Korean citizens who participated in the purchase of goods with state money attempted to escape the investigation process.

Lee Jung Seob and Kim Keabaum, citizens of South Korea, were accused in connection with the crime of intentionally joining with relevant people, illegally influencing the members of the working group and creating an advantage for themselves and others by participating in the case as an accomplice. And they were detained on the grounds of attempting to escape from investigation.

In particular, the proposal to take restraining measures was submitted to the Primary Criminal Court of Chingeltei District, and the court considered the prosecutor's proposal on October 4, and decided to take preventive measures of detention for a period of 1 month.

Reminder: "This conclusion does not replace the court's decision and is intended to provide information to the public," informed by the office of the primary criminal court of Bayanzurkh district, Sukhbaatar district, and Chingeltei District.

Yesterday, Member of Parliament Delgersaikhan Borkhuu was appointed as a Cabinet Member and Chair of the National Committee on the Reduction of Traffic Congestion in Ulaanbaatar and Member of Parliament Enkhbayar Battumur as Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs, getting approval from the State Great Khural.

The Prime Minister of Mongolia Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai released the Order on the appointments and presented it to the newly appointed Ministers.

As the Governor of Ulaanbaatar and Mayor of the Capital Sumyabazar Dolgorsuren and Cabinet Member and Chair of the National Committee on the Reduction of Traffic Congestion in Ulaanbaatar Sukhbaatar Jamyankhorloo submitted their resignation, the Prime Minister made a decision to appoint Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs Nyambaatar Khishgee as the Governor of the capital and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar and other abovementioned appointments.

Mongolia is ready to hand over 100 yaks to Kyrgyzstan to renew the gene pool of these animals. The press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

According to it, the Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic Aibek Artykbaev met with the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry of MongoliaBolorchuluun Hayangaa. They discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during the visit of President Sadyr Japarov to Mongolia on July 9-11 this year and issues related to food, agriculture and light industry.

The minister noted that the greatest potential for cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia relates to agriculture. He expressed readiness of the Mongolian side to donate 100 yaks to the republic if veterinary permitting documents are approved.

The Ambassador drew attention to the readiness of the Kyrgyz Republic, together with Mongolian colleagues, to consider the possibility of establishing supplies of meat and meat products to Kyrgyzstan.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD100 million loan to strengthen Mongolia’s fiscal, financial, and economic resilience.

“Mongolia is vulnerable to volatility in commodity markets and other exogenous shocks because of its dependence on mining revenues,” said ADB Principal Public Management Specialist Hans van Rijn. “To shore up against the impact of this volatility, the Strengthening Fiscal, Financial, and Economic Resilience Subprogram 1 supports reforms to strengthen tax revenue mobilization, debt management, banking sector stability, and the role of the private sector in economic development.”

Mongolia’s economy experiences repeated boom-and-bust cycles. The current growth trajectory is the third major expansionary economic cycle since 2008, underpinning the importance of implementing and accelerating structural reforms to build resilience.

The program supports tax revenue growth through structural improvements in domestic tax administration and increased alignment with international tax treaties around profit shifting and the automatic exchange of information.

Mongolia’s debt sustainability would be enhanced through the introduction of a risk-based approach to debt management, the strengthening of local capital markets, and increased fiscal transparency.

The program would also improve finance sector stability and resilience by boosting banking sector supervision and regulation, enhancing nonperforming loan resolution, and promoting financial consumer protection.

Finally, reforms would strengthen the upstream environment for private sector development through relevant legal reforms, support for public–private partnerships, and enhance the performance of the Development Bank of Mongolia.

There’s a minor sports revolution going on in Mongolia, the giant landlocked Asian country most associated with Genghis Khan and famous for its “three manly sports” of archery, horse racing and, the most prestigious, wrestling.

The two-week Asian Games offer a glimpse at a changing Mongolia, a vast nation sandwiched between China and Russia with only 3.3 million people. Its ancient history is slowly giving way to the modern, including a growing passion for youth sports with breakdancing at the forefront.

Yes, breakdancing.

“There’s a huge potential in Mongolia to showcase that we are a powerhouse in breaking,” 25-year-old Khandjav Myagmarjav, the only woman on the four-person Mongolia breaking team at the Asian Games, told The Associated Press.

