“The newly approved Education Package Law should be correctly comprehended and particular attention must be paid to its implementation at every level. Major platforms will be introduced in secondary schools, and more attention will be paid to the rights of children and students to learn and develop, and their protection. Improvements of dormitory and library services are reflected in the documents.

Registration for the expansion of "Medle" On-line School, which opened last year with 10,000 children, has begun to organize selective courses for the 11th graders. The number of children of "Medle" On-line School is expected to reach 30,000 this year. The school promotes independent learning of children in remote areas where they do not have a possibility to select subjects,” assumes the Head of the Secondary Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Science T. Nyam-Ochir at a press conference co-organized by the Ministry of Education and Science, General Authority for Education and The Capital City Education Department in connection with the start of the new school year.

Apart from legitimizing the start and the end of classes in pre-school facilities and secondary schools, the number of class days during the school year was set to be 170-185 days in conformity with international standards. Since the four-term structure was approved, the official letter on the training plan has been delivered to all aimags. The time schedule of the curriculum has not been changed, and the regulations were made to enable the schools to decide on their own examination weeks, issues pertaining to public holidays, and spend more time for children’s development and protection.

This school year, 302 thousand children are preliminarily registered in the pre-school facilities, i.e. kindergartens. The second round of registration for the capital's kindergartens will be organized soon, but estimates suggest over 71,000 new children to be enrolled.

This year 781,000 children will study in secondary schools nationwide, making increase of 35,000 children from the last year. About 40,000 teenagers will study in vocational education and 22,000 new teenagers will be enrolled. In higher educational institutions, 147,000 youth will study and 25,000 youth will enter institutes and universities. These preliminary figures will be finalized by October 15.

At its regular session on August 31, 2023, the Cabinet made the following decisions:

The quality of the improved briquette fuel will be upgraded and gradually introduced into use

The Minister of Energy B. Choijilsuren informed the members of the Government about the research, analysis and estimates of upgrading the quality of the improved briquette fuel and its technological innovation. The Minister was instructed to carry out the technological innovation of the improved briquette fuel plant, bring the quality of briquette fuel up to international standards, and organize the gradual introduction into use.

To enhance the quality of the improved briquette fuel, Tavantolgoi Tulsh LLC, and public and private laboratories carried out industrial tests for the production of briquette fuel from semi-coking coal, laboratory and practical firepot and igniting tests, laboratory analysis of produced fuel and igniters, and made related assessment and conclusions.

The comparison of technical parameters and the grade of toxic gas contained in the smoke of semi-coking fuel against middling fuel revealed 51.9% less volatility, 57.7% less sulfur, and 37.2% less ash respectively, and 72.6% decrease of the amount of dust particles, 85.5% decrease of sulfur gas, 10.8% decrease of carbonyl gas, and 23.5% decrease of nitrogen oxide in the smoke emission respectively.

Since 2010, air pollution indicators have been measured by automatic devices in 18 points around ger districts, highways, residential areas, and factories in six districts of Ulaanbaatar.

The use of semi-coke or processed products will reduce dust particles from 124mkg/m3 to 67.5mkg/m3 or 45.5%. According to the MNS 4585:2007 Standard “Air quality. General technical requirements", the amount of dust particles and sulfurous gas will reach the level of "51-100 normal".

Estimations for the supply of semi-coke briquettes with igniters to 26,825 households of Nisekh and Yarmag nearabouts in Khan-Uul district, and Nalaihk district of Ulaanbaatar, and ger district of Darkhan-Uul aimag from December 15, 2023 have been done. To provide households in these three locations with semi-coke briquettes, a total MNT 32.0 billion funding will be required for the procurement of 24,500 tons of semi-coke and igniters.

Pregnant women, children under 18, and citizens to undergo repeated control examinations will not be requested the Form 13A

The Minister of Health S. Chinzorig informed the members of the Government about the system of transfer of clients (patients) between hospitals (Form 13A), the current state of digital transfer and the measures to undertake in the future. In connection with this introduction, the Minister of Health was instructed to further improve the system of transferring clients between hospitals.

