Australian woman Gabrielle “Didi” Dowling knows better than most just how harsh and unforgiving life can be in Mongolia.

For the past 28 years, she has cared for the orphaned, unwanted and neglected children of a developing nation now struggling with how to stamp out corruption and come up with the best way to make the most of mining wealth that comes from a partnership with Rio Tinto in the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine.

The Lotus Children’s Centre she runs on 10 hectares of land at the foot of a rock-strewn mountain is steadily being engulfed by the urban sprawl of the capital Ulaanbaatar.

The Mongolian government allowed her to build on the land behind a rubbish dump about a decade ago after the number of children in her care hit 150 and her first centre became too small.

Mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland, who played a significant role in the early years of Oyu Tolgoi, visited the centre a few times in its first incarnation.

Friedland talked about funding a new centre – the old one was an overcrowded collection of traditional round tents known as ger– but the talk came to nothing.

As well as caring for orphans, babies abandoned in the freezing streets and those whose parents can’t cope, Dowling has run soup kitchens and women’s shelters.

For a while the women made money sewing copper sample bags when Rio Tinto became involved in Oyu Tolgoi, but that work dried up.

Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods department store, helped feed, clothe and educate the children for many years after he gained a foothold in mineral assets in Mongolia, but that funding was abruptly cut off in 2019.

Dowling has lost count of how many children have passed through the centre – probably about a thousand – with some arriving as babies and leaving in their late teens.

One young woman has just celebrated turning 18, although no one is really sure of her exact birth date.

Police called Dowling after the child was left outside an apartment building at about two months of age. A medical check showed the baby might have neurological disabilities but she thrived at the centre, which produced seven university entrants last year.

Unprompted by Dowling, some of her teenage brigade at Lotus took part in multi-day protests in Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar in December over corruption in mining centred on a state-owned coal producer.

Some of the protesters, many of them young in a country where about a third of the population is under 18 and two thirds under the age of 35, stripped to near naked in temperatures of -30C as the peaceful protest turned up the heat on the government to clean up corruption, amid allegations that have embroiled two former prime ministers and rich and powerful families.

Despite the problems, Dowling says there is more opportunity in Mongolia now than there was when she started working with children.

“There still is a lot of poverty and at the moment it is very hard with the price rises on everything. A lot of people are living off not much,” she says.

“You don’t have all the social benefits that are in Australia. If you are unemployed, there are no unemployment benefits.

“Here a lot of work is very seasonal with the weather; the building industry doesn’t run much for months, tourism, agriculture are also seasonal. There are long winters and coal and heating is getting very expensive.”

When Dowling, 63, first arrived in Mongolia as an Ananda Marga nun, the country was still trying to shed the weight of nearly 70 years of Soviet influence.

Her first centre had no running water and the most basic of facilities as she tried to care for children suffering from complaints like rickets, syphilis, meningitis and malnourishment. Even today her own little house has no flushing toilet and no electricity until she can afford repairs. The centre’s children and its school are the priority, and she sleeps there to stay warm.

Dowling, who severed ties with Ananda Marga about five years ago, grew up on the family farm at Mulwala in the Riverina before devoting her life to Mongolia’s least fortunate children.

She says it is the children that keep her going through the cold winters and the heartbreak of cases where they do not survive.

“I think when you enjoy what you are doing you can live with it,” she says. “I enjoy being with the kids. I came to Mongolia and met up with these kids and decided this is my life.”

BY:

Brad Thompson writes across business and politics from Western Australia for The Australian Financial Review. Brad is based in our Perth bureau. Connect with Brad on Twitter. Email Brad at brad.thompson@afr.com

In a bid to spur green and renewable energy projects in Mongolia, IFC is investing in a green bond to be issued by the country's largest commercial financial institution, Khan Bank, which is the first-ever green bond to be issued in the country.

IFC is investing $15 million in the $60 million, five-year bond and the offering has attracted another $45 million from international investors, including $35 million from Dutch entrepreneurial development bank (FMO), and $10 million from MicroVest Capital Management (MicroVest). This investment will allow the bank to grow its climate portfolio by funding projects that support renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, green mobility, and climate-smart agriculture in Mongolia. IFC's subscription will also contribute to improved sustainability of the country's financial market.

Mongolia is a country facing significant environmental challenges. Air pollution levels in its capital Ulaanbaatar are among the highest in the world, with coal and wood burning in homes and coal power plants all contributing to the pollution. The country has also experienced significant climate change, with average temperatures increasing higher than the global average. Rainfall has also declined with more extreme climate driven hazards, including heat waves, droughts and river floods, all expected to put pressure on the country's unique fragile ecosystem.