Despite its roots in street dance in urban America, the sport has surprisingly deep connections in Mongolia. It began to emerge after the country’s democratic revolution in 1990, which ended years of domination by the former Soviet Union.

“During the Soviet era before 1990 there was some small community practicing breakdancing, say in ‘86 or ’87,” Myagmarjav explained. “Since then there has always been a niche community promoting breakdancing. So it’s not something new in Mongolia. It was small and now it’s getting bigger.”

She said she got into it as as a child watching videos at home in the capital Ulaanbaatar and stuck with it.

“Then as a teenager I learned there was breakdance training in Mongolia, and I became part of it,” she said. “It’s true, women dancers are a minority in Mongolia. But women add flexibility and we have a different way of expressing ourselves through some movements.”

The breakdance medal round at the Asian Games was set for Saturday and Myagmarjav is ready.

“We are already known in Asia, but our ambition is to become a global powerhouse, and to draw attention to our country. So this is an opportunity,” she said.

Mongolia’s lone gold medal so far at the Asian Games was in boxing — a more traditional sport — where Chinzong Baatarsukh won in the men’s 57-63.5-kilogram class.

But two of four silver medals have come in women’s 3x3 basketball and esports. And there’s also a bronze medal in men’s 3x3 basketball, where Mongolia edged South Korea 21-20.

The rest of the medals have been spread out across judo, shooting, boxing, cycling and the wresting sport of kurash. Many of Mongolia’s Olympic medals traditionally have come in wrestling and, in these Asian Games, Mongolian men and women have won roughly the same number of medals.

Tugstur Dashzevge, who took a silver medal in esports — the multiplayer online battle arena Dota 2 video game competition — made his feelings known a few days ago after a close loss to a powerful Chinese team.

“There’s definitely a lot of pride in what we did,” he said. “Those are legendary, inspiring players right there (in China) and we almost beat them.

“It feels heavy, man,” he added.

Mongolia has just over 400 athletes at the Asian Games, less than half the size of large delegations from China, Japan or South Korea.

“It includes teams in some very new sports for women in Mongolia — football, cricket, wrestling and boxing,” said Amarasana Chimeddorj, deputy head of the delegation.

The average age of the men’s cricket team was reported to be 19, no surprise given that the country’s median age is only 29.8.

Monaco has the world’s oldest national average with a median age of 55.4, followed by Japan with 48.6. Ten African countries have the lowest median age, with Niger the lowest at 14.8.

Transitioning to the new has involved some pain. Nepal’s men’s cricket team smashed Mongolia in an early match, setting multiple records in the 273-run victory.

The long tradition of wrestling in Mongolia has produced a line of sumo wrestlers who have dominated the sport in Japan for several decades. The most famous might be Hakuho, a so-called Yokozuna, or grand champion. His Mongolian name is Mönkhbatyn Davaajargal — one of the best the sport has ever seen.

His late-father, who went by the given name of Monkhbat, was an Olympic silver medalist in 1968. He also competed at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Majigsuren Tsogbadrakh is a 23-year-old journalist with Mongolian television TenGer. She called herself “a novice” breakdancer but has practiced with at least one member of the Mongolian team, Gan-Ulzii Ganbalt.

She’s aware of Mongolia’s traditions but says it’s time to move on.

“We were known for a long time for our nomadic lifestyle,” she said. “But our lifestyle is changing. In Mongolia, young people are interested in dance, fashion, in pop culture. We are all trying to change — in our own way — our identity to the world.

“My generation is trying to change the way Mongolia is seen,” she said. “We want to break the stereotypical image.”

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

The visit in early July of Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov to Beijing would have gone largely unnoticed but for an unexpected announcement. Krasnov revealed that he and his Chinese colleagues had discussed the need to counteract the increasing Western influence on their “inner neighbor,” Mongolia. To this end, Krasnov said, he had already forwarded a proposal to his Mongolian counterpart to help strengthen ties with both China and Russia.

Krasnov’s remarks triggered alarm bells in Mongolia. For the past three decades, Mongolia has tried desperately to keep itself at arm’s length from its two neighbors, in part by exploiting their differences and in part by pursuing closer relations with the West. But now, as China and Russia grow ever closer, Mongolia’s space for maneuvering is rapidly shrinking.