Due to the digitalization of the client transfer system in hospitals, there were constraints such as requiring the Form 13A when a pregnant woman goes to a referral hospital, when she returns to her supervising doctor, and when she is examined at a referral hospital for a condition that does not require a 13A form, she is requested the Form 13A again when she needs to go to another department or hospital.

Therefore, regulations have been introduced, so that pregnant women, children under 18, and citizens who need to undergo repeated examinations at the medical institution, and other departments within the hospital, would not be required to provide Form 13A.

"Teeth Brushing Time" in secondary schools and kindergartens

The Minister of Health S. Chinzorig and the Minister of Education and Science L. Enkh-Amgalan were tasked to approve the "Healthy Teeth" Action Plan (2024-2027) within the third quarter of 2023 and ensure its implementation.

The Minister of Education and Science L. Enkh-Amgalan and governors of aimags and Ulaanbaatar were instructed to reflect in state and joint programs and projects, and local budgets works to gradually organize and practice the daily “Teeth Brushing Time'' in pre-school institutions and secondary schools, and provide kindergarten children and secondary school pupils with a hygienic environment with teeth brushing points.

Within the scope of the "Healthy Teeth" initiative, the Minister of Health S. Chinzorig was instructed to take measures to include funds required for prevention, treatment and care of oral cavity in the budget of the Health Insurance Fund.

In his meeting with representatives of public and private organizations extending oral health service held on March 6, 2023, the Mongolian Premier L. Oyun-Erdene tasked to take significant measures to improve dental and oral health, and implement the "Teeth" Project in 2024.

Although the Government implemented the Oral Health Programs in 1999-2005, 2006-2015, and the National Program "Healthy Teeth-Healthy Children" in 2019-2021, dental caries remains one of the most pressing public health problems among people of all ages.

Brief news

· The Minister of Health and the Minister of Education and Science were instructed to approve the Action Plan for Improving Civil Health Education (2024-2027) within the third quarter of 2023 and ensure its implementation.

· The Public Center for Combating Cyber Attacks and Violations was set up under the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications.

· The "Mongolia-China Expo" event will be held in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China, on September 6-10, 2023.

Erenhot, the largest land port on the China-Mongolia border, welcomed the first batch of 74 inbound visitors on Wednesday morning, as the port resumed railway passenger traffic.

The arrival of the visitors in China marks the resumption of customs clearance services for passenger traffic between the Erenhot and Dzamin Uud railway ports after a suspension of about three years due to the pandemic, according to the Erenhot port customs authorities.

The Erenhot railway port is the only entry and exit point for China-Europe freight trains in the middle corridor.

The resumption of passenger traffic is expected to greatly facilitate the travel for attendees of the upcoming international and China-Mongolia expos scheduled in China, while also fueling the growth of China-Mongolia trade.

For foreign visitors, the warm hospitality of Mongolia’s centuries-long nomadic tradition is alive and well in 2023. Beneath the surface, however, there is tension; the country is at a crossroads.

As a guest entering a ger, the traditional circular tent, in the countryside a few hours’ drive from Ulaanbaatar, I am directed to sit next to the head of the family, justice minister Nyambaatar Khishgee, who wears a dark navy-blue robe, a black fedora and knee-high riding boots.

We share bumps of tobacco powder, poured from his glass bottle on to a tiny silver spoon. From porcelain bowls we drink airag — fermented horse milk — and whisky chasers from glass tumblers. Food is carried in — a small mountain of roast lamb and a stack of khuushuur, crispy meat-filled dumplings — with cigarettes and more airag.

Appetite satisfied, Nyambaatar, the top lieutenant of Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, talks. He takes me on a journey though the country’s transition from central planning to the market economy in the 1990s, to today’s crackdown on corruption and plans to entice more western mining companies to exploit Mongolia’s vast deposits of copper, uranium and rare earths.

