According to the proposal listed on the Mount Kumgang region website, the country needs $20 million to buy the 30,000-ton Royale Star, a Soviet-era cruise ship capable of carrying 1,000 passengers.

The liner can operate a casino business, even though gambling remains strictly prohibited in the country. It is currently docked at Kosong Port near Mount Kumgang and travels to Southeast Asia and Vladivostok in Russia.

“We are trying to diversify international tourism at the world-renowned Mount Kumgang by using cruise ship services,” said the proposal, which noted that “a variety of facilities” will be available for passengers.

The suspended Mount Kumgang tourist resort was formerly run with South Korea. It was seen as a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation following decades of animosity.

In 2008 a South Korean tourist was shot by soldiers while walking on a beach, prompting an outcry from Seoul and the suspension of tourist programs.

Experts say the hermit kingdom’s push to attract overseas visitors, particularly from Southeast Asia, is likely to raise eyebrows. They cite recent tensions around North Korea, including its missile tests in the Sea of Japan and a diplomatic row with Malaysia after the murder of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother.

“I strongly doubt there will be foreign investors who are willing to invest money in North Korea given the current situation,” Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, told the Financial Times.

“North Korea has been interested in attracting investors to the tourism sector since 2014 in order to cope with international sanctions… but they haven’t been very active given other developments,” he added.

The country is under stringent international sanctions, which were imposed after its first nuclear test in 2006. According to a UN report on North Korea, two out of five people are undernourished, while 70 percent of the population relies on food aid.

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's JBS, the largest meat processing company in the world, has said it would shut the production of beef at 33 of its 36 plants in the country for three days.

In a statement, JBS said the decision was taken to adjust production until a decision was taken concerning the numerous countries that have closed their borders to Brazilian meat exports.

Revelations have emerged that the country's meat producers had been chemically altering meat products and selling them past their expiration date.

One of JBS' plants, belonging to its Seara subsidiary, is one of those being investigated by police.

In 2016, 40 percent of the income of JBS Mercosur, its beef unit, came from export, with a value of 11.5 billion reais (3.7 billion U.S. dollars).

The company also said that, from next week, its remaining plants would only operate at 35 percent of their production capacity.

According to Brazilian police, after a two-year investigation which culminated last week, a number of important meat companies, including JBS, "masked" rotten meat with chemical agents and bribed agricultural officials to allow their export.

The fraud ran from changing the expiration dates on meat packaging to injecting water into chicken meat to make it heavier or even using ascorbic acid to mask rotten produce.

For the moment, the Brazilian government has forbidden exports from 21 companies suspected of such acts.

Brazil is the world's largest exporter of beef and chicken, and fourth-largest of pork. In 2016, Brazilian meat exports to the world brought in around 11 billion U.S. dollars and represented 7.2 percent of all the country's exports.

Samsung Electronics also announced at Friday's meeting that it would not be changing its corporate structure to use a holding company.
The company has been under pressure from investors to simplify its ownership structure.
"There are negative effects that would arise from transitioning to a holding company so it does not appear it will be easy to do so at present," Mr Kwon said.

The comment came after the bank expanded its membership to 70 last week by approving 13 countries and regions as new members.

Jin said the participation of new members from North and South America, Africa and Europe will bring positive changes to the AIIB's operations, implying that the bank will expand investment outside of Asia.

"The AIIB can support infrastructure investment outside of Asia as long as the projects benefit the local and Asian development," Jin told reporters on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province.

Jin said that the participation of countries in the AIIB such as Canada is a vote of confidence in the operation and management of the bank.

"Our job is not just to put some money in a particular country," Jin said, stressing that the bank would like to see infrastructure projects it funded improve regional coordination and enable members to gain rather than lose from its investment.

The city will keep total coal consumption under 7 million tonnes this year, according to the commission.

Beijing will close more coal-fired boilers, and replace all low-quality coal with clean coal in rural areas, said Chai Wenzhong, deputy head of the commission.

A new natural gas pipeline that will transfer gas from Shaanxi Province to Beijing is under construction and expected to be in operation by the end of October.

Local authorities announced earlier this year that the city plans to invest 18 billion yuan (2.6 billion U.S. dollars) in treating air pollution this year. At least 500 manufacturers will be shut down and heavy diesel vehicles restricted.

Emissions from burning coal are a source of breathable toxic particulate matter, known as PM2.5, which causes smog.

Studies have been conducted for the factories, and their results will be discussed by the cabinet for approval, reports the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry.

Within this program, a major national manufacturer APU Company has set a goal to increase investment for dairy production in 2017. APU has constituted 21.4 percent of the milk market in 2016, and has been exporting its products to Russia, South Korea, and Hong Kong, China.

As for heavy industry, the Government has named four major projects, including a oil processing plant in Sainshand and Ferrous Complex in Darkhan-Selenge region. 
A bid has been announced for companies that are interested in preparing the feasibility study and consulting for the oil processing plant project. Four India-based companies have taken parts in the bid, two of them were selected. The final results will come out by April 15.

The feasibility study of the Ferrous Complex of Darkhan –Selenge region is projected to complete within July.

Another heavy industry project on coal gasification plant is expecting a complete feasibility study in the near future. The coal gasification plant project is funded by World Bank.

The Government has set to forward a project on copper concentrate plant.

The meeting took place among media representatives and officials of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and Ulaanbaatar Mayor’s Office. Present were also, Minister of Environment and Tourism D.Oyunkhorol and Deputy Mayor of Ulaanbaatar in charge of Green Growth and Air Pollution J.Batbayasgalan.

The city administration and the government have been fiercely criticized for the past several year that they have been making the issue of air pollution fade away as the climate gets warmer and the smog level decreases naturally.

“The city administration has been doing its best to satisfy its residents on this problem. However, we need journalists’ support on introducing and implementing this nationwide program targeted to reducing air pollution”, said J.Batbayasgalan.

The national program was approved on March 20 by the cabinet of ministers, with five key objectives to be realized in 2017-2019 (Phase I) and 2020-2025 (Phase II). Total initial cost will be MNT 9.9 billion.

Minister D.Oyunkhorol informed: the Key Strategic Objectives include Sophistication of urban planning; Decentralization; Improving infrastructure; Curbing pollution and Shaping eco-friendly lifestyle among citizens and ensuring people’s right to secure and healthy living environment, as set out in the Constitution of Mongolia.

Within the First Objective, the program actions will be directed at gradually reducing usage of raw coal for fuel by introducing households to latest environmentally friendly technologies. Decentralization, the Second Ovjective, is to be mobilized through adequate urban planning and infrastructure policies.

Raising public’s awareness of pollutants and establishing an merit and incentive-based system for curbing air pollution are also important factor in making the objective come in life, said the Minister.