Precious metal assay laboratories to be established in Bayankhongor and Darkhan-Uul aimags www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ At its regular meeting on September 5, the Cabinet made a decision to establish laboratory units designated for assaying precious metals under the Standard and Metrology divisions of Darkhan-Uul and Bayankhongor aimags.

Construction work of Ulaanbaatar-Darkhan auto road to be commenced next April www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ International Conference ‘Strengthening Good Governance in Asian Countries’ is being held at the State House on September 4-6.

Being co-organized by the Cabinet Secretariat of Government of Mongolia and Local Governance Initiative and Network (LOGIN), the conference brought together representatives of member countries of LOGIN, chairmen of state administration departments of the Ministries, chairmen of the Citizens’ Representative Meetings of aimags, and staffs from non-government organizations.

The international conference aims to give countries opportunities to share their experiences of implementing actions to strengthen good governance and best practices.

During the conference, 22 organizations of 11 Asian countries are sharing their experiences on a wide range of topics, including civil involvement and social responsibility, citizens' monitoring on election process, women's participation in politics, as well as building capacity of local governance. Moreover, six organizations of Mongolia are presenting their actions being implemented in directions of local governance and others to the participants.

Opening the three-day conference, Head of the Cabinet Secretariat G.Zandanshatar delivered a speech, in which he said, "The Cabinet Secretariat of Government of Mongolia in cooperation with LOGIN decided to host this international conference. As a member of LOGIN, the Cabinet Secretariat of Government of Mongolia has been regularly participating in events organized by LOGIN. We are grateful to LOGIN for considering Mongolia's requests.”

"The conference is significant event for us to learn experiences of overcoming challenges in developing good governance, encountered by Asian countries. The Government of Mongolia has been implementing ‘Three-pillar Development Policy’ based on the analysis of global development trends and socio-economic situations of Mongolian neighbor countries. The policy is for strengthening just, accountable and sustainable government system, developing its economic competitiveness through comprehensive national development policy, as well as for improving livelihoods. The Three-Pillar Policy will be implemented under 'One policy-One State' concept which includes governance reform, economic reform and social reform," pointed out G.Zandanshatar.

Local Governance Initiative and Network (LOGIN) is a South and East Asia centric multi-stakeholder knowledge network connecting state and non-state actors to promote a culture of learning and exchange on the state of governance in a local context.

Spanning 12 countries, LOGIN’s membership includes elected representatives, training institutions, think tanks, government departments, non-governmental and inter-governmental organisations, among others.
LOGIN aims for capacitated local institutions that enable participatory, accountable, inclusive and citizen-responsive governance.

E.Altanzul

Opening bell ceremony held for ‘Mandal Daatgal’ JSC www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ To honor the occasion of the opening of the stock subscription of Mandal Daatgal IPO, Mr. Bayarsaikhan, Vice Chairman of FRC, Mr. Ganzorig, Board Chairman of 'Mandal Daatgal' JSC, Mr. Javkhlan, CEO of 'Mandal Daatgal' JSC and Mr. Amarbayasgalan, CEO of 'Golomt Capital' LLC visited Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) on September 4 and rang the bell to start the 5799th securities trading of MSE.

China's aid boosts Mongolia's education www.china.org.cn

China's aid boosts the development of Mongolia's national education, Mongolia's Education Minister Tsedenbal Tsogzolmaa has said.

Mongolia welcomes foreign investors in coal industry www.xihuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia is ready to cooperate with foreign investors on a large coal deposit, said a minister at the 8th Coal Mongolia International Conference and Exhibition, which started on Tuesday.

Russia to support Mongolia in developing ice-hockey www.news.mn

Mongolian national ice-hockey first made its debut at the 1999 Asian Winter Games and is currently listed ahead of 16 other Asian countries. In addition, Mongolia has established a women’s ice-hockey team which is preparing for its debut in 2019.

Iran, Mongolia call for expansion of bilateral ties www.en.mehrnews.com

TEHRAN, Sep. 04 (MNA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mongolia met in Tehran on Tue. and held talks on expansion of bilateral ties in various fields.

Mongolia's Halal meat exports on the path to growth www.en.shafaqna.com

SHAFAQNA- Mongolia has an estimated 30 million sheep – more than New Zealand – but has until recently only managed to export a thin slice of its overall meat output. It hopes that will change as it taps overseas appetite for halal mutton from places such as Iran.

Mongolian butcher Kuntuguan Ajbai chants under his breath as he slits the throat of a sheep with a single stroke of his sharpened knife, making sure the animal’s swift death is halal – acceptable under the laws of Islam.