IFC's investment in Khan Bank's green bond is expected to support Mongolia's goal to increase green lending from 1.4 percent at present to 10 percent of all banking sector lending by 2030. In addition, the project is expected to help mitigate climate change by avoiding tens of thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

"Green finance is a priority for the bank. With the steadfast support of our longstanding partners, IFC, FMO, and MicroVest, Khan Bank, as the largest bank in Mongolia, is proud to issue Mongolia's first-ever green bond. This transaction marks a significant milestone for our bank and Mongolia's banking sector to promote green financing and sustainable economy. This investment will enable us to provide long-term loans to our clients and help us diversify our funding sources," said Munkhtuya Rentsenbat, CEO, Khan Bank. "We are committed to working with IFC and other partners to introduce more innovative financial instruments in the market."

IFC advised Khan Bank on adopting a green bond framework for this issuance and plans to help the bank develop more climate and gender finance products. Earlier this year, Khan Bank received a $130 million syndicated loan arranged by IFC to support micro, small, and medium enterprises, especially women-owned businesses, in Mongolia.

"This marks an historic move for Mongolia and vital to help the country deliver on its climate ambitions," said Allen Forlemu, Regional Industry Director, Financial Institutions Group, Asia & the Pacific, IFC," Green bonds are an effective way to draw in funding to finance green projects for the benefit of the country and its people. By supporting the country's first green bond, in line with international standards, IFC is helping set a standard in the market and we hope it will send a strong signal to other banks and corporates to tap into green finance and develop projects that will help the country meet its climate and development goals."

"We are thrilled to contribute to this first-of-its-kind green bond issuance in Mongolia, once again extending our cooperation with our long-term partner Khan Bank," said Marnix Monsfort, Director Financial Institutions at FMO. "Through this bond—provided to the largest bank in the country reaching 82 percent of Mongolian households—we hope this paves the way for more sustainable green bond instruments across the country, contributing to significant climate action. Therefore, this transaction is fully aligned with our strategy to accelerate action towards climate change, contributing to SDG 13. FMO looks forward to intensifying our partnership with Khan Bank as they strengthen their green strategy."

"As a long-term partner of Khan Bank, MicroVest is incredibly proud to participate in the Bank's issuance of Mongolia's first Green Bond," said Joshua Moraczewski, Chief Executive Officer at MicroVest. "This offering represents a significant milestone that will help drive a low-carbon, climate-resilient future for Mongolia and facilitate the establishment of green initiatives while making progress toward net-zero targets."

Mongolia has committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 22.7 percent by 2030. The annual financing required to achieve Mongolia's green development targets is estimated to be $413 million, with 80 percent from international investors and private sector players.

IFC has been a strong supporter of Mongolia's sustainable finance development in the past decade. IFC helped the country develop and adopt the Environmental and Social risk management requirements for commercial banks. IFC also helped formulate Mongolia's Green Bond Regulation and Guideline documents, enabling the issuance of green bonds in the local market.

Globally, IFC is one of the world's largest financiers of climate-smart projects for developing countries and one of the earliest issuers of green bonds. As of December 31, 2022, IFC issued $11.6 billion across 187 bonds in 20 currencies.

Sustainable Investment Summit 2023 or Mongolia-China Business Forum was launched on March 16, in Ulaanbaatar. The forum, which brought together representatives from the banking, finance, agriculture, mining, and construction sectors, will continue for 3 days.

Mongolian Youth Federation and Mongolia-China Trade and Economic Cooperation Association are jointly organizing the forum, which is attended by over 200 Chinese investors who are interested in investing in the abovementioned sectors, and more than 200 enterprises and 250 entrepreneurs on the Mongolian side. This is the largest business event organized in the past 10 years, since the visit of Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council of China in 2010.

In his opening remarks, noting the fact that the cooperation between youth organizations of the two countries has been expanding, besides the growing cooperation in other sectors, such as politic, society, economy, and humanity, President of the Mongolian Youth Federation B. Sergelenbaatar said, “This forum will provide a platform for representatives of Mongolian and Chinese business communities to introduce and discuss their projects and investment possibilities. Investment is a mechanism to boost the development of a country. The economic development, increased production, and improved trade turnover will result in new jobs, competitive salaries, and solutions to many challenges that youths have faced.”

