In Mongolia, the vaccine against COVID-19 has started being administered to children aged between 5 and 11 years old from today, August 1, on a voluntary basis.

There are about 500 thousand children aged 5-11 nationwide, of whom 25.7 percent are planned to be involved in the vaccination, reported Vaccination Department of the National Center for Communicable Diseases.

The World Bank is pleased to announce the appointment of Mara Warwick as the World Bank’s new Country Director for China and Mongolia and Director for Korea, effective today, August 1, 2022. Based in Beijing, Ms. Warwick leads a team that is managing an evolving partnership with China, a growing program of support to Mongolia, and a deepening knowledge partnership with Korea focused on innovation and technology.

Ms. Warwick has a distinguished World Bank career, serving as Country Director for Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in her last post. She also has extensive experience in China, Mongolia and Korea, having worked as Portfolio and Operations Manager for these countries in 2012-2016. She has lived in China several times since 1994, including in Beijing when she was the World Bank’s Senior Urban Environment Specialist from 2006-2010.

Ms. Warwick also served in 2016-2020 as World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Previously she was Sector Coordinator for Sustainable Development in Türkiye. Trained as an environmental engineer, she has expertise in flood management, urban environmental services, and disaster risk management. Before joining the World Bank in 2003, she worked as an engineer in the private sector. Ms. Warwick received her B.E. in Civil Engineering from the University of Adelaide, Australia and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University in the US.

“I am very pleased to come back to China, Mongolia, and Korea,” said Ms. Warwick. “Over the years, I have witnessed firsthand the significant developments in the region since the 1990s. I look forward to working closely with all three countries, as vital World Bank partners, to help address development challenges and strengthen knowledge sharing.”

An Australian national, Ms. Warwick succeeds Martin Raiser, who has moved to Washington, DC to take on the role of Vice President for South Asia.

Over the last forty years, the World Bank’s relationship with China has evolved from one where China was a recipient of World Bank financial and technical assistance, to one where China is now also a contributor to the World Bank. The Bank’s lending and analytical programs in China today are focused on global public goods and institutional reforms to scale up impact, with knowledge and advisory services expected to play a growing role. The lending program has focused on marine plastics, biodiversity and water pollution control in China’s largest rivers, green agriculture, green finance, and food safety. The analytical program is similarly targeting China’s green transition across sectors.

Over the last three decades, the World Bank has provided over US$1.4 billion in development financing to Mongolia. Today, the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework for Mongolia guides the Bank’s work to support Mongolia in overcoming COVID-19 and new emerging crises while working toward a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient recovery, with a strong focus on job creation and climate resilience.

The World Bank’s work in the Republic of Korea has evolved to match the country’s changing needs as it transformed from low-income to a high-income economy and a global leader in innovation and technology. Through the World Bank Group Korea Office, the World Bank hosts partnerships and joint projects with Korean partners to help developing countries enhance financial sector management, promote green growth innovation and share know-how about information and communication technology.

Source: World Bank Mongolia

Canadian miner Centerra Gold gives up the ‘toxic’ Kumtor mine to Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan has regained control over the Kumtor gold mine after an ownership transfer agreement was signed with the mine’s former owner, Canadian miner Centerra Gold, media reported on Saturday.

Kumtor is one of the largest gold mines in Central Asia and used to be among Kyrgyzstan’s biggest foreign investment projects. However, it came into the spotlight last year when reports emerged of threats to the local environment posed by the mine. As a result, Kyrgyzstan launched a legal battle to reclaim the site from the Canadian firm.

The procedure for the exchange of documents confirming the transfer process took place at Kyrgyzstan’s embassy in the UK.

“On July 29, 2022, all necessary deeds of transfer, powers of attorney, and certificates for the registration of a full transfer of ownership of 100% of shares of Kumtor Gold Company and Kumtor Operating Company in favor of [state-owned miner] Kyrgyzaltyn were given to the ambassador of Kyrgyzstan in the UK Ulan Djusupov,” stated the press release of the office of the Kyrgyz president.

Under the agreement, Kyrgyzstan gets full legal control of the mine and the gold produced there since May 15, 2021. It is also entitled to dividends from Centerra Gold totaling $11 million, a one-time payment of $50 million and the reclamation fund for the Kumtor mine of about $53 million. In exchange, Kyrgyzaltyn will be giving up its 26% stake in Centerra Gold and its 77.4 million common shares, worth roughly $972 million, in the Canadian miner for cancellation.

