The export mission, organized to the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar by the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation with the support of the Ministry of Economy, was completed to promote the Made in Azerbaijan brand and promote local products in foreign markets.

The export mission with the participation of 17 Azerbaijani companies operating in the production of wines and other spirits, milk and dairy products, canned products, medicinal herbal teas, confectionery, mineral water, in the field of ICT and others, met with Mongolian colleagues, discussed export issues.

Speaking at a meeting with Mongolian businessmen, Deputy Minister of Economy Niyazi Safarov informed about the diversification of the Azerbaijani economy, the development of the non-oil sector, activities carried out in the area of sustainable improvement of the business environment, as well as stimulating the development of the private sector, expanding Made in Azerbaijan brand and the promotion of foreign investment, the possibilities of expanding Azerbaijani-Mongolian cooperation and economic ties.

The products of the Azerbaijani companies included in the export mission caused great interest among Mongolian companies. Azerbaijani companies Absheron-Sharab, A + SO, Merit Brand, Sharg Ulduzu, Agro-Azerinvest, Aspi Agro, Azeri met with the largest distributor of wine products in Mongolia - World Wine LLC and Sansar chain stores. Primary agreements were reached on the export of Azerbaijani wines to Mongolia, as well as on the export of products between the Azerbaijani company Aspi Agro and the Mongolian company World Wine.

An agreement on the sale of plant extract was also reached between the Azerbaijani company Herba Flora and the Mongolian company Vitalit Invest.

The Azerbaijani company Konfirom and the Mongolian companies Shizhirzhin Group, Altan Jolo Impex, McN Export negotiated on the export of confectionery products, Gilan FMCG and the Mongolian Vertus Group and supermarket chain Sansar - on the export of fruit juices and canned products.

The services offered by the Azerbaijani companies Cybernet, Sinam, Neuron Technologies and AZINNEX, operating in the ICT field, were met with great interest by businessmen and representatives of the state structures of Mongolia.

The train service is scheduled to run once a week initially, with the frequency to rise in the future.

“We have every interest in turning to China and having close, strong relationships, and we must see this as an opportunity and a necessity,” said Pierre-Yves Jeholet, vice president of Wallonia.

He explained that Wallonia is encouraging the region’s large exporters and small- and medium-sized enterprises alike to export more products to China.

“This railway link is proof that together we are able to make such projects,” he said.

The Zhengzhou-Liege cargo train route is the third of its kind connecting the two countries. The first route was launched in June last year, linking China’s Daqing City to Zeebrugge Port. This year, the countries opened the second route, which connects north China’s Tangshan City to Antwerp Port.

Focused on trade-boosting infrastructure projects along the path of the ancient Silk Road, the One Belt One Road Initiative aims to connect China to Europe, the Middle East and beyond.

Experts predict that China’s ambitious multi-trillion-dollar project will significantly increase global trade, cutting costs by half for the countries involved.

Since the launch of freight trains between China and Europe in 2014, nearly 11,000 trains have moved between European and Chinese cities.

Pedro Sánchez’s new administration reportedly moved quickly on environmental policy, killing a controversial solar industry “sunshine tax”, and announced a national climate plan will be launched in November.

The mining deal covers Spain’s privately-owned pits, and mixes early retirement plans for miners over 48, environmental restoration initiatives and re-skilling plans for green industries.

Over 1,000 miners and subcontractors will be out of work when 10 pits close by the end of 2018. Many of the sites were uneconomic, and the European Commission provided over €2 billion in aid to keep some of the sites open temporarily.

About 600 workers in Spain’s northern mining regions – Asturias, Aragón, and Castilla y León – will be able to benefit from social aid under the scheme, while approximately 60% of the miners may opt for early retirement.

Spain’s coal industry employed more than 100,000 miners in the 1960's, but its energy dominance was eroded by cheap imports and the industry’s environmental, health and climate costs. National coal provides just 2.3% of Spain’s electricity, the Guardian reported.

In 2016, 23,000 early deaths in the EU were reported from coal-plant pollution.

“The selection process of the international advisors for the IPO issue is ongoing. We are preparing for the major upcoming mining forums to be held in Australia and London next month. Delegation of the Government, Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry and the company authorities have met with the representatives of New York and Toronto stock exchanges, investment funds and banks in the mid-October. As a result, New York, London and Hong Kong stock exchanges expressed their willing to trade the stocks of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi. It is planned to issue the IPO in April next year,” said Minister D.Sumiyabazar.

In a letter to employees, chief executive Sundar Pichai said the tech giant was taking a "hard line" on inappropriate conduct.

The letter was in response to a New York Times report that Android creator Andy Rubin received a $90m exit package despite facing misconduct allegations.

A spokesman for Mr Rubin denied the allegations, the newspaper said.

Sam Singer said Mr Rubin decided to leave Google in 2014 to launch a venture capital firm and technology incubator called Playground.

He was given what the paper described as a "hero's farewell" when he departed.

Mr Pichai's letter said the New York Times story was "difficult to read" and that Google was "dead serious" about providing a "safe and inclusive workplace".

"We want to assure you that we review every single complaint about sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct, we investigate and we take action," he continued.

None of the employees dismissed in the past two years had received an exit package, Mr Pichai added.