A member of the Mongolia-China Trade and Economic Cooperation Association Wei Shan Dong said “I hope this forum will unfold many opportunities for businesses. China and Mongolia, connected by mountains and rivers, share weal and woe. It is an inevitable choice for both sides to maintain and develop bilateral relations, especially in economy, trade, and investment spheres.”

During the forum, while highlighting the significance of this forum in expanding the trade ties between the two countries, increasing the investment in Mongolia, and intensifying the joint commitments for the regional environment, Minister of Justice and Home Affairs Kh. Nyambaatar gave a speech on “Current Situation and Legal Framework of the Foreign Investment”. Then, the presentations were made by Governor of the capital city, Mayor of Ulaanbaatar D. Sumyabazar on “Investment Policy and Plan of Ulaanbaatar City”, and by Deputy Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry M. Gankhulug on “Policies and Cooperation Opportunities in Agriculture”.

Moreover, Capitron bank of Mongolia announced their plan to provide businesses with loans under favorable conditions with USD 100 million in financing from China. Representing the China-France Agricultural Science and Technology Park, Wanshi Jie said “I believe that Mongolia and China can support each other and maintain mutually beneficial cooperation in all sectors. For our side, we are more interested in projects, related to the mining, railway, transportation, urban development, energy, education, and medical sector. In 2022, our company made investments worth RMB 12 billion.”

China is the leading investor of our country and has invested USD 5. 4 billion so far. Trade turnover between the two countries was USD 41.2 million in 1990 and reached USD 11 billion last year. During the State Visit of President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh to China, the sides agreed to set a goal of attaining USD 20 billion worth of trade turnover.

According to the study, foreign investment accounts for 10% of GDP and 30-50% of the total investment of our country. Enterprises with foreign investments pay income taxes, on average, MNT 200 billion to the state budget annually.

There are 14 thousand enterprises with foreign investment registered in Mongolia, of which 50 percent are companies with Chinese investments.

On the first day of the Mongolia-China business forum, 17 Mongolian companies successfully agreed with Chinese investors to attract investments worth USD 258 million.

At today's session, the State Great Khural discussed and resolved to approve the President’s veto over the Law on Protecting Human Rights on Social Media and the accompanying four laws, namely amendments to the Law on Communications, Law on Cyber Security, Law on Protecting Personal Information, and Law on Tax.

On January 20, 2023, the parliament approved the Law on Protecting Human Rights on Social Media and the President issued the veto on January 27, having considered that the law violates some articles of the Constitution of Mongolia as it had not ensured public participation and reflected suggestions of persons or entities whose legal interests are affected by the law.

Some MPs expressed their position that the President’s veto should be accepted as Mongolia is a democratic country that respects and protects human rights and freedom and 89.1 percent of the members in attendance voted in favor of the veto.

The 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Asia and Oceania Championship was solemnly held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and ended on March 17, 2023. The winners of the championship were honored at the closing ceremony in Steppe Arena.

Specifically, after many fierce battles between six countries, including, Mongolia, Thailand, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Uzbekistan, the team Uzbekistan lifted the championship trophy with five wins whereas the team Mongolia (host country) sealed 3rd place in the tournament. The team Turkmenistan captured second place with four wins and one loss.

The awards were conferred at the closing ceremony of the tournament by the Vice President of IIHF Aivaz Omorkanov and Minister of Finance and President of the Mongolian Ice Hockey Federation B. Javkhlan.

The International Ice Hockey Federation has 83 member national associations. From Asia, China ranked 16 with points of 2890 in the world ranking - IIHF, following South Korea at 21 with points of 2705 while Mongolia placed 59th.

In addition, the IIHF World Championship Division IV will be held in Mongolia on March 23-26 with participants from Indonesia, Kuwait, Mongolia, Philippines.

In Mongolia, the average monthly wage increased by 21% to MNT 1.7 million as of the fourth quarter of last year. A total of 756,000 employees of 49,000 enterprises and organizations were included in the social insurance payment report Q4 2022 of the Social Insurance General Office. Average wage is calculated based on their wage information.

The number of enterprises which pay social insurance fees increased by 2.7 thousand from the same period last year and by 347 from the previous quarter. Employees increased by 36.8 thousand from the same period last year and by 629 thousand from the previous quarter.

The median monthly wage of 756,000 employees included in the 2022 fourth quarter report of social insurance payment is MNT 1.2 million. The median wage increased by MNT 127 thousand from the previous quarter.

By gender, men's average wages are MNT 1.9 million and women's average wages are MNT 1.6 million. By sector, employees in the sector of international organizations and resident representatives have the highest wage which is equal to MNT 5.2 million, and employees in the sector of art, entertainment, and games is the lowest which is equal to MNT 1.1 million.