The government says the reforms could, by the end of the decade, more than triple gross domestic product while halving poverty — in 2020 nearly a third of the population lacked the basic necessities of life. But for large swaths of Mongolia’s 3.4mn people, such promises ring hollow. Some, especially women, have found the transition out of the Soviet shadow to a market-orientated democracy not entirely a positive experience.

For Mongolians, including those who live among the smog and clogged roads of the capital, local culture is deeply embedded in nature. Unbridled industrial development risks clashing with the nomadic tradition. Trust in the government remains weak after years of endemic corruption at the highest levels.

Sukhgerel Dugersuren, director of an environmental group monitoring Rio Tinto’s copper mine in the Gobi region, believes there is an alternative. With so much land and so few people, she says, Mongolia can thrive sustainably with an economy underpinned by industries such as eco-tourism and the ethical production of cashmere, wool and meat. “The World Bank and IMF are brainwashing [Mongolians], to make you think that you need economies of scale, that you have to compete in global markets, you have to be part of the global production and consumption chains. No, we don’t, we are located right next to world’s largest markets,” she says.

Yet there is also a strong argument that, since the pandemic has left deep social and economic scars, the need for reforms is even more pressing. Economic activity ground to a halt for long periods during the height of Covid-19 because of tight border controls with the country’s key economic lifeline, China. More prosperity and tax revenues could improve the social plight of many Mongolians.

The landlocked country needs to cut dependence on its neighbours, China and Russia. Oyun-Erdene, the Harvard-educated prime minister, has been busy recently working towards his vision of a resource boom enabling a step-change in public services. In June, he met Xi Jinping in Beijing to make the case for improved trade routes. This month in Washington, he met secretary of state Antony Blinken and vice-president Kamala Harris. French president Emmanuel Macron visited him in May. On Thursday, Pope Francis will visit Mongolia’s 1,500 Catholics.

This has all raised Mongolia’s profile after years in the wilderness; whether it will bring more resource deals with the west and new trade routes through China is not clear. A pending decision from French group Orano on developing a major new uranium mine will be a bellwether on the prime minister’s efforts.

The business community is cautiously optimistic. Bayanjargal Byambasaikhan, a dealmaker developing clean energy projects in the Gobi, says as a frontier market, Mongolia must build more trust in its “fundamentals”, including the rule of law and the certainty of its tax regime.

“I’m hoping that these reforms will translate into sending the right signals to the market,” he says, while also offering a word of caution to foreign investors: “Don’t bring a Ferrari to an off-road adventure.”

edward.white@ft.com

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a grant worth nearly MNT 7 billion ($2 million) to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO). USAID funds will support UNFAO to increase and improve Mongolia’s domestic greenhouses and related industries – including food storage and distribution – so that Mongolia can become more self-sufficient in vegetable production.

Mongolia currently consumes primarily imported vegetables. Recent international events have highlighted the vulnerability that this reliance on imports creates: Russia’s war in Ukraine significantly impacted food prices and availability, and closures of the border with the People’s Republic of China led to widespread shortages of food products during the COVID-19 pandemic. UNFAO reports that although Mongolia’s greenhouse development has increased in recent years, domestic production remains inadequate to meet demand for fresh, healthy produce and most Mongolian greenhouses are not capable of operating year-round.

This MNT 7 billion ($2 million) USAID grant will identify policy changes for local and national governments to create an enabling environment for private sector investment in the greenhouse sector. The grant will also provide training on developing and managing greenhouses using modern techniques and business practices.

“With the right practices and technologies, coupled with policies to encourage more investment in the sector, year-round production and distribution can become more of a reality,” said U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia Richard Buangan. “This support from USAID will bring more locally grown produce into Mongolian homes, regardless of harsh winters or supply chain disruptions caused by neighboring countries.”

“USAID is very pleased to award this grant to UNFAO and to work with them to improve Mongolia’s food security,” said USAID Mongolia Senior Development Advisor Tom Crehan. “As a proud Third Neighbor of Mongolia, we are glad to partner with the government and other stakeholders to meet the Mongolian people’s demand for a sustainable supply of nutritious produce.”

