During the Frontier Blockchain Summit in Mongolia, IOHK announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mongolian Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency Association and Mongolian Fintech Association for the development of advanced technology in the country.

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano and CEO of IOHK, has traveled to Mongolia multiple times since September 2018, and has been in contact with the country’s Foreign Affairs minister Damdin Tsogtbataar.

The two individuals have discussed the introduction of blockchain technology into the public and private sector of Mongolia to help combat the country’s various supply chain problems such as with counterfeit and adulterated drugs.

Hoskinson had this to say about his last meeting with government officials:

“We’re going to talk about problems like 18% of the medicine [in Mongolia] is counterfeited or adulterated and 40% in the rural areas is counterfeited or adulterated. So how do you put a traceability program like what PharmaTrust has done? We’re talking about the fact that 93% of the people here have some access to mobile banking and 30% receive government disbursements, [but at] enormous costs.”

In the comment above, Hoskinson mentioned PharmaTrust, which is a UK-based pharmaceutical supply chain security company that recently partnered with Mongolia to mitigate the problem of counterfeit drugs by tracking and tracing the supply chain with blockchain.

It remains unclear whether Cardano will be a part of the PharmaTrust project in Mongolia, as the official details of the MoU have yet to be released.

Final Thoughts
As previously reported by IIB, Cardano is also collaborating with the Ethiopian government to create a cryptocurrency for its population of 105 million people. Hoskinson’s collaborations with Ethiopia and Mongolia go to show Cardano’s determination to impact blockchain adoption in developing countries.

Whether these collaborations will lead to widespread blockchain adoption, development, and success are yet to be known, but it’s certainly a great start.