Recalling his successful visit to France last October, Minister D.Tsogtbaatar expressed an interest to collaborate with newly-appointed Ambassador of France in realizing talks agreed to make roadmap of elevating bilateral relations and cooperation into a comprehensive partnership level and implementing projects and programs to attract French investment and technology into agricultural sector.

In turn, Ambassador Philippe Merlin expressed his commitment to work for expanding and elevating bilateral cooperation into a new level and backing projects being implemented with the support of France. The Ambassador also informed about progress of French-invested mining and renewable energy projects.

On November 19, the Transport Ministers had an official meeting where they exchanged views on wide range of issues on bilateral cooperation in transport sector.

The sides agreed to pay special attention on implementation of development projects and activities which were reflected in the Agreement on Reform of the Ulaanbaatar Railway Joint Venture and Development Strategic Partnership established between the Mongolian Ministry of Road and Transport Development and Russian Railways JSC.

They also highlighted that there is room for development of bilateral cooperation in transport field within multilateral cooperation. In particular, the parties pointed out that validation of Mongolia-Russia-China intergovernmental agreement on International Road Transport along Asian Highway Network last September is giving impetus to mutually beneficial cooperation among the three countries in road and transport sector, creating new opportunities.

Today, Minister Ya.Sodbaatar will attend enlarged session of the forum while visiting the exhibition that promotes activities of Russian companies in transport sector and meeting with O.V.Belozyorov, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Russian Railways JSC.

The opening ceremony was attended by Tuv Province Mayor Jigjid Batjargal and Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Mongolia Yang Qingdong.

"Mongolia and China are longstanding close and friendly neighbors. Our Tuv province has been cooperating with China's several provinces for decades, including Jilin province," Batjargal said at the ceremony.

He hoped that the center will contribute to bilateral ties and cooperation in the cultural sector.

For his part, Yang said, "I am very happy to attend the event. Since the state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Mongolia in 2014, relations and cooperation between China and Mongolia have been developing rapidly in various areas."

The minister counsel1or expressed his readiness to strengthen ties with Mongolia, especially Tuv province.

Head of the theater Dorjsuren Munkbat also voiced his gratitude to the Chinese Embassy in Mongolia for donating sound equipment worth 20,000 U.S. dollars to the cultural center commissioned in mid-October.

D.Tsogtbaatar explained the importance of Mongolia’s initiatives such as the ‘Ulaanbaatar Dialogue’ for security in Northeast Asia, participation in UN peacekeeping operations and the declaration of the nuclear weapon free status of Mongolia; all of these are aimed contributing to the UN objectives of world peace, security and tackling the problems facing the international cooperation community.

In return, Mr. Miroslav Jenča expressed his appreciation for Mongolia’s contribution to multilateral cooperation in securing stability, peace and mutual trusts in Northeast Asian region. He noted that the, in particular, the UN Political Affairs Department is actively supporting the ‘Ulaanbaatar Dialogue’.

During the meeting, the two sides agreed to co-host a ‘Youth Peace and Security’ seminar in which delegates from Northeast Asia will be invited to Mongolia in 2019.

The move means that BHP Billiton and BHP Billiton Plc are now BHP Group and BHP Group Plc respectively. All the tickers, including the ones on the London Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange will switch to “BHP” on Nov. 23.

The mining giant has used the fresh logo and also its new motto “Think Big”, in place of the old “Resourcing the Future” for almost two years.
The announcement comes on the heels of the Melbourne-based miner announcing it had reached a settlement agreement with the Australian Taxation Office over the transfer pricing dispute relating to its marketing operations in Singapore.

Last year, BHP rolled out a marketing campaign highlighting its new preferred name. It included 30-second television ads, a three-minute online video and a new slogan to facilitate a change that the company said has been in the works for quite a while.

For almost a year and a half, the mining giant has been using the fresh logo and also its new motto “Think Big”, in place of the old “Resourcing the Future.”

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Regarding with ‘Asian Door 2018’ international fair (Ворота в Азию) to be opened today, November 20, industry, trade representatives at the Embassy of Russia held a press conference yesterday.

To be hosted for the 29th time in Mongolia, the Asian Door 2018 fair will be held by Irkutsk Oblast, being participated by business delegates from 5 districts led by Minister of Agriculture of Irkutsk Oblast. "More than 850 Russian companies and entities attended the expo in the past, of which over 20 percent started operating in Mongolia," said A.Sidorov, Director of Business Contact Company of Russia. He also cited Mongolian companies are collaborating with Irkutsk region by exporting foodstuff such as beer, sausage, and frozen buuz.

In addition, at the bilateral business meetings to be held during the expo, the sides will touch upon encountering problems.

After the decision of Mongolian People’s Party caucus on ousting the head of caucus Khayankhyarvaa Damdin last week, Mr. Khayankhyarvaa announced to submit the petition on Cabinet dissolution after collecting signatures from MPs.

MPs who signed the petition expressed their apology towards the public for going back on their promise to maintain stability in the Government. Initiated by Mr. Khayankhyarvaa, the petition highlighted six grounds to dissolve the Cabinet, which includes:

• Abuse of power to draw financing from the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) Development Fund;

• Prime Minister Khurelsukh Ukhnaa announced his inability to work under the Constitution;

• Incited public demonstrations that created serious situation of national security;

• Granted special licenses to foreign nationals;

• Aside from the inability to demand accountability from ministers involved in SME Development Fund scandal, Prime Minister himself became a hostage to them;

• Ignored the President’s repeated recommendation on allocating budget for the development of industrial sector.

“Although he ignored the President’s recommendation, the PM is now demanding the caucus to accept the President’s veto on budget. He further ignored the actions on bringing assets from offshore zone. Moreover, the fact that a public servant murdered inside a State-protected organization and an attempted kidnap from within the territory of Mongolia are also the basis for the PM’s resignation,” remarked Mr. Khayankhyarvaa.

According to the Law on Procedure of Parliament Session, Standing Committee on State Structure must discuss the petition for Cabinet dissolution within 14 working days after submission, which will then be discussed by the Parliament. If the Parliament considers that it is unnecessary to dissolve the Cabinet, ousting of Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Sports could surface. Because the current minister Tsogzolmaa Tsedenbal was one of the MPs that signed the petition. On the other hand, the appointment of Ulaan Chultem as the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry is in line for discussion at the Parliament. The approval of Cabinet dissolution will annul the appointment.

Director of the Regional Division of the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) in Darkhan-Uul aimag B.Javkhlan said that the regional branch of BoM purchased a total of 33 kg of gold over the past month. “We purchase the gold from artisanal miners and cooperatives at the daily rate of the central bank without any intermediaries. The locals are grateful for the establishment of the precious metal assay laboratory, which removes the inconveniences of gold purchase,” he noted.

The laboratory operates in the whole Central region. Thus the laboratory is open to gold mining cooperatives, companies and individuals of Darkhan-Uul as well as other aimags.