The equipment will be leased to farming companies and farmers for 60 months with down payment and annual interest rate of 4.62 percent through the Crop Farming Support Fund.

In his opening remarks, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry B.Batzorig said, “2019 will mark the 60th anniversary of bringing virgin lands under cultivation and developing independent agriculture in Mongolia. On the threshold of the anniversary, the Government of Mongolia made a resolution to set crop farming zones covering 113 bags of 60 soums of seven aimags. A new sexagenary cycle of farming sector is starting, thus, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry is running ‘Virgin Land-60’ campaign. Specific works are planned to be carried out such as setting up forest zones, fencing farming lands and making reforms and renewal of seeds, varieties, techniques and technologies. ”

“We have been working closely with the Russian Federation since launching virgin-land cultivation. 8000 tons of elite seeds bought from Russia were provided to farmers, which will be harvested this autumn. The equipment of USD 10 thousand are significant to technological reform and successful harvesting," added the Minister.

Spring cultivation of this year started on May 3. As of June 27, 494.3 thousand hectares of land is cultivated.

“This is a golden opportunity for the farmers. Therefore, we ought to seize this opportunity in order to provide people with organic food” noted Honored Agronomist and Hero of Labor of Mongolia, Sh.Mardaan.

M.Anudari

The team consists of seven experts from the Chinese Academy of Forestry who are to conduct a field survey starting in mid-August at a nature reserve in southwest Mongolia and home to Gobi bears, or Mazaalai.

In April, Mongolia and China signed an agreement on a three-year technical assistance project with aid from the Chinese government worth 110 million RMB (16.1 million U.S. dollars).

Mazaalai mainly eat berries, roots, other plants, insects and sometimes rodents.

The Gobi bear with a current population of merely 28 is the world's rarest due to insufficient food and distinct biological features. Their habitats and water resources have been shrinking dramatically compared to the 1950s and 60s because of climate change, according to the Mongolian government.

The government and NGOs have taken multiple measures to protect Mazaalai, one of the world's most endangered species. In 2014, the government adopted a national program called Mazaalai to save the Gobi bears.

Under the program, the government places 20 tons of dietary supplements for the bears in 27 feeding stations in the Gobi Desert every year.

"Good progress has been made especially regarding structural reforms and policies to rehabilitate and strengthen the financial sector. Notwithstanding this progress, Mongolia remains vulnerable to external and internal factors," IMF staff team leader Geoff Gottlieb said in a statement.

"Discussions on the Mongolian economy, especially macroeconomic policies, will continue in the near future," he said.

The three-year IMF program, approved in 2017, aims to stabilize the economy and establish a basis for more sustainable and inclusive growth.

According to Gottlieb, Mongolia's macroeconomic performance has been solid with key targets met.

In particular, foreign currency reserves have more than doubled since the start of the program.

The GDP grew 5.1 percent year on year in 2017, compared to 1 percent the previous year. The IMF had forecast a 3.3-percent growth rate.

The IMF prediction for Mongolia's GDP growth this year is 5 percent and 6.3 percent next year.

"Mongolia's economy is on track to stabilize. Now, it is extremely important to boost exports to increase foreign exchange reserves, raise salaries and create more jobs." Damdin Tsogtbaatar told a press conference, stressing the need to establish overseas trade missions.

According to the official, from 2018 to 2019, the country will establish three trade missions in the Chinese capital Beijing, the city of Vladivostok in the Russian far east, as well as the Japanese capital Tokyo.

Similar offices will be opened in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, the Russian capital Moscow, and the Belgian capital Brussels between 2020 and 2023.

Please review in details on https://tradingeconomics.com/mongolia/unemployment-rate

The discussions focused on the implementation of the Fund supported program, the medium-term outlook, and policies and structural reforms needed for debt sustainability, the rehabilitation of the financial system, and high-quality growth while protecting the poor.

At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Gottlieb made the following statement:

“The mission held productive discussions with the authorities on the policies needed to complete the fifth review under the EFF arrangement. Recent macroeconomic performance has been strong with key targets met and growth is reviving although significant vulnerabilities remain.

“Good progress has been made especially regarding structural reforms and policies to rehabilitate and strengthen the financial sector. Discussions including on the macroeconomic policy mix will continue in the near future.

“The team thanks the authorities for their cooperation, constructive dialogue, and hospitality during its stay in Mongolia.”

[1] The dollar amount is calculated based on the SDR-dollar rate of May 24, 2017, equivalent to $425mn at SDR-dollar rate of 1.35274 as of February 27, 2017

During the meeting, the parties discussed implementations of the IMF’s ‘Extended Fund Facility’ arrangement and WB’s ‘Economic Management Support Operation First Development Policy Financing’, being realized in Mongolia, and exchanged views on positive effects of the programs to Mongolia’s economy.

Mr. Bayartsaikhan appreciated for support of Mr. Bert Hofman to implementation of the programs.

M.Unurzul

Please review the following MBD business offers package number 17 and feel free to visit www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com for more information on each offer and contact us.
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Bio toilet (Japan)
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Food processing technology, ingredients (Czech)
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Sinosteel, the state owned company of China, operates in Australia, Cameroon, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Indonesia and Philippines in iron ore and nickel ore. During the meeting, Mr. O.Odbayar, Vice President in charge of Strategy and Planning at the Erdenes Mongol LLC, introduced the company’s activities and highlighted the opportunity to cooperate in coking coal and steel production.

Sinosteel expressed their willingness to cooperate with Erdenes Steel LC, established jointly with Beren Group in steel production to meet the growing demand for steel and produce import substitute products in Mongolia. Specifically, the company is interested in improving the feasibility study of the Coke and Steel plant to be established by Erdenes Steel. The Independent Director of ‘Sinosteel’ Yiguang Hu said “Mongolia has a full potential to develop steel production based on its rich iron and coking coal reserves.”

China, the world's largest consumer and manufacturer of steel, is shutting small steel factories under its strict policy of environmental protection. The country is interested in investing in steel production projects and programs in neighboring and other countries and exporting finished products. For the last two years, Erdenes Mongol LLC has been working actively in development of steel production in Mongolia.

In addition, Mr. Yiguang Hu noted that China’s policy on environment protection is in line with the US and European policies.

B.Misheel