This vast, resource-rich country of just over three million people in the heart of Eurasia still clings to a vision of the more open world that existed for about 30 years after the end of the Cold War. In those decades, Mongolia had a degree of freedom in choosing friends, trading with everyone, and benefiting from the prosperity produced by the rules-based international order. But it now faces many uncertainties in an era of great-power competition and hardening geopolitical divisions. In recent conversations with officials in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, we detected a creeping sense of resignation and fears that any rash move may invite intolerable pressure from Beijing or Moscow and further limits on the country’s ability to act independently.

Mongolia, however, does not have to meekly surrender to life as an appendage of China and Russia. Instead, it could become a model for how the United States approaches Central Asia in the unfolding geostrategic competition with China. The United States should do more to facilitate trade and investment links with Mongolia and signal a long-term commitment to the country through educational and training programs without attempting to portray its involvement as a deliberate strategic ploy to weaken autocracy and promote democracy. For its part, Mongolia must redouble its efforts to reassure foreign investors and to nurture a transparent and predictable economic environment, thus setting an example for other Central Asian countries that face similar dilemmas. In this way, Mongolia and other countries that feel caught between great powers might find that they are not so trapped after all.

BETWEEN TWO GIANTS

Mongolia survived the Cold War by aligning itself closely with the Soviet Union. The West was far away, and a much more dangerous enemy was close by: China. Mongolian leaders feared that China harbored irredentist ambitions. With Sino-Soviet relations in a tailspin since the late 1950s, the best option was to hold tight to the Soviets, who promised to protect Mongolia from Chinese encroachment and to support its economic development.

The end of the Cold War ushered in a sea change. In 1990, Mongolia underwent a democratic revolution. The communists were toppled, and the country has since developed a reasonably stable two-party system. It has also pursued an activist foreign policy, characterized not just by a willingness to engage with China and Russia but also a desire to build close relations with the “third neighbor”—a loose term used by Mongolian policymakers to describe the collective West and significant players among the countries of the global South. Mongolia seeks to defy geopolitical realities through a forceful and purposeful assertion of its claim to international relevance. It was the third neighbor policy, for instance, that underpinned the country’s decision to support U.S. efforts by sending 1,200 troops to Iraq between 2003 and 2008, close to 6,000 troops to Afghanistan between 2003 and 2021, and over 10,000 peacekeepers to South Sudan in recent years.

When it comes to Mongolia’s economy, however, China and Russia tower over all others. More than 90 percent of Mongolian exports (mainly mineral resources) find their way to China. Russia, for its part, supplies Mongolia with 95 percent of its fuel. Mongolia is also a key conduit of trade between China and Russia. Russia owns half the strategic railroad that crosses Mongolia from north to south. (The other half belongs to the Mongolian government.) In the past year, the railroad saw a surge of Russian traffic as the Kremlin sought to make up for its loss of access to Europe by importing an ever-larger quantity of Chinese goods. In the first half of 2023, 2.4 million tons of goods moved between China and Russia through Mongolia, a 58 percent increase from the same period a year ago.

POKING THE BEAR

And yet these strong commercial ties have not prevented diplomatic frictions. The Kremlin has leaned on Mongolia since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which came as a major shock to Mongolian policymakers. Mongolia is not a party to the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russian-led regional security alliance made up of six former Soviet republics. But the Kremlin has still tried to press Ulaanbaatar to back Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war. Although they have not lent Russia their support, Mongolian diplomats abstained during the votes for UN General Assembly resolutions that condemned the war in 2022.

Even this ostensible neutrality is not enough for Moscow. Russian officials have accused Mongolia of intending to host U.S. biological warfare labs, much as they have insisted on the purported presence of such labs in Ukraine. Mongolia is pushing back, however. Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh strenuously denied that such laboratories exist or that there are any plans to set them up. And since the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Mongolian authorities have welcomed thousands of Russian self-exiles and draft dodgers, many of whom hail from nearby Buryatia, which has linguistic, cultural, and ethnic ties to Mongolia. Just in the fourth quarter of 2022—essentially, in the three months that followed Putin’s call for a partial mobilization of Russian citizens—153,162 Russians visited Mongolia, a greater number than entered Mongolia in any prior calendar year. In the first six months of 2023, over 140,000 Russians entered Mongolia. In August 2023, Putin signed a law to close the escape hatch by setting up a new system for conscripts: they will no longer be allowed to leave Russia if drafted.

