The government approved new traffic rules during its regular meeting on Wednesday in order to ensure pedestrian safety and reduce road accidents.

The new rules, which will come into effect on Nov.1, will also forbid leaving a child under 10-year-old alone in a vehicle, and require children older than 10 to wear a seatbelt or be properly restrained.

In addition, the speed limitation in the country's crowded urban areas will be reduced to 20 km per hour.

A total of 163 people, including 37 pedestrians, were killed in road accidents in the first half of this year, according to official statistics.

Mongolia’s main export items, namely coal and iron ore, have maintained their growth, but copper and gold have plummeted due to the trade war between the U.S and People’s Republic of China. For instance, copper price sank USD 1000-1500 per metric ton and Gold fell by USD 100-150 per ounce since June. On the other hand, coal price grew by around 10 percent yearover-year (yoy), to USD 78.4 per ton and iron ore by nine percent. Several Chinese provinces have prepared a plan to reduce the capacity of steel and coal production, boosting the prices of iron ore and coal according to experts. In the first seven months of 2018, Mongolia exported 3.9 tons of iron ore, 20 percent growth yoy, worth USD 181 million. The fates of Mongolia’s coking coal and iron ore depend on Chinese steel market, which is directly connected to its construction and infrastructure. Chinese construction demand is visible from its new housing prices. According to Chinese statistics, housing price surged in 70 cities across the country, showing an average growth of five percent yoy.

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 string of assets on the block, mostly in coal, to decrease its debt load. In iron ore, its push to refocus has meant concentrating on Australia's Pilbara region, where it has lower costs and higher grades.Rio Tinto's revenues are more dependent on iron ore than its rivals, in 2017, iron ore making up more than 60 percent of Rio's earnings.

IOC, 59 percent owned by the Anglo-Australian miner, 26 percent by Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation and 15 percent by Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Company, is one of Canada's largest producers of iron ore. It had revenues of $1.9 billion in 2017.

Rio had tried to sell its stake in IOC in 2012 as it already deemed it a non-core asset but it withdrew the process, saying the sale was not essential.

One banking source said that offers from private equity funds and rival miners had not met Rio's target of between $3.5 billion and $4 billion back then.

Rio was now considering an IPO of its stake on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) as part of its ongoing work to hold only its best assets, but the process was at an early stage and it had not yet hired a financial adviser, the banking source added.

Rio Tinto and Mitsubishi declined to comment. Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Company was not immediately available to comment.

The Pilbara region of Western Australia produces high quality iron ore that sells at a premium and Rio invested heavily in the region's assets, installing driverless trains and maximising productivity.

It is also poised to expand there, having approved $146 million of funding to undertake initial work at the Koodaideri iron ore project, ahead of a final investment decision expected by the end of the year.

IOC produces iron ore pellets and concentrate from operations in Newfoundland and Labrador, and runs port facilities in Sept-Iles, Quebec, as well as a 418-kilometre railway that links the mine to the port.

A labour dispute earlier this year that resulted in a two-month suspension of operations was part of the reason for Rio reducing its underlying core profit by $137 million compared with the 2017 first half, Rio Tinto said when it reported half-year results last week.

(By Clara Denina, Barbara Lewis and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Jane Merriman)

In economics, the post-war order is usually refers to a monetary management system which led to a rise of the US dollar as a dominant currency.

“In the circumstances our policy is to maintain our limited exposure to quoted equities and to enter into new commitments with great caution,” Rothschild added.

Rothschild’s RIT Capital investment has a historically low 47 percent exposure to the stock market. The banking dynasty is concerned that the 10-year stock market rally could be ending.

“The cycle is in its 10th positive year, the longest on record. We are now seeing some areas of weaker growth emerge; indeed the IMF has recently predicted some slowdown,” the investment banker said.

Rothschild pointed at “potentially destructive” debt levels in Europe and trade wars as major problems for the global economy.

He added, “problems are likely to continue in emerging markets, compounded by rising interest rates and the US Fed's monetary policy which has drained global dollar liquidity.”

