On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Deputy Prime Minister S. Amarsaikhan, who is paying a working visit to the United Kingdom (UK), met with Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice of the United Kingdom Dominic Raab and discussed bilateral relations and cooperation on January 26.

During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister S. Amarsaikhan said that Mongolia attaches great importance to relations and cooperation with the United Kingdom as part of its Third Neighbor Policy and expressed readiness to support any initiative of the UK to intensify trade and economic relations. In addition, he expressed gratitude for the UK government’s decision to launch a new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) and include Mongolia in its Extended Program.

Deputy Prime Minister requested to cooperate in implementing the long-term social and economic development policy of Mongolia, especially the “New Recovery Policy” approved by the government, and to receive funding from the UK for the implementation of the “Smart City” project in this context. He mentioned that the government of Mongolia pays special attention to developing tourism and made a decision on exempting the citizens of 34 countries, including the UK, from visa requirements. With regard to this, a request was put forth to ease the visa requirements for Mongolian citizens with diplomatic passports to travel to the UK.

In the meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab noted that the government of the UK focuses on the development of relations and cooperation with Asian countries as part of its Indo-Pacific Tilt policy and considered the relation being developed with Mongolia as a good example. Therefore the UK is paying attention to relations with Mongolia and supporting and cooperating with establishing a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, Memorandum on export financing, and the renewal of the Air Transport Agreement. He expressed his readiness to cooperate to increase the interest of British entrepreneurs in entering the Mongolian market, attract investment and strengthen Mongolia's capacity based on the UK’s experience.

In addition, the “Smart City” project introduced by Deputy Minister S. Amarsaikhan can be a standard project that will give specific results, similar to the Oyu Tolgoi project. He stated that he would discuss the possibility with other related organizations. He expressed his interest in visiting Mongolia if there is any opportunity.

D. Amartuya