The Ministry of Education and Science of Mongolia and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) launched the application of The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship by Japanese Grant Aid (JDS) 2022 on September 1, 2022. JDS Project is funded by the Government of Japan through official development assistance (ODA). Its objective is to provide Mongolian government officials with opportunities for obtaining Master's Degree (2-year course) and Doctoral Degree (3-year course) at Japanese universities in order to support the human resource development of the Government of Mongolia, and eventually to extend and strengthen the bilateral relations between Japan and Mongolia. Totally 16 young government officials, who are expected to play leadership role in Mongolia, will be selected for Japanese academic year 2022 (enrolment in September, 2023). The application deadline is November 2, 2022 for Master's Course and December 9, 2022 for Doctoral Course.

JDS Project has started in Mongolia since 2001 and has dispatched 400 JDS fellows (Including JDS fellows dispatched this year) to Japan up to now. All study fields have been settled based on the Socio-Economic Development Strategy of the Government of Mongolia and Japan's assistance policy for Mongolia.

Information on study fields are attached herewith and shown in English as to keep technical terms precise.

Recruitment Seminars are scheduled to provide more detailed information on JDS Project and how to prepare application documents for prospective applicants.

Date: September 7 (Wed) 14:00 - 15:30 Online (Zoom)

Date: September 17 (Sat) 11:00 - 12:30 Online (Zoom)

Date: September 22 (Thu) 18:30 - 20:00 Venue: Mongolia Japan Center 2nd Floor

Date: October 1 (Sat) 11:00 - 12:30 Venue: Mongolia Japan Center 2nd Floor

Also Information Sessions by Universities to provide more information on accepting university is to be scheduled. Date and time will be shown on JDS website once fixed. All seminars are planned to be provided online and pre-registration is required.

For further information, please visit JDS website or contact the JICE JDS Project Office in Mongolia.

JICE JDS Project Office in Mongolia

Address: #201, Mongolia-Japan Center Building, University Avenue, Sukhbaatar Dist, Central P.O Box 917, Ulaanbaatar13

TEL: 9549-5902, 9978-5902 / Email: jds.mongolia@jice.org

Office Hour: 9:00-12:30, 14:00-17:30, Monday to Friday

Website: http://jds-scholarship.org/ (external link)

Facebook: @JDSMongolia

Mongolia has launched a rail line that could help boost coal exports to China to 50 million tonnes a year, the country's president said, ending a decade-long wait for the crossing.

A ceremony to mark the launch of the rail service between the Tavan Tolgoi coal field and Gashuun Sukhait on the Chinese border was held on Friday.

Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh was among the dignitaries in attendance, according to his website.

Heavily dependent on mining, Mongolia has long sought cheaper and more efficient ways to export its minerals abroad and has a national strategy to expand its rail network connections with Russia and China.

Mining makes up a quarter of the country's gross domestic product.

China has stepped up its investment in coal in the face of extreme weather, an economic slowdown and a global fuel crisis.

The 233-kilometre (145-mile) Tavan Tolgoi rail line has the capacity to export between 30 million and 50 million tonnes of coal to China annually, according to Tavantolgoi Railway LLC, the state agency that built the line.

In 2020 the North Asian country exported 28.6 million tonnes of coal. Last year, exports fell to 15.9 million tonnes.

The railway is also expected to lower the cost to transport coal to $8 per tonne, compared to $32 per tonne when coal is delivered by truck, according to the railway authority.

Tavan Tolgoi is rich in coking coal, an essential ingredient in the steel-making process.

For years coal has been transported in trucks to China, a process that has led to long queues at the border and frequent accidents.

Mongolian governments have attempted to build a railway from Tavan Tolgoi to the Gashuun Sukhait border for more than a decade.

Tavantolgoi LLC was formed in 2018 to complete the project. Ulaanbaatar-based Bodi International served as the general contractor.

The Gashuun Sukhait-Gantsmod border crossing is now the second Mongolia-China border point with a rail crossing, with the other at Zamyn-Uud-Erlian.

Progress Rail, a division of Caterpillar, agreed to supply 16 locomotives to support operations for the railway project.

The new locomotives are designed to fit the 1,520 mm gauge used in Mongolia, Russia, and other former Soviet republics.

Mongolia's current 1,900 km rail network was almost entirely constructed during the 20th century with help from the Soviet Union.

It consists mainly of the Trans-Mongolia line between Russia and China, and a spur line to the city of Erdenet.

In framework of the UNDP’s Environmental Governance Programme, a country report of Mongolia ‘Women and the Mine of the Future’ has been published in Mongolian language. The information of this research is very valuable as it compiles the basic gender data in Mongolia's mining industry for the last 10 years (2010-2020).

A gender baseline study is being conducted in 12 countries to assess the impact of mining industry development trends and supply chains on women in the industry. This research project was carried out by the Environmental Governance Program in collaboration with the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the International Women's Network in Mining (IWiM) in Mongolia. The national baseline study of Mongolia was carried out by the researchers of the Council for Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility (CSS).

Containing a lot of important numerical data that has not been seen before, the study report will be presented and distributed during the ‘Mining Week-202’" event to be held in September.

