Namely, former Minister of Finance S.Bayartsogt, former Director of the Mongolian Tax Administration B.Ariunsan and former CEO of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi LLC B.Byambasaikhan have been suspected of breaking the law during the establishment of the 2009 Investment Agreement and the 2015 Agreement signed in Dubai.

The individuals are currently being held at the 461st detention center of the General Executive Agency of Court Decision, the IAAC said.

The IAAC is expected to provide an update on the issue soon.
Kh.Aminaa

“We are looking for a very long-term cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries,” OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said on Wednesday.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the plan in an interview with Reuters on Monday. “We are working to shift from a year-to-year agreement to a 10-20 year agreement,” he told the news agency. “We have agreement on the big picture, but not yet on the detail.”

If such a deal is signed, it would be unprecedented. Russia and Saudi Arabia have worked together in previous oil crises, but such long agreements have never been reached.

“I think it’s certainly something that OPEC would like very much… And I think the agreement that they struck – that is with OPEC and non-OPEC members – actually took them quite a large step towards that,” Colin Smith, oil analyst at Panmure Gordon, told CNBC.

“I think getting to a fully-fledged agreement in which Russia becomes a de facto member is a bit of a push at the moment,” he added.

In December 2016, OPEC, Russia, and other major producers agreed to curb production by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months. The agreement has been extended twice. In this period, oil prices have grown from $54 to above $70 per barrel and analysts have reported the supply overhang has almost been eliminated.

The price of bitcoin dropped to $6,753 at 5:00am GMT on Friday, losing nearly two-thirds of its value since peaking above $19,000 in December. Sell volumes have reportedly increased across all the major cryptocurrency exchanges, with the entire market likely affected by a sharp increase in trading volumes in bitcoin futures at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) and CME Group.

As more and more spooked investors are pressing the panic button, bitcoin charts show the cryptocurrency is on its way toward the so-called death cross – a point in a stock’s lifetime where the 50-day moving average (MA) crosses below the 200-day MA. This means that the price has fallen in 50 days as much as it would usually fall during the last 200 days.

The cryptocurrency market has followed bitcoin's plunge, wiping out most of the gains seen at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018. The crypto market cap has dropped to $250 billion, compared to $829 billion in early January, right before the price crash.

“This run-up was fueled by speculation rather than technological advances and so many people entered the space drawn by the price headlines only,” said Edward Cooper, head of mobile at digital banking firm Revolut, as quoted by Inverse Innovation. “We are now seeing a return to more normal trading where the price consolidates and any increases are driven by technological advances and increased adoption rather than the news cycle.”

The industry is undergoing restructuring in the country but the reduction in capacity does not mean a reduction in production, he said.

High quality raw materials are still necessary as the move entails a shift to high quality steel and shutting down of the smaller and more polluting blast furnaces while switching to the newest, largest blast furnaces, he added.

China has been witnessing massive overcapacity in its iron and steel sector and has vowed to reduce capacity. It plans to eliminate 100 million tons to 150 million tons of crude steel capacity in the five years from 2016. In 2017 alone, the country slashed its crude steel production capacity by more than 50 million tons, exceeding its annual target, as part of efforts to improve the competitiveness of the bloated sector.

The country also phased out the production of 140 million tons of low-quality steel made from scrap metal last year.

The industry's profitability has substantially improved, with major steel producers' profits surging 613.6 percent, according to data from the China Iron and Steel Association.

According to Jacques, Rio Tinto is well-positioned to provide the right product with the right quality to the right customers.

On the other hand, eyeing the rapid development of electric vehicles and batteries, Rio Tinto said the company would focus more on metals like copper and aluminum.

Jean-Sebastien Jacques, CEO of Rio Tinto Group Plc
"As China shifts from fast speed development to high quality development, industries like electric cars will also drive up demand for copper and aluminum, and we believe such commodity demand will rise in the future as new energy vehicles will be prevalent on China's streets in seven to 10 years. As a multinational corporation, we aim to provide high quality products to meet the demand," he said.

Jacques, head of the world's second-biggest mining company, said China has been the company's biggest customer and Rio Tinto generates more than 44 percent of its global revenue from the country, supplying lots of products including copper and iron ore for steel, and bauxite for aluminum and diamonds.

Jacques said the mining group welcomes the Belt and Road Initiative, which would lead to infrastructure improvements and drive up demand including copper and aluminum, while providing a boost for companies in related sectors.

"Infrastructure is fundamental to global growth," he said adding that, "It underpins communities and builds nations. China has shown the world what can be achieved."

