Mongolia: The nomads risking it all www.aljazeera.com

"We're the generation that's been abandoned since the end of communism."

Like many other former gold and jade hunters in Mongolia, Lagva is struggling to make a living since mines across the country have been shut down.

Lagva is sitting on a treasure - owning jade stones worth between $14,000 and $19,000 - but he has yet to receive permission to sell the precious stones.

While waiting for the government's permission, Lagva scrapes a living, renting his small, 35-year-old truck to nomadic herdsmen.

Mongolia's vast steppe is home to one of the world's last surviving nomadic cultures. Herding is a way of life for over a third of Mongolians, with many of the nomads living in often-inhospitable regions.

The Darkhad (craftsmen) nomads are some of the world's most self-sufficient people, leading a gruelling life in the north of Mongolia. The herds live off the land, and the nomads live off the milk and meat of their animals.

Their life revolves around finding pasture for the herds, and every spring, in the region of Lake Khovsgol, Minjbayar and his family take almost 250 animals - sheep, goats, yaks - and all their worldly goods on a risky journey.

During the so-called transhumance, entire families play a game of chance with their animals and their health, as they cross iced rivers and travel on narrow roads at an altitude of 2,000 metres. In the icy mountains, the temperature can reach -40C and there is always the threat of wolves attacking the herd.

"The transhumance will take four or five days. It's long and strenuous, but we can't stay here. There's no snow this year. I think it's because of climate change. There's less water, and there will be a drought later on. So there'll be less grass. Since that's what the animals eat, they could be at risk," explains 20-year-old Aza.

The way off life for nomadic herdsmen on the plains of Mongolia has changed little in centuries and life has always been challenging.

"My father was a herdsman", says 60-year-old Minjbayar. "In those days he led his herds towards the USSR. I went along on these journeys from a very young age. Sometimes there were as many as 1,400 animals to move along. There was some really bad weather. We'd sometimes lose our cattle, and they would die of cold or because of the storms."

But while Minjbayar and his familiy continue to brave the transhumance and Mongolia's extreme weather each year, other nomads have taken a different route in their attempt to find a better life for themselves, nearer to the city.

In the past three decades, around 600,000 former herders have migrated to the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar - mainly due to the end of Soviet state support and climate change.

Increasingly dry summers have made it harder to grow and harvest grass for the herds, so the animals cannot put on enough weight to survive the winter cold.

More than one million animals died during last year's dzud, a Mongolian term for a severe winter. The 2009-2010 dzud killed about eight million animals in Mongolia, putting the livelihoods of thousands of nomads under threat as well as harming the country's food supply.

If their livestock die during the harsh winters, herders are often forced to move to the city to survive. Many families who live in remote areas also head to the capital in search of better education for their children.

"I've never been to Ulaanbaatar", says Aza, "But I'd like to go to see what a city's like. I'll definitely send my child there to study. I don't want him to be a herdsman. It's too tough."

In response to the deteriorating situation, Mongolia's National Emergency Management Agency partnered with the UN development programme and NGOs to support Mongolia's struggling nomads.

In January 2017, the UN announced that it has allocated $1.1m to help herders access essential items such as food, fuel and basic medications by providing cash grants as well as animal feed packages and veterinary first aid kits to minimise the loss of livestock as their main source of food and income.

Source: Al Jazeera

E-mart to open second store in Mongolia www.theinvestor.co.kr

[THE INVESTOR] E-mart, the nation’s No. 1 discount supermarket chain owned by Shinsegae Group, said on Sept. 25 it is opening its second store in Mongolia this week as part of efforts to expand its presence in Asia amid growing uncertainties in China.

Weekly trading report www.mse.mn

During the week spanning September 18 to September 22, 2017, MNT 18,152,438,161.10 worth of securities were traded through 5 trading sessions on the MSE. The daily average MNT volume was 3.6 billion.

Chinese FM: China willing to develop healthy and stable relations with good neighborliness and friendliness with Mongolia www.akipress.com

AKIPRESS.COM - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Mongolian counterpart Tsend Munkh-Orgil September 20 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Chinese foreign ministry said Monday. 
Wang Yi expressed that China and Mongolia are friendly neighboring countries connecting by rivers and mountains. China has always treated Mongolia with goodwill and sincerity, and is willing to develop healthy and stable relations with good neighborliness and friendliness with Mongolia. Both countries enjoy high complementation in economic structure and huge cooperative potential.

FM Ts.Munkh-Orgil: We strongly oppose the DPRK`s acts of destabilizing regional security www.gogo.mn

ULAANBAATAR (GoGo Mongolia) - We deliver you the highlights of a statement by Foreign Minister of Mongolia Ts.Munkh-Ogril at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. 
Among global development priorities, the special needs of landlocked developing countries come front and centre for Mongolia.
Enhancing connectivity is an urgent priority that all landlocked developing economies share.
In order to improve market access to main trading partners, Mongolia is studying the feasibility of free trade agreements with the Eurasian Economic Union, the People`s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea. An Economic Partnership Agreement is already in place with Japan.
Mongolia is keen to further work together with our two neighbors and other partners to improve rail, road, air, energy networks and pipeline infrastructure and increase access to the sea.
Mongolia`s State Policy on Energy, adopted in 2015, set an ambitious goal to produce 30 percent of its energy demand from renewable resources by 2030. Our solar and wind resources are estimated at 7000 TW and 5000 TW respectively.
We are working with our partners to implement the Gobi Tech and the Asian Super Grid projects to supply renewable energy for the Northeast Asia.
Timely and effective implementation of the sustainable development agenda cannot be achieved without peace and security. However, peace is being threatened on a number of fronts.
Mongolia is deeply concerned with the escalating tension in Northeast Asia. We strongly oppose the DPRK`s acts of destabilizing regional security by conducting repeated nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches in defiance of the international community`s will and in violation of the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. As a country with 25-year-old nuclear-weapon-free zone status, Mongolia reiterates its principled position that the Korean Peninsula must be nuclear-weapon-free. We urge the Parties concerned to refrain from actions that could heighten the tension in Northeast Asia and resolve the issue through peaceful means.
It is beyond doubt that the only way to resolve the Korean Peninsula`s nuclear issue is through dialogue. One of the avenues of dialogue could be the Ulaanbaatar dialogue on Northeast Asian Security initiated by Mongolia in 2013. We organized its 4th International Conference in UIaanbaatar last June. Compared to previous three conferences held at Track 2 level, this year`s we held it at Track 1.5 Lebel. The dialogue discusses not only security issues in Northeast Asia but also potential projects in the energy and environmental sectors. As such, the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue is an open dialogue mechanism that ensures the participation of all countries in Northeast Asia.

