Esports tournament organizer BLAST has announced the locations for three CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) Regional Major Ranking (RMR) tournaments with a prize pool of USD 1.25 million. For the first time in four years, the RMRs will be organized separately in European, Asian, and American regions.

Robbie Douek, CEO of BLAST:

“We are thrilled to reveal the roadmap for the BLAST.tv Paris Major from the iconic Eiffel Tower, the perfect location to follow up on President Macron’s announcement last September. While all roads lead to Paris this May, we are proud to deliver a truly global Major with the RMRs set to be hosted regionally for the first time in four years from locations in Mexico, Mongolia, and Denmark - giving players from all around the world a chance of reaching the pinnacle of Counter-Strike and esports.”

The Asia RMR will be organized in Ulaanbaatar by Mongolian Esports Association (MESA). Throughout 2022, MESA successfully hosted domestic CS:GO competitions in addition to PUBG Mobile.

The top eight Asian teams will participate in the Asia RMR in April. Four out of the eight teams will be able to clinch their spot in the tournament from open qualifiers which will be held in February, while the other four teams will receive direct invites to the main tournament based on their rankings.

The regional qualifiers will be organized based on the following four regions: Central Asia, China, Oceania, and the remaining Asian countries (SEA, South Asia, and East Asia). It is estimated that more than 1500 players of 500 teams from 48 Asian countries will compete.

The top two teams of the tournament will receive their invitation to compete in the Paris Major on May 8-21 in Paris, France. The Majors are considered to be the most important and prestigious tournaments in the CS:GO scene.

MESA: We are planning to live stream the Asia RMR in over 27 languages directly from Ulaanbaatar in April 2023.

In 2022, MESA was selected by BLAST to host its Blast Premier tournament for Asia under the name MESA Nomadic Masters at the Steppe Arena, Ulaanbaatar. The tournament brought together more than 10 thousand people (double counted) and became the most in-person attended event in Asian esports history.

Today marks the 31st anniversary of the adoption of the democratic Constitution of Mongolia.

Mongolia has had four constitutions in its history with each of its discussions held in 1924, 1940, 1960, and 1992 respectively. While the earlier constitutions revolved around Marxist ideology, the new 1992 Constitution is considered democratic as it protects the common interest of the citizens of Mongolia without discrimination of social class and ideology. Thus, the day of January 13 came to be marked as Constitution Day each year.

For the new democratic Constitution of Mongolia, a discussion took place among over 430 deputies of the People’s Great Khural, and over 50 members of the State Baga Khural over the course of 75 days. A public discussion was also held for the new Constitution, which involved about 75 percent of the 1.2 million citizens, the total population of Mongolia at the time, and over 200 thousand suggestions were received on the matter.

The new Constitution of Mongolia established the legal framework for a balanced system of state power, setting the base procedure, rights, and obligations of the State Great Khural (parliament), the institution of the State Head - the President of Mongolia, the Government of Mongolia, and the judiciary.

Mongolia will start selling coal at border prices instead of mine-mouth prices through commodity exchange from February 1. Ensuring the preparation of transparent online trading, the parties involved in the coal trade, including those interested in selling and buying coal, participated in the trial e-auction of coal export.

The “Energy Resource” LLC conducted the trial e-auction of coal export on January 12, 2023. During the trial e-auction, the company sold 12,800 tons of coal in two lots through the MSE’s call option of a coal spot contract. The border price reached USD 187 per ton.

The initial bid price increased by 12.2 percent based on the orders offered by the participants in the trading during the auction.

With the Parliament’s approval of the Law on Mining Products Exchange, the Government assigned the Financial Regulatory Commission of Mongolia to conduct the online coal trading at the Mongolian Stock Exchange JSC, and to monitor the implementation, until the law entered into force. To implement actions stipulated in Paragraph 3.2 of the Government’s Action Plan 2020-2024, the Resolution No.466 of the Government approved the “Regulation on Open Online Trading of Coal Export” on December 14, 2022.

Mongolia’s export reached USD 12.5 billion, said Finance Minister B.Javkhlan at the government meeting. The Ministry of Finance presented the execution of the budget for 2022.