Centerra Gold has owned and operated the mine through its subsidiary Kumtor Gold under an agreement with the government since 2009. However, in May 2021, the Kyrgyz government took over the mine, citing environmental and safety concerns, as well as its claim that the company had underpaid taxes. Centerra Gold denied those allegations, slammed the move as state appropriation and initiated international arbitration to challenge Kyrgyzstan’s actions. However, in April, the company announced it had agreed to sell its business interests in Kyrgyzstan and exit the country.

Luxembourg has pledged to support Mongolia with about €10 million over the next five years.

Luxembourg will continue to support Mongolia in the area of healthcare. Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs Franz Fayot was in Mongolia from Tuesday to Saturday and signed two agreements.

The first announcement concerned €5 million over the next five years. This money will mainly be used to expand telemedicine and cardiovascular services.

At the signing ceremony, Minister Fayot, Manuel Tonnar, Director of Cooperation, and Dr Jean Beissel, former Director of the National Institute of Cardiac Surgery and Interventional Cardiology, were awarded the order "Altangadas" for their outstanding contributions to the Mongolian health sector. This is the Mongolian state's highest honour for foreign citizens.

The trip also included a meeting with Khalid Sharifi, head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) office in Mongolia, where the minister signed another agreement, which provides UNFPA with €5 million over five years to promote the elimination of maternal and perinatal mortality.

The visit took place in the context of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of bilateral development cooperation relations between Luxembourg and Mongolia.

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is beginning a tour of Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, her office says - with no mention of a possible visit to Taiwan.

There has been intense speculation that she may visit the self-ruled island.

Taiwan is claimed by China - which has warned of "serious consequences" if she goes there.

No high-ranking US elected official has visited Taiwan in 25 years.

Ms Pelosi, a California Democrat, tweeted that the six-person Congressional delegation tour would seek to "reaffirm America's unshakeable commitment to our allies and friends in the region".

Her office said the tour was to the "Indo-Pacific region" - "including" visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that must become a part of the country. Beijing has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve this in the future.

Chinese officials have expressed anger over what they view as growing diplomatic engagement between Taipei and Washington. There was a surprise visit to the island by six US lawmakers in April.

The US has formal diplomatic ties with China, and not Taiwan.

Ms Pelosi has long been a vocal critic of the Chinese leadership, denouncing its human rights record. She has met pro-democracy dissidents and visited Tiananmen Square to commemorate victims of the 1989 massacre.

Her original plan was to visit Taiwan in April, but she postponed the trip after she tested positive for Covid-19.

Earlier this month she said it was "important for us to show support for Taiwan".

President Joe Biden has said the US military believes a Pelosi visit to Taiwan is "not a good idea right now".

The statement from her office on Sunday said the tour would "focus on mutual security, economic partnership and democratic governance in the Indo-Pacific region".

Their talks will also cover trade, the climate crisis and human rights.

The delegates accompanying Ms Pelosi are leading members of the House of Representatives: Gregory Meeks, Mark Takano, Suzan DelBene, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Andy Kim.

The last House Speaker to visit Taiwan was Republican Newt Gingrich, in 1997.

Rio Tinto Group said it’s formed a joint venture with the Guinea government and Winning Consortium Simandou to develop infrastructure including a railway and port in a breakthrough that should help unlock the world’s biggest untapped iron ore deposit.

“The parties will now work on next steps including shareholding agreement, finalizing cost estimates and funding, and securing all necessary approvals and other permits and agreements required to progress the co-development of infrastructures,” Rio said in a statement.

Getting the massive Simandou project under development would be a second major win for Rio’s Chief Executive Officer Jakob Stausholm, after striking a deal with Mongolia earlier this year on Rio’s flagship copper project. Since taking the helm just over a year ago, the CEO has prioritized getting stalled projects moving, while rebuilding the company’s reputation after a series of missteps.

The latest agreement hands Guinea’s government a 15% “free-carry” stake in the infrastructure joint-venture, meaning Rio and Winning will bear construction costs. Efforts to develop Simandou have been stymied for years by a litany of disputes over ownership and infrastructure, and by political changes in Guinea.

Simandou offers a potentially huge new source of supply for Rio, the world’s largest iron ore producer, while China sees the project as key to easing its steel industry’s dependence on Australian output.