For more than 30 years, USAID has worked with Mongolia to advance democracy, strengthen community resilience against natural disasters, and increase sustainable, inclusive economic growth. To date, the U.S. government, through USAID, has invested more than $130 million (MNT 400 billion) to help Mongolia achieve its development goals.

ABOUT USAID: USAID leads international development and humanitarian efforts to save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help nations progress beyond assistance. In Mongolia, USAID supports transparent and accountable governance and a more market-led, diversified economy. For more information about USAID and its programs, please visit https://www.usaid.gov/Mongolia, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

By U. S. Embassy Ulaanbaatar | 31 August, 2023 | Topics: Events, News, Press Releases

The first meeting of the National Committee for Urban and Rural Revival, Urban Planning, and Land Management was held on August 29, 2023 at the State Palace of Mongolia.

In his opening remarks, the Prime Minister of Mongolia and the Chairman of the Committee Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai said, “We established the National Committee for Urban and Rural Revival, Urban Planning, and Land Management to enhance cross-sectoral collaboration based on the suggestions of scientists and architects. The Committee members should work diligently and responsibly to ensure the long-term sustainable development in urban and rural areas through implementing appropriate policies and strategies.” Mr. Prime Minister also noted the intention to make legal reform regarding cities and territorial units during the 2023 Autumn Session of the State Great Khural.

The implementation of the Policy on the Revival of Urban and Local Areas, future plans and the current situation of specially protected areas were presented at the Meeting. The members of the Committee discussed and exchanged views on the challenges and obstacles in land management, geodesy and cartography.

The Government of Mongolia has increased the budget of the capital city for the first time, with the aims of alleviating traffic congestion, reducing air pollution, and improving the durability and standards of roads.

“After presenting and discussing the problems, it is important to reach a common understanding at the level of government and parliament. As of today, the requirements, rules, and procedures for land use have been regulated in conformity with 12 laws. We must improve the legal environment, have an integrated plan, cooperate with international experts, and involve scholars of the sector and effectively use conclusions and recommendations of international organizations,” highlighted the Prime Minister of Mongolia.

Mr. Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai mandated line ministers and relevant officials to:

-Introduce the concept of the Draft Law on Reducing Traffic Congestion and Its Negative Impacts and the final version of the Draft of the Revised Land Package Law at the next meeting of the National Committee;

-Study and resolve the land allocation of the plots included in the General Plan of Land Management.

Moreover, the Premier tasked D. Amarbayasgalan, the Chief of the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of Mongolia and Deputy Chairman of the Committee, to present the conclusions and recommendations of international organizations, as well as the suggestions of scholars and architects on urban planning of Ulaanbaatar.

The National Committee made a decision to establish a permanent Executive Office under the Committee.

VATICAN CITY -- When Pope Francis travels to Mongolia this week, he will in some ways be completing a mission begun by the 13th-century Pope Innocent IV, who dispatched emissaries east to ascertain the intentions of the rapidly expanding Mongol Empire and beseech its leaders to halt the bloodshed and convert.

Those medieval exchanges between Roman pope and Mongolian khan were full of bellicose demands for submission and conversion, with each side claiming to be acting in the name of God, according to texts of the letters that survive.

But the exchanges also showed mutual respect at a time when the Catholic Church was waging Crusades and the Mongol Empire was conquering lands as far west as Hungary in what would become the largest contiguous land empire in world history.

Some 800 years later, Francis won’t be testing new diplomatic waters or seeking to proselytize Mongolia’s mostly Buddhist people when he arrives in the capital Ulaanbaatar Friday for a four-day visit.

His trip is nevertheless a historic meeting of East and West, the first-ever visit by a Roman pontiff to Mongolia to minister to one of the tiniest, newest Catholic communities in the world.