The state budget deficit has decreased, and the budget balance has improved by MNT 1.4 trillion.

Mongolia expected economic growth to be between 2.6 percent and 3 percent by the end of the year, but overall growth reached 4 percent. This means that after an economic contraction of -4.6 percent in 2020, there has been consistent economic growth in 2021 and 2022.

The budget deficit, which was supposed to be MNT 2.4 trillion, decreased to MNT 979.3 billion.

Imports also slightly increased. However, the difference of 3.8 billion, or the improvement in our trade balance, has had a significant impact on economic growth and the reduction of the budget deficit this year.

Coal is the largest export commodity in volume terms. Last May, when the budget was revised, coal exports were revised to 18 million tonnes by the end of the year. However, 31.7 million tonnes of coal were exported as of 31 December, which influenced the increase in budget revenues and foreign exchange earnings.

Hakuho, probably the greatest sumo wrestler of all time, will hold his official retirement ceremony on 28 January at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan. Former yokozuna Hakuho holds the winner of a record 45 grand sumo tournaments. The Mongolian-born former grand champion, now known as the stablemaster Miyagino, drew the curtain on his 20-year wrestling career after last September’s Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.

His retirement ceremony is sponsored by Toyota Corporation and Sankyo. Regular tickets for the retirement ceremony range from 4,000 to 60,000 yen and are already sold out. VIP tickets with NFTs are now sold for 1-5 million yen.

Six Diamond VIP tickets for ¥5 million (USD 38,000) include cutting his hairs, having a dinner with him, membership in his fan club, special NFTs and souvenirs. 14 people who bought 1 million yen “Platinum VIP” tickets, will have same privileges; but could not cut his hair. It is estimated that about 400 people will participate in his ceremony.

Since Hakuho announced retirement, he lost 10 kilogram weight.

A Constitutional reform was proposed on Saturday by Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai. The proposed reform would transition Mongolia from a semi-presidential republic to a traditional parliamentary republic.

The current 1992 constitution established a multi-party political system in Mongolia's semi-presidential republic. That meant that the executive power is divided equally between the people-elected President and the Parliament-elected Prime Minister.

In a public conference, the PM said "The 1992 constitution has fulfilled its historic role of a peaceful social transition. Achievements and mistakes over the past 30 years are connected with the constitution," adding, "Now we have to objectively assess the past 30 years and determine how we will live the next 30 years."

In that context, Oyun-Erdene advocated exploring constitutional reform and a transition to a parliamentary republic, as he argued that such a transition is integral to improve the policy-making process which has been impeded by periodic disagreements between the President and the PM.

The PM emphasized that there are alternative methods to effect changes without a total constitutional revision, such as amending certain provisions of the country's fundamental legislation.

At the Cabinet meeting held yesterday, Minister of Finance B. Javkhlan informed that a new five-year USD bond was successfully issued and traded to refinance the “Gerege” and “Khuraldai” bonds.

“Thanks to the many months of efforts and preparations, we received orders worth USD 4 billion from 138 investors within one day. As a result, we managed to decrease the 11-12 percent interest rates of “Gerege” and “Khuraldai” bonds, which amounted to USD 650 million, to 8 percent.” continued Finance Minister B. Javkhlan.

When the interest rate of the U.S. Federal Reserve was 1 percent, the Gerege and Khuraldai bonds were issued with interest rates of 5.7 percent and 8.75 percent, respectively. Whereas today, the interest rate of the Federal Reserve is 4.3 percent, and we have issued our bond with an interest rate of 8.65%.

“We have managed to issue our bonds at adequate interest rates amid the trend of Asian capital flowing into the U.S. market. It demonstrated the positive evaluation, attitude, and trust of foreign investors toward our government’s performance”, he added.

The Finance Minister continued “As a result of the foreign debt management measures, accountability and market capacity of the local commercial banks have improved due to the economic expansion. Local banks hold 10-15 percent of our total foreign bonds. For this time, local banks also made significant contributions to successful trading by purchasing the bond with equal amounts to the bond they have already held. Alongside the improved indicators of our government’s bonds, some local companies’, such as MIK and Energy resources, foreign debt indicators improved significantly within this one day of trading. Moreover, the joint efforts of the Bank of Mongolia and the Ministry of Economy and Development successfully resulted in the achievement of the foreign exchange reserves of Mongolia at USD 3.4 billion.”

