Mongolia, Japan seek to increase trade www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian Parliament Speaker Miyegombyn Enkhbold met with the speaker of Japan's House of Representatives, Tadamori Oshimahere, on Tuesday to discuss a number of issues, including Japanese financial assistance and expanding trade ties.
Enkhbold said that Mongolia was pleased that Japan decided to provide Mongolia with more favorable financial assistance under the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Extended Fund Facility Program.
Enkhbold stressed the importance of closer cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries, assuring that the State Great Khural, Mongolia's parliament, will pay special attention to the implementation of a medium-term development program on Mongolia-Japan ties.
However, he noted that Mongolia and Japan should work to implement the Economic Partnership Agreement concluded between the two countries.
Over the past year, trade between Mongolia and Japan has grown significantly, and Mongolia will take necessary measures to eliminate double taxation to expand bilateral business cooperation, Enkhbold said.
Enkhbold also hoped Japan would pay more attention to a coal-chemical complex project in Mongolia.
Oshima said that Japan considered the expansion of bilateral cooperation with Mongolia a priority.
He stressed that, to further the development of trade and economic cooperation, both countries should consider eliminating double taxation, simplifying transportation procedures, and creating a fair, transparent and secure investment environment.

Mongolia: An unexpected bastion of democracy thanks to its youth www.theconversation.com

By some accounts, democracy is under pressure. Freedom House, the American think tank, entitled its 2017 report, “Populists and Autocrats: The Dual Threat to Global Democracy.”

As the events in the United States, Hungary and Turkey illustrate, populism has played a particularly prominent role in fears about the decline of democracy.

Mongolia, meantime, held two national elections in the past year, one just last month. Both demonstrated that despite the temptations of populism, the country continues to embrace democracy. That embrace requires the engagement of young democrats in Mongolia and around the world.

Kh Battulga, leader of the Mongolian Democratic Party, goes to cast his vote at polling station Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on June 26. The former artist and world champion in the martial art of sambo won the election. (AP Photo/Chadraabal Baramsai)
Some political transformations travel through geographic proximity or ‘contagion,’ even in an age of global communication. That holds true for democracy just as it does for the decline of democracy.

Proximity to the European Union reinforced democratic revolutions across eastern Europe in the 1990s. Pro-democracy revolutions in the Arab world spread from neighbour to neighbour. Setbacks to democracy in Thailand and recently, the Philippines, look like a regional pattern.

Exception to ‘contagion’ rule
Mongolia is an exception to such patterns since its democratic revolution in 1990. It has continued to build a democracy in a hostile region where its only neighbours are China and Russia, with North Korea and Kazakhstan just beyond those nations.

As populists, some with decidedly authoritarian tendencies, swept across the world’s democracies, there was a reasonable fear that Mongolia might fall victim to the temptation of anti-establishment rhetoric offering simple solutions to complex problems — the hallmarks of political populism.

In the aftermath of world-leading growth in 2011 on the back of investments in mining projects, Mongolia’s economic fortunes declined precipitously, requiring an IMF-led bailout earlier this spring. Mongolia’s dominant political parties have not developed ideological profiles, and are largely built around patronage.

Given the primacy of economic concerns in many elections and on Mongolians’ minds, it seemed an electorate ripe for the picking for populists.

In the 2016 parliamentary election, however, virtually all members of parliament who had built up a populist profile were defeated, even though the majoritarian election system should have given them an advantage.

Mongolians cast blank ballots in protest
In both the 2016 parliamentary election and the 2017 presidential election — the fifth election in Mongolia for which I served as an international monitor — voters shrugged off attempts by the respective ruling parties to buy their support.

In 2016, it was the surprise announcement by the Democratic Party (DP) that 49 per cent of the otherwise state-owned Erdenet Mine was sold by its Russian owners to Mongolian investors. In 2017, it was the equally surprising decision by the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP)-dominated parliament to reinstate child payments and distribute shares in Erdenet Mine.

No candidate received more than 50 per cent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election on June 26, amid reports of widespread vote-buying. In the run-off that became necessary for the first time ever, voters revolted against two-party dominance by casting a “none-of-the-above” blank ballot.

The blank ballot option had only been created with revisions to the election law in 2015. More than eight per cent of the electorate submitted blank ballots — an apparent testament to their frustration with the candidates nominated by large parties.

But isn’t new President Battulga a populist?
Yes, of course, the DP’s candidate — Khaltmaa Battulga, who won the run-off with 50.6 per cent of the vote — is clearly a populist by the characteristics outlined above.

He’s not known for careful consideration of policy options, but instead for shoot-from-the-hip pronouncements. He parlays his sometimes odd projects — like the giant mounted statue of Chinggis Khaan just outside of the capital, Ulaanbaatar — into claims of business expertise. He certainly flirts with encouraging sinophobia. Battulga and his opponent also embraced patriotic symbolism in their campaign.

