The visit is important for strengthening friendly relations between Mongolia and Switzerland, consolidating economic and trade cooperation as well as extending cultural and humanitarian sector interaction.

During the visit, the two foreign ministers held negotiations and signed cooperation agreements. In addition, the two sides discussed cooperation issues in politics, agriculture, food, science, road and transportation.

Switzerland's cooperation with Mongolia started in 2001; initially providing humanitarian aid for herders who had lost livestock in weather-related disasters. This assistance was extended in 2004, since which date the Swiss Cooperation Office has implemented projects and programmes worth over CHF 100 million in Mongolia.

At the meeting, Managing Director Er.Chan Kok Siong and Executive Director Dr.Tham Lai Leng introduced about the company’s activities and cooperation possibilities with Mongolia in road and constructional sectors.

MEINHARDT Infrastructure Pte Ltd is a subsidiary of MEINHARDT Group, and is an engineering consultancy that provides multi-disciplinary services for civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and geotechnical with various integrated engineering expertise in Singapore and offices in the region and participates in mainly infrastructure projects in areas of energy, transportation, master planning and infrastructure design. Its recent projects include The Gardens By The Bay, which is one of the three water front gardens designed and built on approximately 54 hectares of reclaimed land, The Marina Coastal Expressway which is below the Marina Bay crossing, Marina Bayfront Bridge, Biomass Cogeneration Plant, Downtown Line Singapore etc.

The authorities of the company also met with deputy Governor of the capital city P.Bayarkhuu and CEO of Mongolian Railway State-owned Shareholding Company B.Tsengel.

The sides underlined possibilities to cooperate in Ulaanbaatar city planning, road and bridge maintenance, waste management and water supply facility.

Founded in 1955, Meinhardt’s current global network includes Asia, Australia, Europe, US, Middle East and North Africa represented in 42 offices worldwide with headcount of more than 3800 professionals, projects on smart cities, ports, water and waste environmental engineering etc.

M.Unurzul

Representatives of 130 companies from 20 countries are participating in the Expo that will run until April 6. The event is considered of great importance for Ulan Bator to strengthen projects that generate value-added products and jobs, the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry said in a statement.

The ministry highlighted that this sector is growing rapidly followed by construction, transport and energy thanks to open cooperation with companies, the strengthening of public-private partnership and the confidence of investors in applying a policy that provides a legal stable environment.

The Mongolian mining sector makes up 90 percent of exports, 77 percent of industrial products, 22 percent of Gross Domestic Product and 64 percent of the foreign investment.

The procedure deals with the issuance of grants for projects that aim to produce innovative products and services through the introduction of new technology.

The Cabinet sees that the adoption of the procedure will help bring intellectual properties into economic circulation and advance the development of production of value-added innovative products.

The procedure states that the amount of a single grant will not exceed 40 percent of the total finance of the project and be less than MNT 60 million.

Those eligible to nominate a project include a citizen of Mongolia, all registered enterprises, businesses, scientific organizations, universities, higher education institutes and vocational training institutes.

The grant will be approved based on an assessment of experts, who will be appointed by the corresponding minister.
Kh.Amina

During its regular meeting on April 4, the Cabinet framed a draft resolution on its decision, which will be submitted to the Parliament in the near future.

According to the resolution, the fund required for distribution of the benefit starting from April 1 will be included in the 2018 Budget of the General Budget Administrator and will be allocated in the annual Budget starting from 2019.

The 80 percent coverage of the Child Allowance benefit will add 228 thousand children to the current list of benefit recipients, making the total number 860 thousand.

It has been estimated that MNT 41 billion will be needed to cover 80 percent of the registered children. The Cabinet sees that it is possible to distribute the benefit without making amend to the 2018 State Budget.
Kh.Aminaa

During the visit, it is planned that the two prime ministers will discuss cooperation in agriculture, light industry, tourism, road and infrastructure projects.

In Ulaanbaatar, the Turkish Prime Minister is expected to met Mongolian President Kh.Battulga and M.Enkhbold, Speaker of Parliament.

Open bidding will be announced on the lands approved by the selection. Within the frames of the amendments to Minerals Law of Mongolia, the exploration licenses will be granted only through biddings. Consequently, the highest bidder from companies seeking to obtain a license will be appraised from the scale of up to 45 points and their experience and ability will be evaluated from up to 55 points.

Presently, the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry is studying the opportunity to grant exploration licenses through application procedures, instead of bidding.

The agreement comprises three loans and one grant as part of three projects in Mongolia.

Fernandez Lommen, ADB country director for the East Asian country, said the projects aligned with the ADB’s strategy for Mongolia which “supports government efforts to foster inclusive growth and ensure opportunities for all, particularly people from disadvantaged backgrounds”.

“We are ready to work closely with the government of Mongolia to improve education quality while also helping address the country’s most pressing problem, which is air pollution, to help improve people’s quality of life.”

The loan for air quality, worth $130m, will focus on various key reform areas, including strengthening the regulatory framework for reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the country.

The second project aims to improve people’s access to quality education by narrowing the gap in the number of children going to school.

It will also support reforms in the curriculum, help train teachers, managers and local education administrators, as well as improve teaching and learning materials.

The third project will focus on early identification of children with disabilities through medical and social interventions, the bank said.

It will also improve service delivery for people with disabilities. The loan will be supported by a $2m grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.

Mohammed Munshi was sentenced to 11 years jail for criminal fraud last July and lost his first appeal in November. Last month he lost what may be the final appeal possible in the Mongolian justice system, but had his sentence reduced to seven years.

Munshi had been chairman of Gobi Coal, a developer of two coal mines in southern Mongolia, when authorities seized his Australian and British passports in March 2015. His family have not seen him since because they have not felt safe travelling to Mongolia.

His passports were seized a month after Gobi Coal obtained an order in a Hong Kong arbitration for a Mongolian businessman to repay a $US11.5 million loan, according to a complaint lodged with the UN Human Rights Council by Munshi’s Perth-based lawyer.

The complaint alleged the brother of the businessman who lost the arbitration instigated the action, and subsequent fraud charges, against Munshi.

Munshi’s son Arif Munshi said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had told the family for three years that there was nothing they could do while the legal process was under way.

Now the legal options appear exhausted, the family see the best hope in government-to- government intervention at ministerial level to secure a pardon from the Mongolian President on health grounds.

Arif Munshi said his 57-year-old father’s health problems included lower back pain that needed an operation, severe varicose veins which put him at high risk of deep vein thrombosis and an enlarged prostate.

The family say Ms Bishop agreed to meet with them this month.

Arif Munshi said the consular assistance had been limited to monthly joint visits to his father, a dual UK-Australian national, by British and Australian embassy staff.