Mongolia exported 16,100 tons of meat and meat products in 2022, the country's Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry said Wednesday.

The majority of the exports were meats of horse, sheep and goat, it said in a statement.

Mongolia currently exports meat and meat products to 11 countries, including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Vietnam.

The Asian country resumed the export of live livestock in October 2022. By the end of last year, the country exported a total of 28,503 heads of live livestock, mainly sheep, according to the ministry.

According to its National Statistics Office, Mongolia, one of the last nomadic countries in the world, had 71.1 million livestock animals at the end of 2022.

Promoting livestock husbandry is one of the most viable solutions to diversify the landlocked country's mining-dependent economy.

Economists and researchers say that by opening the doors of investment banks in Mongolia, enterprises will be able to get low-cost and long-term financing from the public without taking high-interest, short-term loans from commercial banks. They believe that the capital market will develop only if investment or foreign banks actively operate in Mongolia. However, it is doubtful whether the bill on investment banking includes regulations that will create many positive consequences.

On December 28, 2016, 18 members of Parliament, including Minister of Finance B.Javkhlan, D.Khayankhyarvaa, B.Batzorig, Z.Narantuya and B.Undarmaa, initiated the bill on investment banking, which is now being discussed by Parliament.

The draft law has five chapters and 21 articles. Chapter 1 of the bill covers the general basis or legal objectives, scope of application of the law and definition of investment bank, while the second chapter stipulates the direction of operation of investment banks. Chapter 3 provides for the establishment of an investment bank, the requirements for its founder and documents to be prepared, as well as the granting, refusal, registration and cancellation of special licenses. Chapters 4 and 5 include restrictions on banking activities and provide for the system of responsibility.

The bill initiators previously reported that out of 14 operating banks, eight banks have foreign investments, and three of them have foreign bank shareholders, and explained, “Relations regarding the establishment of a foreign bank and the conduct of banking activities in Mongolia are regulated by the Banking Law, Law on Investment, Company Law and Mongol Bank’s license regulations. In accordance with the regulations of Mongol Bank, if financial institutions have been operating for at least one year, they have the right to apply to Mongol Bank and other authorized institutions for conducting banking activities. There are currently no detailed provisions on foreign banks, other than these regulations.”

Therefore, they highlighted the need to allow foreign banks to enter the domestic market for investment purposes only, grant loans necessary for the financing of large projects and programs to legal entities only, execute foreign and domestic settlements, issue loan guarantees, sell and buy securities, and create a legal regulation that prohibits other activities, especially taking deposits from citizens.

The approval of the bill is expected to have the following positive effects on society and economy:

• To introduce new technology. Increasing foreign investment in developing countries will bring human capital and new technologies to the market, and improve the knowledge and skills of personnel.

• To increase competition in the market. An increase in the number of foreign-invested banks will raise the competition in the banking system, thereby growing bank productivity and reducing interest rates.

• To increase the efficiency of loan distribution. When a foreign-invested bank enters the market, the amount of loans granted to related parties will decrease, and loans will be made in the domestic market in accordance with appropriate procedures.

• To promote the development of the domestic financial market. A foreign-invested bank has more experience than domestic banks in using financial derivative instruments and stocks, which will allow them to introduce new financial products to the market.

• To increase the stability of the domestic market. In the long run, as the risk management system of domestic and foreign banks reaches the same level, the amount of non-performing loans will decrease.

• To improve the infrastructure of the financial system. The good practices, know-how, registration, transparency, financial regulation and advisory capabilities of the banking system of developed countries will be localized in the domestic market.

• To increase access to financial products and services. Access to financial services will improve if foreign banks establish more branches and introduce modern online and mobile banking services.

• It has a positive effect in the short term by improving the flow of foreign exchange and increasing capital resources.