Mongolia has welcomed thousands of Russian self-exiles and draft dodgers in the last year.

Mongolian authorities have also allowed voluble expressions of opposition to Putin’s war within their country. About 80 small-scale anti-Russian demonstrations have taken place in front of the Russian embassy in Ulaanbaatar. Several Mongolian politicians have spoken sharply against the war. Damdinnyam Gongor, a Canadian-educated parliamentarian, raised an antiwar sign during a parliamentary session in March 2022. This act prompted Russian diplomats in Mongolia to demand a meeting with him, which he has refused. In the weeks that followed the Russian invasion, former President Elbegdorj Tsakhia and former Prime Minister Bayar Sanjaa (who hail from rival sides of the Mongolian political spectrum) condemned the Russian invasion and called on Putin to end the war. In September 2022, in a video message that went viral, Elbegdorj called on Russia’s ethnic Mongolians to resist the draft and flee to Mongolia instead.

Iskander Azizov, Moscow’s brusque ambassador in Ulaanbaatar in recent years, has made matters considerably worse. In June 2020, he lambasted Mongolia’s national broadcaster for refusing to air the annual Russian World War II victory parade, a decision that was, in Azizov’s view, evidence that Mongolia was succumbing to Western influence. More recently, in November 2022, Azizov prompted stern words from Enkh-Amgalan Luvsantseren, Mongolia’s education minister, when the former sought to intervene in the appointment of a principal at a local school. Enkh-Amgalan furiously denounced Azizov’s “rude attempt to meddle in Mongolia’s domestic affairs.” The minister reminded the ambassador: “I am not a minister of [the Russian province of] Buryatia. I am the minister of sovereign Mongolia.” In January 2023, Russia replaced Azizov, who was sent to Myanmar. The new Russian ambassador in Ulaanbaatar, Aleksei Evsikov, is more discreet and tactful. He is a China expert, a fact that speaks loudly to both Russia’s priorities and Russia’s concerns in Mongolia.

But even with these occasional flare-ups, the Mongolian government understandably does not want to provoke Russia for fear that upsetting Moscow could prompt devastating retaliation: Russia could shut off fuel supplies to Mongolia, which would bring the entire country to a grinding halt. As a senior government official told us, “What can we do? We cannot defend ourselves. Mongolia has no cards to play!”

IN THE SHADOW OF CHINA

In Mongolia’s relations with China, a remarkable change has occurred. After decades of fretting about Chinese encroachment, Mongolian officials seem a little less concerned. In recent years, fears of Chinese ambitions translated into a policy that aimed at preventing China from acquiring critical stakes in Mongolia’s natural resources, adhering to the standard Russian width between rails in the construction of railroads, and obstructing Chinese migration. In 2017, during his presidential election campaign, former Mongolian President Battulga Khaltmaa spiced up his campaign rhetoric with invocations of a Chinese menace—once elected, however, he pursued a notably more pragmatic course.

That menace does manifest occasionally in serious disputes. In the wake of the Dalai Lama’s visit to Mongolia in late 2016, Beijing swiftly imposed sweeping economic sanctions on its neighbor. Mongolia promptly capitulated and promised to never allow the Dalai Lama to visit again.

But although it gets easily triggered by certain narrowly defined issues (including Taiwan, Tibet, and its human rights record), Beijing refrains from putting too much pressure on Ulaanbaatar—for now. This benign neglect has benefited the Mongolians, especially as they face a more radical neighbor to the north that is intent on reasserting its waning influence. “The Chinese are very practical people,” Damdinnyam told us. “The Russians, by contrast, are arrogant—needlessly arrogant. Arrogant for the sake of being arrogant.”

A less charitable explanation for China’s relative neglect of Mongolia is that Beijing knows that Ulaanbaatar’s space for independent action is already terribly circumscribed. China need not expend a great deal of geopolitical capital on coercing a neighbor so bound to it by hard geographic and economic realities. Policymakers in Mongolia (as across Central Asia) have learned to live in the shadow of China.

TESTING GROUND

As a landlocked country almost entirely dependent on China and Russia, Mongolia may be in a particularly vulnerable spot. But that vulnerability is what makes it a crucial testing ground for Western policies. The same set of policies could be applied across Central Asia to counter both Chinese expansionism and Russian malice.