As a part of this project, construction of seven schools and one kindergarten began today (29 March) with non-refundable assistance from the Chinese Government.

Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co.,Ltd, has been selected as the project contractor. The company plans to complete construction of seven schools within a year.The project will be implemented in three stages, with funding worth approximately CNY150 million for 1st and 2nd stages.

This will be the first school using the Cambridge international educational standards in the Songinokhairkan district of Ulaanbaatar.

The 700MW power plant will make a significant contribution to reducing air pollution and dependence on energy imports, said Vice President of Financial Management/CFO of Erdenes Mongol G.Ganbold.

Ganbold told about the activities of subsidiaries of Erdenes Mongol LLC speaking at the sub-session of Mongolia Economic Forum 2018 themed ‘Development of Mining and Heavy Industry and Infrastructure.’

A repayment of 100 million USD was completed on October 31, 2017, with another 50 million USD paid last February. In line with a 2012 Cabinet resolution, DBM granted the loan to Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC. The company completed repayment of a loan from Chalco in 2017. ETT plans to export 10 million tons of coal in 2018, and roughly three million tons of coal has been sent to the Tsagaan Khad coal handling facility since the beginning of 2018.

Due to a lack of financing, residential construction projects in Ulaanbaatar, Gobi-Altai, Dundgobi, Orkhon and Khuvsgul provinces have been stopped. As State Housing Corporation's maximum financial liability has been reached, it has become impossible for the state-owned company to obtain additional loan financing. DBM is expected to provide financing of 54 billion MNT for the unfinished projects. Minister of Construction and Urban Development Kh. Badyelkhan said, “The construction work will be completed by November 2018.”

The Executive Board of the IMF completed the third review of Mongolia's performance on Wednesday under a program supported by a three-year extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility.

"Since the economic conditions have improved, the Mongolian authorities need to focus on long-term sustainable policies ... and make more efforts to diversify its economy," Resident Representative of the IMF to Mongolia Neil Saker said.

The IMF Executive Board approved the arrangement in 2017, in an amount equivalent to about 434.3 million U.S. dollars to support Mongolia's economic reform.

Mongolia, with a population of over three million and gross domestic product (GDP) of some 12 billion dollars, is heavily dependent on mining and commodities exports.

With the help of the IMF's program, Mongolia's GDP grew 5.1 percent year on year in 2017, compared to 1 percent for the previous year. The figure was higher than the 3.3 percent forecast by the IMF.

The IMF has predicted that Mongolia's GDP growth will reach 5 percent this year and 6.3 percent next year.

There was a risk global growth could fall "very quickly", WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo warned.

His comments follow the US and China announcing proposed tariffs against one another, as Washington and Beijing ramp up the rhetoric on trade.

The WTO now faced one of its toughest periods, Mr Azevedo said.

Last week US President Donald Trump announced proposed tariffs on $60bn worth of Chinese goods.

Beijing responded saying it was not afraid of a trade war, but that negotiations should remain open.

The US has since said it was "cautiously hopeful" that the two economic giants could come to an agreement on trade issues.

'Serious'
Mr Azevedo told the BBC's HardTalk program that while a global trade war had not yet been initiated, the world was "seeing the first movements towards it".

Earlier this month the US announced broader tariffs on steel and aluminium imports which affected many nations including China. Beijing responded with its own set of proposed tariffs.

The scale of damage done to the global economy, and its rate of expansion, would depend on what the trade war encompassed, Mr Azevedo said.

"If it's just limited to steel and aluminium, it's one thing. If you're talking about hundreds and thousands of products, it's a completely different thing. And the impact will be significantly different."

But he said there was little doubt that the trade clash was a "big problem".

"I don't think anybody believes that this is something minor, even in the US administration.

"These conversations are ongoing precisely because people are beginning to understand, I hope, how serious this is and the kind of impact this could have to the global economy."

'Catastrophe'
Washington has also has launched a complaint against China for breaking basic patent rights rules at the WTO - a body that Mr Trump has said is a "catastrophe" and "a disaster" for the US.

Mr Azevedo said the clashes between the US and China were some of the most difficult moments the WTO had faced in its 23 year history.

"If not the toughest, one of the toughest, yes for sure," he said.

"Given the nature of the challenges before the [WTO] system, where it comes from and so on, it's really tough right now."

But he said that despite some rhetorical statements that pointed towards the US wanting to leave the WTO altogether, there was no indication this was going to happen and that there were "still conversations ongoing and still negotiations ongoing".

"Now that doesn't mean that we should downplay that - you don't want to be in the war," he said.

"We want to avoid the war so everything that we can do to avoid being in that situation, we must be doing at this point."