But these were not the reasons why he managed to win the election. Instead, many voters — beyond party stalwarts — elected Battulga to provide a counterweight to MPP dominance in parliament. This was a strategic choice to force a Mongolian version of cohabitation on the MPP-led government.

Building democracy from Mongolia
This overall rejection of populism speaks to the fact that while Mongolia may not have a long democratic history, it’s an evolving democracy that has popular support. More than a young democracy, it is a democracy that is carried by the young, as more than half of the population were born after the democratic revolution.

The biggest question for the fate of democracy, likely not just in Mongolia, is the engagement of a new generation of voters and democrats.

Will younger party members in Mongolia be able to force their parties to abandon a view of political office as an earning opportunity? Can they initiate discussions about an ideological positioning of their party, in part to give Mongolians a real voice in the future development of their country?

Some civil society activists will try to build on the success of the blank ballot movement as a basis for a new party aimed at redirecting political culture away from patronage to substantive debates. Along with any mobilization against corruption, that new party could transform democracy in Mongolia.

While Mongolians did not contract democracy from their neighbours, their political choices serve as an example to the other emerging democracies of Asia, like Myanmar and the Kyrgyz Republic. Mongolian voters turning away from populism could be a part of a global resurgence of democracy.

Rio’s revised iron ore guidance pushes price to three-month high www.mining.com

Prices for iron ore skyrocketed Tuesday as Rio Tinto (ASX:LON:RIO), the world’s second largest exporter, warned Tuesday that shipments from Australia were expected at about 330 million tonnes in 2017. That’s down from its April forecast of 330 million-to-340 million tonnes.

UK 'now less appealing' to rich Chinese www.bbc.com

The UK has slipped down the list of preferred destinations for Chinese millionaires considering moving overseas, a report suggests.
While the US remains the favourite place to settle, Canada now ranks second pushing Britain into third spot.
The survey found around half of those millionaires quizzed were mulling a move abroad.
Pollution, education and the falling value of the Chinese yuan depleting savings were all reasons given.
The study by Huran Report and Visa Consulting Group surveyed 304 Chinese individuals with a net worth between $1.5m and $30m. About half were based in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Shenzhen.
"Education and pollution are driving China's rich to emigrate," said Huran Report chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf.
"If China can solve these issues, then the primary incentive to emigrate will have been taken away."

Japanese Speaker of House of Representatives visiting Mongolia www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ At the invitation of Parliament Speeker M.Enkhbold, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan Tadamori Oshima is visiting Mongolia on July 17-19.

Copper price jumps on gangbusters China growth www.mining.com

Copper futures trading on the Comex market in New York jumped on Monday on renewed optimism about economic strength in top commodity consumer China.

Property and income of President, Prime Minister and Deputy Speaker of Parliament www.gogo.mn

According to the Law on Anti-Corruption, high level of state officials must submit their declarations of their property and income to the Anti-Corruption Agency within 30 days of appointment. 
This year a total of 242 state servants have measured to fill the property and income declaration of 2016. As of Jul 18th, Anit-Corruption Agency posted declarations of 239 state officials on their website. 
The newly elected president of Mongolia Kh.Battulga`s property and income totaled USD 467,380 (1 billion 124 million tugrik) in 2016. Note that it does not include the cost of the president's Lexus 570.
Details were as follows:
Annual income - USD 54,097 (130 million tugrik)
Annual income of his family members - USD 12,898 (31 million tugrik) 
Housing and apartment - USD 379,452 (912 million tugrik)
Livestock - 1 herd of horses worth USD 4,992 (12 million tugrik)
Savings - USD 1,663 (4 million tugrik)
Snuff bottle - USD 14,557 (35 million tugrik)
Moreover, President Kh.Battulga is a shareholder of more than 20 companies including Genco Tour Bureau, Makh Impex, Talkh Chiher and Bayangol Hotel.

The Investment Outlook of Mongolia in 2H 2017 www.frontier.mn

As we have pointed out last week, we are more optimistic about the future in a long run. However, investors are cautioned that the roads ahead are still bumpy. Below are the several check lists that investor should be aware of in the next few months.

Erdene Provides Exploration Update on Southwest Mongolia Gold Exploration; Continues to Expand Western Gold Zone at Bayan Khundii www.morningstar.com

Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD) (" Erdene " or "Company") is pleased to provide additional assay results from the Company's 2017 drill program at its 100% owned Bayan Khundii Gold Project ("Bayan Khundii") in southwest Mongolia.

Wildfires under control, says NEMA www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Backfires have been lit successfully against 7 wildfires, reported National Emergency Management Agency.