U.S. officials should not confuse political gestures with the genuine economic statecraft that is so desperately needed. Mongolia has always been desperate for attention, especially from senior U.S. politicians. (The only U.S. president to have ever visited Mongolia was George W. Bush in 2005—and that trip was largely an effort to rally support for the U.S. wars in the Middle East.) It is important, however, not to overemphasize the importance of attention, especially if all Mongolia has to gain from the visits of top-ranking U.S. officials are rote statements regarding the two countries’ shared commitment to democratic values.

For instance, U.S. Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland’s visit to Ulaanbaatar in April produced little of substance beyond praise for Mongolia’s democratic credentials. During a recent White House meeting with Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris not only talked about Mongolia’s “reliable democracy” but even found time to situate Mongolia within the broader context of U.S. “defense and deterrence commitments and our security presence in the region.”

There is no real need for such language. It is a bad time for the United States to attempt to impose its ideological view of the world—one divided between democracies and autocracies, placing the U.S. rivalry with China at the heart of geopolitics—on others. Like many countries in Central Asia, Mongolia does not want to be put in a position of having to choose between China and Russia, on the one hand, and the West, on the other. In Mongolia’s case, making such a choice would be extremely painful if not altogether impossible. Mongolia is too dependent on its two authoritarian neighbors to risk antagonizing them.

THE THIRD NEIGHBOR

The United States needs a different strategy, one not of grand proclamations but of small steps aimed at giving smaller countries such as Mongolia options. The United States cannot expect Mongolia to decouple from China and Russia, but Washington’s active engagement with the country (including through economic involvement but also educational and training programs) would increase Mongolia’s leverage in dealing with its two difficult neighbors. The aim here should be to help Mongolia survive as a robust democracy that can maintain a precarious neutrality in an increasingly polarized world.

Trade and investment will be an important part of any such strategy. Mongolia has a lot to offer the United States. Of particular interest to U.S. officials and companies may be Mongolia’s rich deposits of rare earths and lithium, resources that have become ever more important as the United States attempts to better insulate its supply chains from China.

Progress has been slow on this front. In June, Mongolia, South Korea, and the United States held their first trilateral “critical minerals dialogue.” What results from this dialogue remains to be seen. Rare earths were also discussed during Oyun-Erdene’s visit to Washington; according to one U.S. official, the Americans are looking for “creative ways” to help Mongolia. A source familiar with these matters said that this entails technical assistance in geological prospecting. But further impediments to U.S. investment in Mongolia remain, including the difficulty of processing minerals in Mongolia and, critically, the lack of clarity about how to export these strategic materials from a landlocked country without entering into either China or Russia.

The United States can help Mongolia survive as a robust democracy in a polarized world.

Mongolia has another hurdle to overcome: its own reputation. Mongolia must do more to build a predictable legal framework that would make long-term commitments more attractive for foreign investors. But the country is known for occasionally throwing out investors, as it did in 2009 with the revocation of a uranium mining license held by Khan Resources, a Canadian company. That decision, which many suspect was intended to placate the Russians, who wanted exclusive access to Mongolian uranium, led to years of international litigation between the Canadian firm and the Mongolian state, a battle that Mongolia ultimately lost. Earlier this year, a Mongolian court canceled the permits of another uranium prospecting company that was supported by investment from the Czech Republic. The Czechs are currently threatening legal repercussions.

Such cases serve as reminders of both how easy it is to paint foreign investors as crafty foreigners out to steal Mongolia’s riches and how challenging it then becomes to invite them back because the country cannot do without them. Mongolia can and should redouble its efforts to attract foreign multinationals and thus strengthen the economic underpinnings of the third neighbor policy. Mongolia’s energy infrastructure, in particular, is in dire need of help. An Indian firm is building an oil refinery at Sainshand in the Gobi Desert. Although this refinery will not completely eliminate Mongolia’s dependence on imported Russian fuel, it will make a sizable step in that direction. The arrival of more foreign investment in Mongolia’s energy sector will help weaken Russia’s influence in the country. There is also vast potential for investments in wind and solar power: not only would such investments address the country’s vulnerability to energy blackmail by the Russians, but they could also help Mongolia increase its capability to export electricity to China.

