The north Asian country between Russia and China has expanded its tax base by almost half since 2016, according to government statistics, partly by printing a lottery ticket on every retail receipt when the 10 percent value-added tax is paid. The gimmick has consumers insisting they pay the tax at the register so that they have a chance at winning a jackpot.

Mongolia has struggled to crack down on the so-called shadow economy -- transactions made when retailers cut costs by failing to report sales to the tax office. Informal markets such as the Narantuul black market in Ulaanbaatar are filled with vendors selling everything from blenders to animal skins -- much of it off-the-books. That had Mongolia’s tax authorities looking for innovative ways to grow its tax base.

Every receipt that comes from a purchase when VAT is paid can enter consumers into a lottery that pays out prizes from as little as 50,000 tugrik ($18.99) to jackpots that can equal thousands of dollars. In 2017, one woman won 500 million tugrik, or 500 times the average monthly household income, according to local media reports.

Last year, Ulaanbaatar paid out 5.05 billion tugrik in prizes to 119,254 citizens, according to the government website for the Information Technology Center of Custom, Taxation and Finance.

The National Statistics Office in a December report said a 32.7 percent expansion in VAT over the previous year was a main driver for tax revenue growth.

Shadow economies are tricky to pin down and estimates vary, but the IMF reckons Mongolia’s gray economy was as high as 15.9 percent of GDP in 2015.

To play, consumers download a smartphone app to scan bar codes printed on receipts. Tax payers get the added bonus of a 2 percent tax refund the following year from all the receipts they’ve scanned.

While Mongolia isn’t the first to experiment with such a program, with governments in Europe trying similar ones, this lotto has widened the spotlight on the informal retail business in the country.

By Terrence Edwards

Although the quakes are very small, the fact that the Mongolian capital is experiencing such an increase is causing concern. What would happen if a major earthquake hit the city? There are worries that many buildings in Ulaanbaatar, would be unable to withstand a big earthquake if it struck. The General Agency of Specialized Inspection has conducted and audit and concluded that 445 of 6627 buildings nationwide would be unable to withstand a major earthquake.

According to the Mongolian Immigration Service, fines for visa violations and illegal working have been raised under a new law. As a result, there appears to have been a decrease in the number of violations.

As of 21 December, 2018, a total of 23,486 foreign nationals from 123 countries have been residing in Mongolia.

The package approved Tuesday is in line with a revised immigration law set to take effect in April marking a major policy change. Residential status now available only to high-skilled workers will become available to a much wider range of lower-skilled workers.

The measures include ones to prevent brokers from taking unfair advantage of foreign workers. To alleviate a labor shortages in rural areas, checks will be put in place to prevent an excessive concentration of foreigners in cities.

Up to 345,000 foreign workers are set to be allowed into 14 sectors of the economy over a five-year period starting in April. The limit will stay in place until economic needs change.

Among the 126 specific measures in the package are provisions for multilingual support in public services.

A Japanese-language proficiency test required for the new visa status will be offered in nine countries: Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Myanmar, Mongolia, and Nepal.

To prevent a concentration of workers in cities, the government will periodically announce information on the number of foreign workers in different regions and sectors.

Reported that, in addition to sending Zhao Mingjun and Kim Hyun-mei, the head of the ruling Common Democratic Party, Li Haijuan, and other members of the party whip, personnel responsible for inter-Korean relations and railway, highway work, and separated family members will attend.

On October 25, South Korean soldiers were on duty at the railway border in the demilitarized zone/New Zealand News Agency

It is reported that the Korean government will run nine special trains to and from Seoul Station and Panmun Station for the participants.

In addition to Li Shanquan, the DPRK delegation also attended by Fang Gangxiu, chairman of the National Economic Association Committee, Park Mingzhe, Deputy Minister of Railway, Park Haoying, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Land and Environmental Protection, and Cui Binglie, chairman of the Kaicheng Peoples Committee.

