries around the world. This initiative brings together leading businessmen and women to share their knowledge and learning about beef and dairy cattle in Mongolia. The aim is to build a livestock industry that is responsive to growing domestic and export markets.”

Meanwhile, AmCham Mongolia advocates for opening up of export opportunities of Mongolian agricultural products. “The Mongolia Third Neighbor Trade Act is well on its way to be discussed by the U.S. Congress and we take great pride in its advocacy since the beginning. The MTNTA would play a crucial role in Mongolia’s overall economic development, increasing export-led businesses as well as diversifying the nation's economy,” said Oybek Khalilov, President, AmCham.

The World Bank Group has been providing policy advice and technical support to Mongolia to enhance investment policy, restore investor confidence, and build capacity through IFC’s Mongolia Investment Policy and Agriculture Promotion advisory project, since 2014. In April 2017, IFC completed a report with recommendations on how Mongolia’s agriculture sector can draw FDI to enter the global value chain.

Mongolian Government always encourages licit foreign investment www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Government of Mongolia has declared that it has been and will always be supportive of foreign investments that comply with international agreements and the country’s domestic legislation.

However, regarding Erdenet Mining Corporation (EMC) and Asgat and Salkhit deposits, that have lately been drawing public attention, the Government took note of and the corresponding legal bodies are inspecting them as criminal offences of tax evasion, corruption, bribery and money-laundering have been found in their operations. It is worth to note that explorations of these deposits were conducted and their reserves were defined with funding from the State Budget.

For instance, exploration of the Salkhit deposit in Gurvansaikhan soum of Dundgobi aimag was conducted in 1983 with the State Budget funding and the deposit was licensed to GPF LLC for mining until 2043, 2047. The reason for the government’s revocation of the deposit’s special license lies on the fact that the investor concealed its tax liability, got involved in corruption and the adjudication was delaying too much. The company avoided paying tax worth over MNT 930 million, filing a false tax return. In particular, it did not pay mineral royalties from its silver ore sales income of MNT 13.19 billion in 2014. Hence, the General Department of Taxation imposed re-taxation of MNT 659.9 million, a penalty of MNT 197.9 million, and interest of MNT 71.7 million. In the early 1970s, researchers of Mongolia and the former Soviet Union conducted a joint exploration at the Asgat silver deposit located in Nogoonnuur soum of BayanUlgii aimag. Since this strategically significant deposit was licensed to the Mongolrostsvetment LLC in 1993 due to its location in a high mountain zone, no work was carried out at it. Therefore, on January 7, 2019, the Government assigned the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority and authorities of Mongolrostsvetment and Erdenes Mongol companies to transfer Asgat and Salkhit deposits to the Erdenes Mongol LLC and put them into economic circulation. The Government of Mongolia is paying attention to imposing liabilities on the companies conducting illegal activities as well as to proper use of state properties by means like these. One more instance is the issue regarding ownership of the 49 percent stake in Erdenet Mining Corporation. On June 28, 2016, the Government of that time announced that Mongolia has claimed full ownership of EMC as a result of the deal with the Rostec Corporation of Russia, transferring the 49 percent stake to Mongolia and having acquired by the Mongolian Copper Corporation (MCC). However, in fact the Government of that time purposely refused its preference to buy the 49 percent stake and privileged a private entity to obtain it instead and that 72.4 percent of USD 400.2 million paid on buying the stake might be taken from state source, informed the Cabinet Secretariat to the public on March 6, 2019. Considering the deal of the purchase of EMC’s 49 percent stock a probable act of illegal acquiring of state property and money laundering, the Independent Authority Against Corruption of Mongolia and National Police Agency have sent a request to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Capital City for running investigation. With an aim to implement Parliamentary Resolution No. 23 of 2017 and a recommendation H05/05 of the National Security Council, the Government on March 6 set a sixmonth emergency regime at EMC and Mongolrostsvetmet LLC. During the period of emergency regime, there will be no interruptions in the operations of the enterprises and only the financial activities will be inspected. Afterwards, on March 11, authorities of MCC made a proposal to the Government on holding negotiation and the Trade and Development Bank, which worked as a financial advisor in the purchase deal of 49 percent stock also expressed to take part in the negotiation, sending an official letter to the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh: “The Government will consistently support foreign and local investors who are respecting laws. In the last two years Mongolia’s economic growth has been revived, foreign trade and investment augmented and budget revenue has been over fulfilled. I want to make it clear to our foreign partners that foreign investors have been doing businesses with Mongolians and it will be open for doing businesses with Mongolians. We resolve issues within legal framework and fulfill established agreements”

As a result of the implementation of the Extended Fund Facility Program in partnership with the International Monetary Fund, Mongolia’s economic growth reached 6.9 percent in 2018, which was 1.2 percent in 2016. Furthermore, investors’ trust has been restored and direct investment of USD 85­220 million in each month of 2018 or a total of USD 1.9 billion was made in Mongolia. Some 80 percent of this investment targeted to mining sector. Furthermore, the Government expresses to back foreign investors, opening Invest in Mongolia Center, one stop service center (OSSC) in this February besides setting up Investors’ Protection Council in 2016.

'Invest in Mongolia center' one stop service for investors

The ‘Invest in Mongolia center’, a one stop service for investors has started to operate with aims of providing foreign investors with easy and quick access to government services, creating a favorable environment for investment, minimizing time to spend for resolution of some issues and eliminating the difficulties that investors are facing. At the center, General Agency for State Registration, General Department of Taxation, Mongolian Immigration Center, General Authority for Social Insurance and other departments and agencies whose operations are associated with foreign enterprises provide government services through a single interface.

The center’s services include:

• Provide information and advisory services on investment legal framework

• SIRM /Systemic Investor Response mechanism/–Maintain an e-system for Investor’s grievance, complaint and petition related to the public services

• Provide information and advisory services on investment law and environment

• Advice and information on tax and non-tax investment and guarantee

• To receive petition related to activities of state bodies from investors and operate decisive electronic information system

• Services on registration of foreign invested legal entities, confirmation of proper name, its change, reference and definition, investor’s card and other additional services, advice and information related to it

• Advice and information on tax, tax payer’s registration, to grant digital signature, to give reference, to receive report as well as to collect vehicle tax from foreign invested companies and investors

• To grant Mongolian visa and visa permission, to make registration of permanent residence and its elimination, to give permission of residence, to make extension of the term, to provide information and advice related to it

• To receive social insurance fund registration and report, to give reference and definition and additional information and advice related to it.

Address: Invest in Mongolia Center. Behind the 2nd Government building United Nations Street, Chingeltei District

Timetable: 8.30 am-5:30 pm

At the opening ceremony of the center, Foreign Minister D.Tsogtbaatar said, “State administrative body in charge of foreign investment in Mongolia has experienced organizational and structural changes for many times in the past, changing its name. It is certain that instability of this institute causes difficulties for investors and causes trouble in their operations. Therefore, I am confident that establishment of One Stop Service Center with intention of running constant stable operation will make tangible progress in promoting investment”

Mongolia leaves benchmark interest rate unchanged at 11 pct to bolster economy www.xihuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's central bank has decided to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 11 percent, local media reported Saturday.

The first official sponsor of Growth Summit Ulaanbaatar 2019 is Petrovis, Mongolian Business Database's official partner and also partner for inclusive and combined growth. www. mongolianbusinessdatabase.com

"Growth Summit Ulaanbaatar 2019" is fast approaching with top notch international and local speakers and sponsors. Growth management systems have been developed the last 10 years or so to codify how companies are scaling up and growing 10x, 100x, or more. Our goal is to share this knowledge.