That may seem like a bad thing to U.S. officials, but they must dispense with zero-sum thinking when it comes to understanding Mongolia’s geopolitical position. The United States could make a virtue of necessity and recognize that limited cooperation with China here makes sense. Mongolia desperately needs assistance in mitigating climate change, which remains one of the few areas in which the United States and China may be capable of reaching agreement.

The same logic could apply more broadly to Central Asia, which calls for serious Western attention, not in the form of political or ideological grandstanding or military involvement (here, the mess in Afghanistan has shown Americans what not to do) but in the form of hard-nosed economic engagement that would give regional players more breathing space as they face continued Russian bullying and China’s relentless drive for regional hegemony.

BY:

TUVSHINZAYA GANTULGA is a Nonresident Fellow at the Mongolian National Institute for Security Studies. He previously served as the foreign policy aide to the president of Mongolia.

SERGEY RADCHENKO is Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the author of the forthcoming book To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power.

Mongolian Business Database with the support of the British Embassy in UB and Mongolian-British Chamber of Commerce is starting to register the participants for "MBCC's Christmas drinks & B2B networking" at House of Commons and business program in London, UK between Dec 16- 23. 2023.

The delegates will visit the House of Commons according to the special program and be able to visit "London International Horse Show" and "The Royal Kingston Fair" trade events in London during the period.

The MBCC (Mongolian-British Chamber of Commerce) is a not-for-profit membership organisation established in 2009 to foster strong business links between Mongolia and the UK. It aims to provide a professional and social environment for business people who wish to be introduced to and become part of, the British-Mongolian business culture and community.

Please contact for the registration and info in detail at 976 99066062 and contact@mongolianbusinessdatabase.com

The registration will close on Wednesday, Oct 18. 2023

Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong/Seoul-05 October 2023: The operating environment for banks in Mongolia will benefit from strong medium-term economic growth, backed by rising production in mining, Fitch Rating says. Loan growth picked up in 1H23 on improving business conditions and as major banks have complied with IPO requirements that have provided them with higher capital bases to support growth.

We believe appropriate risk controls during periods of rapid growth will be a key differentiating factor for banks’ risk profiles and asset quality. We expect banks to be more disciplined in balancing growth and capitalisation, given the improved regulatory framework in recent years.

We expect banks’ earnings to continue to be supported by healthy economic growth in the medium term, despite strong competition. Banks’ non-performing loan ratios have been gradually improving, due to conducive business conditions and higher loan growth. The 2023 interim results of major banks in Mongolia were steady, with higher net income and lower credit costs offsetting the impact on operating expenses from high inflation and foreign-exchange volatility.

The report “Mongolian Banks Dashboard: October 2023” is available at www.fitchratings.com or by clicking the link in this media release.

Contact:

Savio Fan

Associate Director, Financial Institutions - Banks

+852 2263 9955

Fitch (Hong Kong) Limited

19/F Man Yee Building

68 Des Voeux Road Central

Hong Kong

Heakyu Chang

Senior Director, Financial Institutions - Banks

+822 3278 8363

According to the data released by the Mongol Bank, the balance of payments showed a surplus of 551.49 million USD as of the end of August. This is a three-fold increase compared to the profit in the same period last year, reports Bloombergtv.

In terms of foreign trade, the Mongol Bank points out that the balance of payments is still expected to be profitable at the end of the year, along with the decrease in the import of consumption and industrial inputs. In other words, due to the recovery of trade port operations with China and the improvement of transportation conditions, the physical volume of coal exports has reached a historical high in 2023.

Also, the prices of major mineral products such as copper, coal, and iron ore in the international market are still higher than the average level during the pandemic, which will increase the income generated from export and is expected to increase by 2.2 billion USD from the previous year, according to the Central Bank.

This year, the annual investment of the Oyu Tolgoi project is expected to be about 1.2 billion USD, but as the transition to sustainable production will decrease from 2024, foreign direct investment will decrease, so the Central Bank clarifies that a replacement capital flow is needed.

Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene visited Washington DC on the invitation of US Vice President Kamala Harris in August 2023. The high-level bilateral meeting envisages a deepening of US–Mongolia economic relations in diverse sectors, such as critical minerals, aviation and trade.

As global powers continue to race for partnerships and resources, Mongolia’s natural resources are valuable and critical for its national economy. The incumbent government’s strategy to attract investment revolves around capitalising on the critical minerals with immediate neighbours Russia and China, as well as ‘third neighbour’ partners like the United States, South Korea France, and other developed nations.