“In a way, what’s happened is that both sides have moved on,” said Christopher Atwood, professor of Mongolian and Chinese frontier and ethnic history at the University of Pennsylvania. “Once upon a time, it was either/or: Either the world was ruled by the pope, or the world was ruled by the Mongol Empire. And now I think both sides are much more tolerant.”

Officially, there are only 1,450 Catholics in Mongolia and the Catholic Church has only had a sanctioned presence since 1992, after Mongolia shrugged off its Soviet-allied communist government and enshrined religious freedom in its constitution. Francis last year upped the Mongolian church's standing when he made a cardinal out of its leader, the Italian missionary Giorgio Marengo.

“It is amazing (for the pope) to come to a country that is not known to the world for its Catholicism,” said Uugantsetseg Tungalag, a Catholic who works with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in a nursing home in the capital. “When the pope visits us, other countries will learn that it has been 30 years since Catholicism came to Mongolia.”

The Mongol Empire under its famed founder Genghis Khan was known for tolerating people of different faiths among those it conquered, and Francis will likely emphasize that tradition of religious coexistence when he presides over an interfaith meeting Sunday. It was after all, one of Genghis Khan's descendants, Kublai Khan, who welcomed Marco Polo into his court in Mongol-ruled China, providing the Venetian merchant with the experiences that would give Europe one of the best written accounts of Asia, its culture, geography and people.

Invited to Francis' interfaith event are Mongolian Buddhists, Jewish, Muslim and Shinto representatives as well as members of Christian churches that have established a presence in Mongolia in the last 30 years, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which officially claims more than 12,500 members in Mongolia in 22 congregations.

In a message to Mongolians ahead of his visit, Francis emphasized their interfaith traditions and said he was travelling to the “heart of Asia” as a brother to all.

“It is a much-desired visit, which will be an opportunity to embrace a Church that is small in number, but vibrant in faith and great in charity; and also to meet at close quarters a noble, wise people, with a strong religious tradition that I will have the honor of getting to know, especially in the context of an interreligious event,” Francis said Sunday.

Aside from the historic first, Francis’ trip holds great geopolitical import: With Mongolia sandwiched between China and Russia, Francis will be travelling to a region that has long been one of the thorniest for the Holy See to negotiate.

Francis will fly through Chinese airspace in both directions, allowing him a rare opportunity to send an official telegram of greetings to President Xi Jinping at a time when Vatican-Chinese relations are once again strained over the nomination of Chinese bishops.

As Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s crackdown on religious minorities grind on, Francis will be visiting a relatively neutral player but one that is striving to show its regional importance in the shadow of its two powerful neighbors, said Manduhai Buyandelger, a professor of anthropology at MIT and a Mongolia scholar.

“I think Mongolia is a very safe arena for the pope to land to demonstrate his outreach, as well as to show Mongolia’s belonging on equal stage with the rest of the world,” she said from Ulaanbaatar.

Mongolia’s environmental precariousness, climate shocks and the increasing desertification of its land are likely to be raised by the pope, given he has made combatting climate change and addressing their impacts on vulnerable peoples a priority of his 10-year pontificate.

Mongolia, a vast, landlocked country historically afflicted by weather extremes, is considered to be one of the most affected by climate change. The country has already experienced a 2.1-degree Celsius (3.8-degree Fahrenheit) increase in average temperatures over the past 70 years, and an estimated 77% of its land is degraded because of overgrazing and climate change, according to the U.N. Development Program.

The cycles of dry, hot summers followed by harsh, snowy winters are particularly devastating for Mongolia’s nomadic herders, since their livestock are less able to fatten up on grass in summer before cold winters, said Nicola Di Cosmo, a Mongolian historian and professor of East Asian Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.

“If these events become more and more common and more frequent … this change interferes with this very delicate pastoral economy, which is a delicate balance between the resources of the grassland and the animals using those resources,” Di Cosmo said.

Already, many of Mongolia’s herders, who comprised about a third of the population of 3.3 million, have abandoned their traditional livelihoods to settle around Mongolia’s capital, stressing social services in a country where already nearly 1 in 3 people live in poverty.