However monthly average wage increased by 2 times since 2015, the wage that represents purchasing power increased by 36.7%.

Mongolia's foreign trade turnover increased by 55.2 percent year on year to 3.4 billion U.S. dollars in the first two months of this year.

Mongolia registered a foreign trade surplus of 1 billion dollars in the January-February period, the National Statistics Office said Wednesday.

It was mainly attributed to a significant increase in the exports of mining products, it said.

The Asian country traded with 118 economies worldwide in the period.

Tomorrow is the last day of the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Asia and Oceania Championship.

The third game was between Mongolia (the host team) and Turkmenistan on March 15, the fourth day of the championship. Turkmenistan led by as many as 2 points in the first period. Then, striker M. Chinzolboo (No.18) of the host country shot a goal to tie the game up at 3-3 by successfully attacking the opposing team's goalkeeper in the second period of the game.

The winner will face off in the final of the championship. The team of Turkmenistan turned things around. They pulled within 2 points at the interval 6-4 right before the end of regulation and conquered the host team.

In order to tie the score 5-4, the Mongolian team replaced its goalkeeper with a striker with just 1.32 minutes left in regulation. When the game continued, Turkmenistan punched a victorious shot into the defenseless goal of Mongolia and captured their 3rd win.

Athletes are resting today /2023-3-16/. Tomorrow, Turkmenistan will play against Iran, and Mongolia will fight against Thailand.

Previous results:

The UAE 6-2 Thailand

Uzbekistan 5-0 Turkmenistan

Mongolia 5-0 Iran

Iran 1-14 Uzbekistan

Thailand 3-4 Turkmenistan

Thailand 8-0 Iran

The UAE 2-7 Turkmenistan

Mongolia 4-7 Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan 10-2 Thailand

The UAE 2-7 Iran

Mongolia 4-6 Turkmenistan

After hitting last year’s target, Turkiye and Mongolia are aiming to push their trade volume to at least USD 500 million in the coming period before the two countries celebrate the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

“Next year, Turkiye and Mongolia will celebrate the 55th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, and therefore investment deals signed beforehand need to be revised and updated,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at a joint presser with his Mongolian counterpart B.Battsetseg following a one-on-one meeting, notably the first of its kind 31 years, in the capital Ankara.

“We have discussed bilateral relations and underlined that these need to be improved by cooperating on many fields,” Cavusoglu informed, noting as steps to be taken include the increase of civilian and cargo flights, boosting quotas for land transports and eliminating obstacles in front of trade, as well as in education and culture, mainly due to historical and cultural ties between the two nations.

Turkiye offered Mongolia to elevate our bilateral ties from a comprehensive partnership to a strategic partnership, and we are waiting for their answer,” Cavusoglu revealed.

Cavusoglu further thanked Mongolia for their support in the wake of the earthquakes that left over 48,000 dead in Turkiye’s southeast. “A 37-person team from Mongolia rescued eight people from the rubble in the Hatay province,” Cavusoglu informed, adding that the country supplied tents, including traditional Mongolian tents, for the victims. “We are especially grateful to the Mongolian people who have continued their humanitarian support to Turkiye since day one,” he said.

The Turkish diplomat said he also thanked B.Battsetseg for Mongolia’s help in fighting the Gulenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and that she confirmed no FETÖ member was left in the country.

“We have cooperated in the fight against terrorism before, and there have been conflicts in the past because of this, but this group is a threat to everyone, not just Turkiye. It’s a threat for Mongolia, as well,” Cavusoglu said. “Some of their schools in Mongolia were taken over by a shell company in Germany. Therefore, we gave them a friendly warning to be always vigilant about FETÖ.”

In light of Mongolia’s potential of joining the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) as an observer member, Çavuşoğlu said the organization was working to reinforce ties with all Asian nations and institutions, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and reinstate a holistic approach to the region with more than 1,000 concrete projects.

For her part, B.Battsetseg emphasized that the Mongolian people “stand in harmony with Turkiye” and affirmed she and Cavusoglu agreed on “working to achieve a strategic partnership and carry out mutual, high-level visits on the 55th anniversary of our diplomatic relations.”

“We also reached a consensus on collaborating for projects that could symbolize bilateral relations,” B.Battsetseg said.

“The contribution of Türkiye’s humanitarian, diplomatic activity to the global community has been proven, be it during the COVID-19 pandemic, be it in the Russia-Ukraine war,” she concluded.