Kuntuguan’s work at a slaughterhouse in the city of Darkhan, about 100 miles (160 km) from the nation’s capital, comes amid surging demand from Iran for halal meat and as Mongolia pushes to make more money from the huge herds of livestock that roam its vast grasslands.

“This is a special ritual we do while slaughtering,” said Kuntuguan, a 27-year-old Muslim of Kazakh extraction, his rubber boots and white apron splattered with blood.

“We do it in the name of Allah to get permission to kill the animals.”

Mongolia has an estimated 30 million sheep – more than New Zealand – but has until recently only managed to export a thin slice of its overall meat output. It hopes that will change as it taps overseas appetite for halal mutton from places such as Iran, which are forced to import due to limited local production, Reuters reported.

Largely because of that kind of new demand, Mongolia’s sheep and goat meat shipments hit 2,601 tonnes in 2017, 11 times more than 2016.

And while that was worth only around $8 million, industry officials say those volumes are likely just the start, with exports in the first-half of 2018 quadrupling year-on-year to 775.6 tonnes.

“The halal meat market is growing worldwide, promising new opportunities for Mongolia,” said Ochirbat Begz, executive director of the Mongolia Meat Association.

Pastures of plenty?
Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to diversify away from mining, Mongolia has been trying to turn its huge pastoral economy into a major earner, hoping its free-range organic meat will find a home on plates overseas.

The plant where Kuntuguan works is run by Darkhan Meat Foods, which along with rival meat producers Max Impex and Max Market is rushing to supply mutton to Iran.

It employs around 200 workers at the site, all involved in halal mutton output, and expects to double its exports of the meat in 2018 from 1,320 tonnes last year.

“Before contracting with an Iranian company, we only exported beef and horse meat to other countries,” said Otgon-Erdene Bavuudorj, the firm’s general manager.

During a visit to the plant by Reuters, around a thousand 18-month old sheep were slaughtered and then deboned, chopped and packed under the supervision of experts from Dana Negah Parsian, an Iranian importing company, as well as the Iranian Veterinary Organisation.

The mutton is then frozen and transported by truck through Russia and Kazakhstan, reaching Iran in about two weeks.

Room to improve
But Mongolia’s nascent halal meat industry faces a number of hurdles on the path to growth.

Seyed Erfan Esfahani, business manager with the Iranian importer, said the country still needed to improve technology at its slaughtering plants and to train more staff.

In order for meat to be deemed halal, the butcher who slaughters animals must be Muslim. Mongolia is predominantly Buddhist, but 100,000 mostly-Muslim Kazakhs account for around 3 percent of its population.

The nation has also struggled with foot-and-mouth disease, with an outbreak this March forcing the government to declare martial law in 12 provinces and distribute 500,000 vaccines.

Mongolia has drawn up new animal health legislation to fight such diseases, with the Iranian importers saying they were doing all they could to guarantee meat they buy is safe.

“I check sheep before slaughtering, and have not seen any major problems with animal diseases, said Hamid Reza Kavosh, head of the veterinary office in Iran’s Khuzestan province, while at the Darkhan plant.

Another problem is the seasonal nature of meat production in Mongolia.

“Putting livestock to pasture is good in the sense that they are free to choose the best grazing area and drink clean water from nature,” said Ochirbat at the country’s meat industry body.

“But importing countries demand regular supplies, which is impossible to meet with pasture, so export-oriented farms need to be developed,” he added.

The reintroduction of trade sanctions on Iran by the United States could also cloud the horizon. Washington has warned there will be consequences for countries that do not respect the sanctions.

But Ochirbat played down such worries, saying it was still early days for halal exports to Iran.

“It’s a little business-to-business trade (at this stage) and not a big international cooperation or something, so it should be okay,” he said

Investors interested in briquettes and coal processing www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ About 3000 representatives of 15 countries and authorities of about 600 companies are attending the ‘Coal Mongolia-2018’ conference. The event also features exhibition of 65 companies.

New academic year starts with absent classes www.zgm.mn

On the first day of academic year yesterday, teachers of 28 public schools in Ulaanbaatar launched a strike as promised. According to some officials, 35-36 schools will be joining the strike today. The duration of strike remains unclear as sources claimed that the rest of public schools will join the strike starting this Friday for an all-out strike. Following the Cabinet’s decision to increase teachers’ salary by 812.3 percent last month, teachers warned of a strike as they have been demanding 50 percent pay raise since last year. Furthermore, health workers’ salaries increased by 8-30 percent and art industry workers by 8-27 percent respectively.