More recently, Mongolia has turned to extraction industries, particularly copper, coal, gold, to fuel the economy, which gets more than 90% of its export revenue from minerals. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis would likely refer to this trend in his remarks; Francis has frequently spoken out about the harm caused by extraction industries, particularly on the natural environment and local populations.

Munkh-Erdene Lkhamsuren, a professor of anthropology at the National University of Mongolia, said he hoped Francis would speak out about “predatory” Western mining companies which, he said, together with Mongolian officials, are robbing Mongolia of its natural wealth.

In December, hundreds of people braved freezing cold temperatures in the capital to protest corruption in Mongolia’s trade with China over the alleged theft of 385,000 tons of coal.

The government has declared 2023 to be an “anti-corruption year” and says it is carrying out a five-part plan based on Transparency International, the global anti-graft watchdog that ranked Mongolia 116th last year in its corruption perceptions index.

“It is well known fact that most common Mongolians now see their country as a victim of a neo-colonialism,” Lkhamsuren said.

___

Associated Press journalist Zhang Weiqun in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, contributed to this report.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

ARVAIKHEER, Mongolia, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Perlimaa Gavaadandov offers a tribute to the sky by splashing a cup of freshly boiled milk tea just outside her yurt on the edge of Mongolia's grasslands, following an age-old tradition.

But at the end of her daily morning ritual, the 71-year-old pauses for a brief Christian prayer and crosses herself across the chest.

"For me, I offer this to our god and pray, without losing our culture," said Gavaadandov, who belongs to Mongolia's tiny Catholic minority, which the Church says numbers about 1,450.

It was important to keep alive Mongolian traditions alongside her Catholic faith, she said.

"I also teach my children to preserve this valuable heritage," added Gavaadandov, who wore an orange deel, or traditional silk robe.

With Pope Francis set to arrive on Thursday in Ulaanbaatar, the capital, she and several fellow parishioners hope to greet him and follow his every step until he leaves on Sept. 4.

"I am so excited that he is coming and I’ll get the chance to meet him in person, especially since he is the leader of the Catholic religion," she said. "I can’t wait to see him."

Gavaadandov, who lives on the outskirts of the central city of Arvaikheer, became a Catholic about 18 years ago, soon after a mission set up in her neighbourhood, being drawn initially by her curiosity at the foreigners speaking accented Mongolian.

Once a member of a regional government council during Mongolia’s communist era, Gavaadandov said she found her new faith during a difficult time after suffering a leg injury.

Eventually her leg got better, and she became a devout Catholic. For years, she often attended church services alone, but gradually her family, including her grandchildren and husband, joined her.

Still, the news of Pope Francis’s visit to her landlocked country was completely unexpected.

The nation of about 3.3 million is strategically significant for the Roman Catholic Church because of its proximity to China, where the Vatican is trying to improve the situation of Catholics.

Mongolians' nomadic lifestyle makes it difficult for the mission priests to keep in touch with parishioners, however.

"It is their way of life," said James Mate, a priest at Our Mother of Mercy Mission, where Gavaadandov attends church in a small yurt, or circular domed tent common in central Asia.

"They go upcountry to take care of their animals, to check on their relatives and so forth," added Mate, who originally hails from Kenya and delivers church services in Mongolian at one of just three Catholic parishes outside the capital.

Mongolia has just two native Catholic priests across a total of nine parishes. Arvaikheer has about 55 converts, Mate said.

About 60% of Mongolians identify as religious. Buddhists make up 87.1% of this number, with Muslims accounting for 5.4%, while 4.2% are Shamanist, 2.2% Christian and 1.1% follow other religions, the U.S. State Department says.

Occasionally Gavaadandov finds herself wishing she had come to her new faith sooner.

"Sometimes, I think if I were little younger, I could have converted sooner and met believers around the world and seen lots of nice things," she said.

Reporting by Joseph Campbell; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

Pope Francis heads to Mongolia this week, an unlikely choice given the isolated nation's small Catholic community, but a strategic one due to the young democracy's geographical position between two superpowers.