According to the New York Times report, two unnamed Google executives said then-chief executive Larry Page asked Mr Rubin to resign after the company confirmed a complaint by a female employee about a sexual encounter in a hotel room in 2013.

A Google investigation found the woman's complaint to be credible, the paper reported, but the company has not confirmed this.

Mr Rubin has said he did not engage in misconduct and left Google of his own accord.

The claims will add to the growing chorus denouncing sexist culture in male-dominated Silicon Valley.

Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies in San Francisco, tweeted: "In a normal world this would mean Rubin is done, but tech has not just been forgiving, some tech sees little wrong with this.

"I'd like to think Google will clean up its act if anything to avoid having a retention problem with their female employees."

Shares in Alphabet, which owns Google, fell more than 3% in New York after it reported revenues of $33.7bn (£26.3bn) for the three months to September - slightly less than analysts had expected.

However, net profit soared $2.5bn to $9.2bn - far higher than expected.

In recent years, Halloween has been widely celebrated in Mongolia, particularly in general education schools, partly due to the influence of English language learning.

Mongolian parents have been complaining about the celebration, saying it was a Western tradition and contradicts with Mongolia's culture, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports.

Halloween is a celebration observed in many countries on Oct. 31, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day, dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints, martyrs and all the faithful departed.

Several major projects in Mongolia are being implemented with Chinese soft loans and non-refundable assistance, and they are of great importance to Mongolians, especially residents of the capital Ulan Bator, Badyelkhan told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Bilateral cooperation in the construction and infrastructure sector has been expanded in recent years, Badyelkhan said.

"Projects to renovate Ulan Bator's shantytowns or ger districts and build a waste water processing plant in the city are the most important ones among the China-funded others. These projects are essential to improving Ulan Bator's environment and living conditions of the Mongolian people," Badyelkhan said.

The Mongolian capital is one of the cities in the world which has been affected by "urban ills" such as pollution, overpopulation and traffic congestion due to migration from the countryside to the cities.

Noting that air pollution is the most pressing issue in Ulan Bator where over 800,000 residents, half of the city's population, live in the ger districts, with no running water and central heating or sewerage system, Badyelkhan said two projects to renovate the ger districts with non-refundable aid from the Chinese government are being implemented.

In addition, the Mongolian government is implementing a project with non-refundable aid from the Chinese government to connect about 20,000-30,000 households in 100 locations of Ulan Bator's ger districts to engineering lines by 2020, the minister said.

A waste water processing plant will be built in Ulan Bator with soft loans from the Chinese government, said Badyelkhan.

The minister said the plant will have the capacity to purify 250,000 cubic meters of waste water a day.

"The existing waste water processing plant in Ulan Bator does not have a system of processing silt and waste silt. Heavy metals are dried up outside causing air pollution," he said, stressing that the new project is expected to be completed in 2020 and will help improve the city's environment.

In 2019, Mongolia and China will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Badyelkhan said he hoped that the two countries will accelerate joint projects and strengthen ties and cooperation in all sectors on the occasion of this anniversary.

According to the first nine months of 2018, gross production of industrial sector reached MNT 11.2 trillion, with an increase of MNT1.7 billion (18.8 percent) as compared with the same period of the previous year.

The production of mining and extractive industries reached MNT8.1 trillion, with an increase of MNT1.2 trillion (16.9 percent), which was mainly influenced by the increase of extractions of coal (46.5 percent) and metal ores (3.9 percent). Extractive industry makes up 72.1 percent in the gross production of industrial sector.

Major commodities of mining and extractive industries include 33.5 million tons of coal, 979.4 thousand tons of copper concentrate, 14.5 tons of gold, 4.0 thousand tons of molybdenum concentrate, 2.5 million tons of iron ore concentrate, 57.1 thousand tons of spar concentrate, 62.6 thousand tons of zinc concentrate, 5.0 million barrels of oil and 10.5 thousand tons of copper cathode.

As of first nine months, the total foreign trade turnover reached USD9.633,8 million, with an increase of 24.9 percent as compared with the same period of previous year. The volume of export reached USD5.282,8 million, showing an increase of 15.3 percent against previous year. Exports of mining products including iron ore, brown coal, copper concentrate, zinc concentrate, spar and crude oil make up 84.6 percent of total export.

99.2 percent of the total exported copper concentrate, 99.1 percent of coal and 58.6 percent of spar and all exported crude oil, iron ore and zinc concentrate went to China. A 41.2 percent of spar was exported to Russia. Unprocessed or semi-processed gold was wholly exported the Great Britain.

The volume of imports also increased by 39 percent, reaching USD4.351,0 million, as compared with the same period of previous year. The import of minerals reached USD976.0 million, in which the imports of oil products make up 83.5 percent. As of first nine months, Mongolia imported 1.184,9 thousand tons of oil products worth USD814.7 million.

In 2018, it is planned to extract 8.1 million barrel or 1.1 million tons of oil, accumulating MNT223.4 billion to the state budget. As of October 19, it has extracted 5.12 million barrel or 694 thousand tons of oil, which means 63.19 percent fulfillment of the plan. Moreover, 4.8. million barrel or 655 thousand tons of crude oil were exported. As of October 1, the oil export brought MNT176.46 billion to the state budget.