According to Rothschild, the lack of a co-ordinated, international response to global challenges was unlikely in an era of populist and protectionist leaders such as US president Donald Trump.

In the first half of the year, three companies issued IPO and one FPO at the MSE, attracting a total of MNT 18 billion. Compared with the same period of the previous year, the stock trading increased by 2.9 times.

Following the public offers the process of creating new jobs, maintaining real economic growth are intensified and confidence in stock market rises. Chairperson of the Financial Regulatory Commission (FRC) S.Davaasuren emphasized that the advanced technology, construction and agricultural sectors companies including domestic food and agricultural companies issued IPO.

During the privatization operations held in transition period to a market economy in Mongolia, 475 state-owned factories and enterprises were privatized and 204 of them are currently listed on the MSE.

B.Misheel

In the first half of the year, three companies issued IPO and one FPO at the MSE, attracting a total of MNT 18 billion. Compared with the same period of the previous year, the stock trading increased by 2.9 times.

Following the public offers the process of creating new jobs, maintaining real economic growth are intensified and confidence in stock market rises. Chairperson of the Financial Regulatory Commission (FRC) S.Davaasuren emphasized that the advanced technology, construction and agricultural sectors companies including domestic food and agricultural companies issued IPO.

During the privatization operations held in transition period to a market economy in Mongolia, 475 state-owned factories and enterprises were privatized and 204 of them are currently listed on the MSE.

B.Misheel

Exports rose 16.9 percent year on year in the January-July period, while imports grew 39.8 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of 851 million U.S. dollars, according to the Mongolian Customs General Administration (MCGA).

The mining industry accounted for about 85 percent of total exports, the MCGA said in a statement.

China remains Mongolia's major export destination. Among the 60 countries to which Mongolia exported its goods and services in the first seven months this year, China was the recipient of over 86 percent of the total.

One of the highlight of this year was goat meat export, which rose by eight times in the first half compared to last year’s mean time. Horse meat accounted for about 80 percent of total revenue, while demand for mutton, goat meat and beef are increasing. Specifically, horse meat export doubled, while mutton tripled. In addition to meat, live export jumped 11 times year-over-year. Experts estimate meat and live export revenue, which totalled USD 32.6 million in the first half, to reach about USD 81.3 million by the end of the current year. Presently, Max Market, Darkhan Meat Foods, Makh Impex and Sayan Uul are supplying meat and meat products in Mongolia according to the Mongolian Meat Association. The trending products consisted of precooked meat and sausages. National Council on Food Security conducted a study on meat export capacity. The study shows that Mongolia can export 27.9 tons of beef and 43.6 tons of horse meat this year. As for mutton and goat meat, the council set no restrictions, allowing limitless export. There are around 30 business entities with meat export permits, informed Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry. The ministry noted they are working to increase the number of permits and penetrate new markets. Furthermore, FMD outbreaks in seven soums of Arkhangai and three soum of Uvrukhangai aimags have been successfully tackled last month.

Mongolia now has to cover the plaintiff's expenses of the last litigation
MP Sanjmyatav informed, “The working group concluded that it is unnecessary to send a Parliamentary delegation to the arbitration court. As a state monitoring, a representative of the Independent Authority Against Corruption was sent. The arbitration ruled against Mongolia.” The arbitration previously obliged the EMC to pay USD 51 million, lowering Standard Bank’s USD 109 million invoice. However, the interest and costs incurred by the plaintiff added up to USD 172 million as of March 1, 2018. Since then, the interest piled up by around USD 900 per day. Also, Mongolia now has to cover the plaintiff's expenses of the last litigation.

Approval of the coordinates enacts announcing tenders for about 170 fields this year. In other words, a tender for 25-30 fields (one field’s average size is 5000 hectares) will be conducted twice a month. It is estimated to accumulate roughly MNT25 billion to the state budget.

Some 8.48 million hectares of area to be issued by tender covers 5.56 percent of the country’s total territory and are not overlapped with areas of valid licensed, special needs, specially protected and state reserve.

M.Unurzul