In venturing to the sparsely populated, vast Buddhist-majority nation, the pope may eye Mongolia as a way to help build bridges with its neighbours China and Russia, given its strategic location and neutrality in the volatile region.

The trip, which involves a nine-hour flight from Rome on Thursday to the capital of Ulaanbaatar, will also be closely watched as a stamina test for the 86-year-old pope, who underwent hernia surgery in June and suffers pain when walking.

A former Soviet satellite state that has been a democracy since 1992, Mongolia has one of the world's youngest and smallest Catholic communities, estimated at approximately 1,400 people among its population of 3.3 million.

It has just 25 Catholic priests -- only two of them Mongolian -- and 33 nuns, according to the Vatican, although its ranks include the global Church's youngest cardinal.

Pope Francis's trip to rapidly urbanising Ulaanbaatar represents the Jesuit's desire to bring the Church's message to remote, largely ignored areas far from Rome while championing interfaith dialogue.

It will be "the opportunity to embrace a Church small in numbers but vibrant in faith and great in charity," the pope said Sunday.

But the trip, lasting until September 4, also has undeniably geopolitical aims.

The Vatican's long-term thinking is "to retain a presence and openness in countries where that's not an inevitability", Paul Elie, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs in Washington, told AFP.

"If going to Mongolia keeps the door open to that whole region, it's an effective visit with relatively few downsides," he said.

'Rediscovery of values'

Once part of the empire of Genghis Khan, landlocked Mongolia is sandwiched between Russia and China, dependent on the former for energy imports and on the latter for the export of its raw materials, primarily coal.

But Mongolia has sought to toe a neutral line with its expansionist neighbours, while reaching for balance among powers including the United States, Japan and South Korea.

That makes Mongolia potentially helpful for Vatican relations with both Beijing, with whom the Holy See last year renewed a deal on the thorny issue of bishop appointments, and Moscow, with which Pope Francis has sought to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.

Mongolia also maintains relations with North Korea.

"It has no disputes with its neighbours -- in Asia that's pretty rare," said Mongolia expert Julian Dierkes, a professor at the University of British Columbia.

"And it's really the only post-Socialist democracy in Asia, all the others have fallen by the wayside."

That has spurred a "rediscovery of values" between democratic nations and Mongolia, he said, amid rising Russian aggression and concern over an unchecked China.

First papal visit

The first pope to visit Mongolia, the pontiff arrives Friday morning but will have a day of rest before formal meetings Saturday, including with Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, members of civil society, diplomats, priests and missionaries.

On Sunday, he will address an interreligious meeting -- one of five public addresses scheduled -- and preside over a mass inside a newly built ice hockey arena.

He is not scheduled to venture outside Ulaanbaatar, where a decade-long mining windfall has fuelled a construction boom.

Pope Francis may use his trip to address his concerns about the impacts of climate change, which along with mining and overgrazing is fuelling desertification across swathes of Mongolia's territory.

Extreme weather, from severe floods to drought and sandstorms, has killed off herds on the vast grasslands, forcing nomads who make up one-third of the population to migrate to Ulaanbaatar.

Shantytowns inhabited by displaced nomads now surround the capital.

In December, protests broke out over a coal industry corruption scandal, exacerbated by ongoing popular discontent over a weak economy and high inflation tied to Covid and the Ukraine war.

Youngest cardinal

The pope's visit follows a flurry of diplomatic activity for Mongolia in recent months, including Luvsannamsrai's visit to Washington this month and a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron in June.

A Mongolian delegation of Buddhist monks and Catholic priests visited the Vatican last year to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Mongolia.

It was led by Italian Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, who at 49 is the Church's youngest cardinal, appointed by Pope Francis last year.

As the apostolic prefect of Ulaanbaatar, the missionary who has worked for 20 years in Mongolia -- helping establish the first church in a "ger", the nomads' traditional round tents -- is the country's highest-ranking Catholic official.