The United States and Mongolia established a strategic partnership in 2019 during the administrations of former presidents Donald Trump and Battulga Khaltmaa. President Joe Biden’s administration further committed to strengthening the United States’ long-term position in the Indo-Pacific, which includes Mongolia.

The US Indo-Pacific Strategy and Mongolia’s third neighbour foreign policy provide a robust foundation for the two countries to strengthen Mongolia’s democratic institutions, economic diversity and civil society. The Biden administration’s courting of Ulaanbaatar indicates a growing US interest in boosting economic ties, amid its tensions with Moscow and Beijing.

The high-level meetings between Mongolian and US leaders provide the working mechanism of Mongolia’s third neighbour foreign policy. The changing geopolitical environment in Northeast Asia remains a challenge for Ulaanbaatar’s economic endeavours. Collegial relationships with global partners — including immediate neighbours Russia and China, and the United States — are the cornerstone of Ulaanbaatar’s foreign policy. So Mongolia must be vigilant, stable and flexible with its third neighbour’s pursuits.

Given Mongolia’s geographical constraint of being landlocked between two major US adversaries — Russia and China — strengthening strategic partnership with Washington requires flexibility and a systematic diplomatic approach to accelerate economic collaboration.

In 2018, before establishing the strategic partnership, the US Congress proposed the Mongolia Third Neighbor Trade Act. The bill was reintroduced to Congress in 2019 and 2021, adding to delays. If approved, Mongolia’s high-quality cashmere and textiles could be exported to the United States duty-free.

Another effort to improve Mongolia’s legal environment for trade is the signing of the US–Mongolia Transparency Agreement in 2017. This 2017 trade agreement represented the first stand-alone agreement on international trade and investment transparency signed by the United States. In the past, the United States has only ever negotiated transparency commitments as a part of broader agreements. Negotiating a stand-alone agreement with Mongolia concretely builds on cooperation between the United States and Mongolia and makes it possible for economic activities to accelerate.

The bilateral trading relationship continues to flourish, with Mongolia’s exports to the United States increasing at an annualised rate of 1.84 per cent between 1995 and 2021. Even so, Washington still requires more action from the Mongolian government.

In January 2023, US Ambassador to Mongolia Richard Buangan stated his concern to the American Chamber of Commerce in Mongolia on the country’s opaque legislative processes and investment climate that remains ‘unattractive for investors and challenging for importers and exporters’. In an effort to deepen US–Mongolia economic ties, the US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose W Fernandez met with senior government officials and other stakeholders in Ulaanbaatar in June 2023.

On a later visit to Washington, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene also signed the US–Mongolia Open Skies Agreement into implementation. The US Department of Transportation noted that ‘the Agreement will facilitate greater air connectivity between the United States and Mongolia and will provide the legal framework for nonstop passenger flights’. Mongolia is now the 132nd US Open Skies partner. In addition, Mongolia received its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner in August 2023 and will be starting a direct flight from San Francisco to Ulaanbaatar.

But Mongolia will still need to strengthen and accelerate economic ties with Moscow and Beijing via bilateral and trilateral channels, such as the Russia–Mongolia–China Economic Corridor. Other trilateral meetings also serve as an important economic gateway, such as the US–Mongolia–South Korea or the US–Mongolia–Japan partnerships.

From a geopolitical standpoint, as the Russia–Ukraine war and US–China trade tensions continue to destabilise the region and the world, small states like Mongolia often face a conundrum. Maintaining a balanced approach is necessary for continuing Mongolia’s historical connectivity of comprehensive strategic partnerships with Moscow and Beijing.

In the short-to-medium term, Beijing will remain a strong economic partner for Mongolia as an immediate neighbour and a top investment source for Mongolian copper ore, coal briquettes and iron ore. But Mongolia is now a candidate for the Minerals Security Partnership, an initiative with 14 countries — mostly Western — that aims to bolster sustainable investment in critical minerals’ mining, processing and recycling.

Mongolia must ensure that its foreign policy remains flexible and diversified to support its economic and social development.

BY

Bolor Lkhaajav is Researcher specialising in Mongolia, China, Russia, Japan, East Asia and the Americas.