Telecoms battle to unlock demand in emerging Asia www.asia.nikkei.com

TOKYO/YANGON -- In a tiny village in central Myanmar, about a two-hour drive from the nation's second largest city Mandalay, electricity does not arrive through power lines. It comes from home generators or solar panels.

Chinese brands outstrip rivals in market share www.chinadaily.com.cn

Chinese automakers are gaining an increasingly larger market share of their home market, but industry insiders said they should not be overly optimistic as there is still a long way to go.

More than 6.38 million China-branded passenger cars were sold from January to August, 4.8 percent growth year-on-year. That's more than double the growth rate of the passenger car sector as a whole, according to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Chinese brands seized 43.2 percent of the market share in the period, far higher than the runner-up, as German carmakers' products accounted for 20.5 percent of the market.

Yang Xueliang, vice-president of Geely Group, believes the upward trend will go further.

"If the momentum continues, Chinese brands are likely to have a 50 percent or even 60 percent market share in the long run," Yang said at a Chinese brands-themed automotive forum in Shandong province last week.

Geely is one of the fastest-growing Chinese automakers in China. In the first eight months this year, it sold 718,000 new cars, surging 88 percent year-on-year.

Geely now owns Swedish brand Volvo and Malaysia's Proton, and has unveiled its own brand Lynk & Co, aiming to compete with international brands such as GM and Volkswagen.

At Changan Automobile, which has partnerships with Ford, Suzuki and Mazda, the international brand cars accounted for roughly 45 percent of the group's total sales last year, according to Li Wei, its vice-president.

"Our Changan-branded cars took 55 percent. Our own brand is rising within the group, so we feel that Chinese brands as a whole are full of hope too."

Wang Xia, chairman of the Automotive Industry Committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said Chinese brands have seized the opportunity and realized rapid growth, but they should not be complacent about what they have achieved. "Instead, they should prepare for a tug of war with international brands over a long period of time," he said.

Wang was echoed by Lu Qun, chairman of Qiantu Motor, an electric carmaker. Lu said he believes that Chinese brands could even raise their market share to 50 percent, but there is a long way to go before really getting established.

"How do we make our brands more attractive? How do we offer customers good value for money? And how do we offer them better experiences? We need to find out answers to those questions," Lu said.

Zhang Xiyong, general manager of BAIC Group, said Chinese carmakers still lag behind international big names in the industry in terms of quality and other competitive factors.

He said there were six automotive companies in the list of the 2016 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands but none of them were Chinese.

Zhang suggested that Chinese companies should try to go global if they want to become global brands.

China sold 800,000 cars overseas last year, a meager 3 percent of what it sold in the domestic market.

As the Belt and Road Initiative has become widely accepted, there is huge potential overseas, said Zhang.

However, he suggested that in China, Chinese automakers should shift their focus from large cities to smaller ones, as people there are becoming major consumer groups.

Xiang Xingchu, general manager of JAC Motors, said Chinese companies should each create their own individual features to appeal to their target customers.

"It is not possible to sell your cars to everyone. Find your target customers and they will be large enough," said Xiang.

"Some say their cars are sporty, some say they excel in safety and some others say they offer premium cars. But aren't premium cars safe? Yes they are. But as a company you have to map out a different route of development."

Xiang said now is one of the best times for Chinese brands, as customers are becoming more reasonable, with growing confidence in Chinese brands.

In addition, the authorities are promulgating stricter requirements in fuel consumption and quality, which are forcing Chinese carmakers to do a better job, he said.

Fu Yuwu, chief of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, believes new energy cars and connected cars could prove to be sectors where Chinese carmakers can gain an upper hand.

"We have the absolute advantage in smart and connected cars. China is strongly addicted to the internet, even more so than the United States. So I think that if we can make breakthroughs in electric cars as well as smart and connected cars, and if we can introduce business model innovations, then we will have the chance of creating miracles for the Chinese car industry."

Central Asia Metals to buy Lynx Resources for $402m www.mining.com

Israel trade mission to Mongolia www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com

According to the recent Foreign Minister of Mongolia Mr.Ts.Munkh-Orgil's visit to Israel, Mr.Ophir Gore, Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry's Head of Investment & Trade mission and Mr. Chaim Martin, Head of the Economic Mission to China are going to visit to Mongolia through Oct 22-25 in order to promote Israeli global ranking technology and no-how on cleantech (inluding agritech, water and energy relevant for the mining industry), homeland security solutions, medical devices, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and follow up/develop the particular B2B relations between Israel and Mongolia.

MNB launches project on sister channel MNB World www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A new project titled ‘MNB World’ has been launched by the Mongolian National Broadcaster (MNB) which is celebrating its 50th anniversary on September 27.