Some experts and economists note that if domestic banks only provide consumer loans, interest rates may decrease, and they warn that a country with a small economy like our country should be cautious when establishing an investment bank.

In accordance with the bill, investment banks can provide long-term loans for financing large projects and programs, make external and internal settlements related to borrowers’ current accounts, issue loan guarantees, sell and buy securities, and perform other investment works and services on behalf of clients.

The draft law states that banks that will operate in Mongolia for the purpose of investment cannot operate in the domestic market in any form other than in the direction of investment.

The bill also prohibits attracting financial resources through the savings of citizens and relations with domestic enterprises. It stipulates that “the minimum amount of the authorized capital of the investment bank should not be less than 500 billion MNT”, while “the amount of loans and guarantees provided by investment bank must be at least 100 billion MNT”. However, during the discussion of the bill, the relevant standing committee removed the provision. In particular, former Member of Parliament Z.Narantuya said, “The first proposed bill stipulates that the minimum capital of foreign banks must be at least 100 billion MNT. However, the lawmakers removed the minimum amount of equity capital from the bill. In other words, it eliminated the legal guarantee to bring cheap and large resources to the Mongolian market.”

At the time when the bill was first submitted or in 2016, there were five banks that expressed their desire to operate in Mongolia, despite economic difficulties and credit rating downgrades.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economy discussed whether to postpone the IPO of “influential” domestic banks last May. During its meeting, some members of Parliament said that Mongolia’s banking environment will not improve without the entry of foreign banks. “Except for North Korea and Mongolia, there are hardly any countries without foreign banks. We should use every opportunity to bring in foreign banks,” they expressed.

Many people say that with the introduction of foreign banks into Mongolia, the interest rates will decrease and the competitiveness of domestic banks will raise. On the other hand, there are quite a few people who believe that the introduction of foreign banks will affect the Mongolian economy, finance and national security. Branches of well-capitalized foreign banks provide policy loans. In addition, some people are warning that there is a risk of increasing unemployment in the country and negatively affecting the exchange rate.

For instance, then-Deputy Minister of Finance Kh.Bulgantuya once expressed, “In accordance with the draft law on investment banking, foreign banks will start operating in our country. In this case, we do not rule out that large enterprises will take loans by pledging the licenses of their mining deposits. If they cannot pay the loan, there is a risk that Mongolia’s territory will be taken over by foreigners. It is necessary to calculate and consider all these issues and provide detailed regulations in the bill. Mongolia’s large deposits and land may be put as collateral, and the banking and financial sector may be put at risk. Fund raising through the stock exchange may decrease.”

Former lawmaker Z.Narantuya also commented, “Politicians make many ‘false promises’. An example of this is the investment banking bill. It creates the illusion that if a foreign bank operates in Mongolia, anyone can get a loan with a low interest rate. Six out of 12 commercial banks operating today have foreign investments. For example, Japanese investors own about 56 percent of Khan Bank shares. The average interest rate for consumer loans in the bank is about 22.8 percent. Banks do not provide loans with 35 percent annual interest rate that citizens want. This is because capital invested by individual owners constitutes only about 10 percent of the total capital circulating in banks. The other 90 percent of the financial source is money deposited by domestic depositors and customer institutions. In order to avoid losses, banks set interest rates by adding interest and operational costs, as well as the country’s and the borrower’s business risk. Therefore, the real possibility of providing low-interest loans to citizens has decreased, and domestic banks have a bad reputation.”

She added, “I do not believe that the adoption of the bill on investment banking, which is being discussed by Parliament, will directly reduce the cost of funds for domestic banks. The draft law stipulates that foreign-invested banks will finance projects with a duration of more than two years in the same market as domestic banks. However, the average loan period of banks for production loans is three to five years.”

Previously, our country granted operating licenses to the representative offices of six foreign banks that met legal requirements: Standard Chartered, ING, Bank of China, ICBC, MUFG and SMBC. As of today, the representative offices of Standard Chartered and ING Bank have reportedly ceased operations.

Some economists warn that there is insufficient preparation for foreign banks in Mongolia. Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly revise the legal regulations based on experts’ opinions and research.