DPRK and ROK personnel jointly inspect the railway/ROK Unification Ministry in DPRK

Korea and the DPRK Promote Railway and highway cooperation with a view to implementing the September Pyongyang Joint Declaration. On September 19, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un met with South Korean President Wen Jae-in in Pyongyang and signed the declaration, reaching agreement on promoting the process of denuclearization of the peninsula, strengthening North-South exchanges and cooperation, and building the peninsula into a permanent peace zone.

The two sides held high-level talks on railway and highway cooperation on many occasions. On November 30, the DPRK and the ROK docked trains at Panmun Station, launching a joint inspection of the North Korean section of the Jingyi Railway on the west coast of the Korean Peninsula; starting on November 8, the East China Sea Railway on the east coast was inspected for a period of 10 days; on December 13, DPRK and ROK officials met at the Kaesong Industrial Park and agreed to hold a ceremony for the commencement of the North-South Railway and Highway docking and modernization project on December 26.

Source: Overseas Network Responsible Editor: Jike_b6492

In 2018, Chinese authorities have lowered import tariffs on a wide range of vital goods including drugs, cars and daily necessities. The total tariff level has been reportedly reduced from 9.8 percent to 7.5 percent.

China’s year-on-year imports grew 14.6 percent from January through December of the current year, according to the latest data from the country’s General Administration of Customs (GAC), as quoted by the state media.

The top official said that the government is currently working on measures that would be able to provide imports of advanced technologies, agricultural produce, as well as consumer goods and services.

Moreover, Beijing will reportedly keep on decreasing import tariffs, ease customs procedures and significantly improve policies on importing vehicles.

The government is reportedly planning to promote the imports such services as architectural design, trade logistics, research and development design, energy conservation and environmental protection, as well as to improve industrial competitiveness.

On Monday, the Finance Ministry announced plans to remove current import tariffs of five percent applied to alternative meals, used in animal feed, which include rapeseed meal, cotton meal, sunflower meal and palm meal. The measure will come into effect on January 1.

As the trade war with Washington intensified China practically stopped buying US soybeans after applying a 25 percent tariff on the product. The move has caused a stir at the global soy market.

Since Beijing resumed some purchases of soybeans from the US, and the removal of tariffs on alternative meals could reportedly help to improve the reliability of the supply of animal feed meal in China.

The company has hired investment banks Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse and JPMorgan Chase to lead the IPO, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public.

Rio Tinto, the world's second-biggest listed miner, is targeting a valuation of about $4 billion, they said.

While Rio did not see much traction with a sale process, it has not ruled that out, the people said.

The IPO plans would depend on market conditions improving, the people added.

With high levels of volatility, global markets have fallen because of concerns about geopolitical risks and economic growth.
Rio has tried, and failed, to monetise Iron Ore Company of Canada in the past and is keen to get it right this time
A spokesman for Rio declined to comment.

With operations in Labrador and Newfoundland, Iron Ore Company of Canada is a major producer of iron ore in the country. Rio Tinto owns a 58.7 percent stake, Japan's Mitsubishi Corp owns 26.2 percent and Canada's Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Co owns 15.1 percent. IOC reported revenue of $1.9 billion in 2017.

Rio has tried, and failed, to monetise Iron Ore Company of Canada in the past and is keen to get it right this time, the sources said.

Rio tried unsuccessfully to sell its IOC stake in 2012-13.

This year it said it had also been unable to close a sale of its stake in the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea.

Iron ore, which accounts for most of Rio's profit and is used in making steel, has provided healthy margins for years but the outlook is uncertain as major buyer China is expected increasingly to rely on recycling rather than importing raw material.

Following a commodity price crash in 2015, Rio put a range of assets on the block, mostly coal, to cut its debt.

In iron ore, its push to refocus on its best assets has meant concentrating on Australia's Pilbara region, where it has low costs and relatively high grades.

Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp also provides relatively unpolluting iron ore concentrate and pellets, which command a premium.

The accelerated IPO plans for Rio Tinto underscore an eagerness among potential IPO candidates to get out to market early in 2019 amid fears market conditions could sour later in the year.

In the tech world, ride-hailing companies Uber Technologies and Lyft Inc have both filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and could go public in the first half of 2019.

(By John Tilak, Joshua Franklin, Barbara Lewis and Clara Denina; Editing by Jason Neely)