India may increase coal imports due to supply concerns, despite a longer-term policy to curb purchases from overseas, the country’s power and renewable energy minister, Raj Kumar Singh told Bloomberg on Friday.

“We are watching the situation anxiously. Availability of power for the common man is non-negotiable,” he was cited as saying.

About 75% of India’s electricity is coal-powered. According to the report, coal stockpiles have dropped about 11% since mid-August, and this leaves utilities with an average of ten days supply while the required levels are more than three weeks. According to Kumar Singh, power plants were urged to maintain adequate stockpiles and import coal if they were close to running out.

India brought in over 25 million tons of coal in June alone, a record amount and over a third more than it did in the same period last year, Reuters reported last month citing data from consultancies Coalmint and Kpler. Thermal coal imports jumped 40%, while imports of coking coal rose 23% year-on-year, according to data from India-based trader I-Energy. Overall, coal imports in the January-June period were 119.5 million tons, just 0.6% lower than in the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.

State-run Coal India issued a first-ever import tender in June to ship in at least 12 million tons of the fossil fuel over the next twelve months to curb shortages at utilities. India’s power major NTPC also increased purchases from seaborne markets, Bloomberg reported.

According to a recent report by the Economic Times, Indian companies have been importing significant volumes of petroleum coke from Venezuela, a byproduct from oil upgrading and an alternative to coal, having bought at least four cargoes carrying 160,000 tons of the fuel from April to June.

Analysts believe India is taking these measures to avoid repeating the 2021 coal crisis, when the country’s power supply was jeopardized by the monsoon season which saw coal mines flooded and shipments disrupted.

Last Saturday, September 10, was a Day of Tribute to the Memory of the Victims of the Political Repression. That day, Speaker of the Parliament G.Zandanshatar and Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene paid respects and laid wreaths to the Monument for the Politically Repressed. Members of Parliament and Cabinet, representatives of political parties, non-governmental organizations, and the crowd also paid tribute to the Monument.

In 1996, the State Great Khural (Parliament) of Mongolia made the decision to mark September 10th as the Day of Tribute to the Memory of the Victims of the Political Repression.

The dark history that led to a tragic end due to the influence of external and internal factors, ideological polarization, and political conflicts, gave Mongolia an eternal lesson to protect the national independence, sovereignty and freedom, build a statehood with just and rule of law, and safeguard peace.

Australia’s Elixir Energy has spudded the first pilot production well, Nomgon-8, at its 100% owned Nomgon IX CBM project in Mongolia, it said on September 12.

Elixir has engaged Major Drilling Group to drill the Nomgon 8 and 9 wells. The wells will be drilled to about 600 m in an 8.5-inch hole, with well design and casing sizes similar to that of most Australian CBM production wells, rather than the smaller hole-size exploration wells the company has been drilling to date in Mongolia.

The company expects the two-well drilling programme will take less than 30 days, with pilot production testing operations to begin within weeks of the wells being completed.

Meanwhile, Elixir’s exploration programme in Mongolia continues, currently utilising two local drilling sub-contractors and deploying three rigs. In an effort to improve drilling performance, Elixir has awarded another contract to Major Drilling for a “more technically advanced” drilling rig to join the exploration campaign.

Elixir is also planning a green hydrogen pilot project in Mongolia. The company in January this year signed a memorandum of understanding with Mongolia Green Finance Corp to support project finance for the first phase of its Gobi H2 project.

On September 7, the Mongolia Country Programme Document 2023-2027 (CPD), a blueprint of cooperation between UNICEF and the Mongolian Government, was approved by UNICEF Executive Board at its second regular session in New York. UNICEF’s next five-year programme in Mongolia was developed in a close collaboration with the national stakeholders, including youth, and government counterparts and is closely aligned to the country’s development policies and priorities.

The Permanent Representative of Mongolia to United Nations, Enkhbold Vorshilov, in his statement at the session thanked UNICEF staff in Mongolia and in the Asia Pacific Regional Office for an “inclusive and consultative process in developing the CPD. “The new CPD applies the principles of leaving no one behind, national ownership and mutual accountability,” said V. Enkhbold. He further noted that the proposed programme is “well aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for Mongolia, 2023-2027, which is closely aligned to the country's Vision 2050, the Government Action plan 2020-2024 and will support national efforts to build back better after COVID-19.”

“We are looking forward to be supporting the Government of Mongolia in implementation of its development policies, including in the areas where child rights were compromised due to the pandemic,” said Evariste Kouassi-Komlan, UNICEF Representative in Mongolia. “UNICEF has had a 50 years long history of close and fruitful cooperation with Mongolia and we will work hand in hand with the Mongolian Government and all other national and international stakeholders for Mongolia’s children,” added Mr Kouassi-Komlan.

In its new CPD, UNICEF in Mongolia addresses the specific environmental rights of children given the major threats caused to children by climate change, environmental degradation, and air pollution as well as educational gaps faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If earlier UNICEF used to work in certain geographical locations, according to the new CPD, UNICEF will enlarge its support nationwide, and based on the needs. As the world’s largest child rights organization, with a vast experience in rendering first-hand support in emergencies, UNICEF will continue cooperating with the Mongolian Government in emergency response through providing disaster and health emergency relief and building capacity of the relevant national state and non-state partners.

Source: UNICEF Mongolia