“The involvement of Rio Tinto would be definitely very positive for the Simandou project” given it is “a very experienced mining company in implementing large-scale, complex infrastructure projects around the world,” Philip Kirchlechner, director at Iron Ore Research Pty, said by phone. “However, it doesn’t at all remove sovereign risk in Africa,” he said, adding “the complexity of building a rail through very difficult terrain is also very challenging.”

Simandou is divided into four blocks, two of which are controlled by Winning — which is backed by Chinese and Singaporean companies — and the others by Rio Tinto in partnership with Aluminum Corp. of China and other Chinese companies. Winning and the Rio-led group will each have a 42.5% of the infrastructure company, with Guinea’s government holding the balance, Rio said.

Who pays?

China, the world’s top steel-producing nation, recently embarked on one of the biggest shake-ups of the global iron ore market in more than a decade by setting up a new state-owned group, designed to be a hub for huge overseas mine investments — including Simandou — and buying the steelmaking material from international suppliers.

Earlier this year, the two consortiums at Simandou struck a deal to jointly build the 600 kilometers of required rail lines linking the mine to a planned port. As part of the deal, the government received a 15% stake in the infrastructure, matching its ownership stake in the mines. Yet talks about how the rail line will be paid for had dragged on.

Negotiations had centered over whether the government should have to pay for its share of the rail and port building costs, according to people familiar with the situation. Rio and the Winning consortium had offered an interest-free loan to cover the government’s costs, while the government had pushed for the free-carry for its stake, the people said.

The railway could cost more than $10 billion, according to earlier estimates, although an updated cost forecast is not expected until after an agreement is struck. No monetary figures for the new joint venture were given in the statement.

Rio’s shares in Australia dropped as much as 1.5% before trading 0.7% higher by 2:03 p.m. Shanghai time.

The Guinean government had sought to force the hand of the companies involved. Earlier this month, the government ordered both consortiums to halt activity in the country, citing their failure to reach a deal on collaboration. Mining Minister Moussa Magassouba also said the country was prepared to develop the project without the two consortiums if an agreement wasn’t forthcoming.

(By Thomas Biesheuvel and Alfred Cang, with assistance from Ougna Camara, Winnie Zhu, Jake Lloyd-Smith and Martin Ritchie)

An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck the Russia-Mongolia border region on Friday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles), EMSC said.

Xuzhou, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province, has launched a new freight train service to Mongolia, and the train is expected to arrive in Ulan Bator on Aug. 1.

The freight train, fully loaded with 100 TEUs of goods, will pass through the border port of Erenhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region before reaching Ulan Bator within six days.

The train carried about 440 tonnes of goods valued at 1.4 million U.S. dollars, including motorbikes, aluminum empty cans and security doors.

Xuzhou's China-Europe freight train services have maintained a strong momentum this year, completing 230 trips from January to June, an increase of 91.7 percent year on year, and completing a trade volume of 277 million U.S. dollars. The city has launched such services with more than 50 cities in 20 countries along the Belt and Road.

China has been Mongolia's biggest trading partner and the top source of foreign investment for 18 consecutive years. The bilateral trade volume hit 9.12 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, up 35.3 percent year on year.

The signing ceremony of the protocol between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and UNFPA Mongolia for a maternal and child health project has taken place at UN House, Ulaanbaatar, today, July 29.

Through the signing on the project obligation form, which is based on the General Partnership Framework between both parties, Luxembourg contributes 5 million EUR for the project ‘Accelerating the progress towards the elimination of preventable maternal and perinatal mortality’ for the duration of 5 years from 2022 to 2027.

The Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has supported the Telemedicine for Maternal and Child Health Project in Mongolia for 12 years since 2007. The project has been implemented together with the Government of Mongolia and UNFPA with the aim to promote equitable access to quality maternal and newborn care.

Building on the experience and expertise of previous 12-year innovative project, the new project is focusing to contribute to ending preventable maternal deaths, ending unmet need for family planning and end gender-based violence using innovative technological advances and advocating for family planning and comprehensive sexuality education.

During the signing, Dr. Justine Coulson, Country Director for UNFPA Mongolia and Representative for UNFPA China, highlighted, “This new phase of the project will build on past achievements and continue to address the cause of preventable maternal and perinatal death with a focus on data driven policy, capacity building amongst health workers and engagement with local communities to ensure women proactively seek health services when they need them.”

Minister for Development Cooperation Humanitarian Affairs, and Minister of the Economy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Mr. Franz Fayot said, “I would like to encourage you all to further develop synergies. This new phase of the project is all about how we can find more synergies,” with regard to Luxembourg-funded projects implemented by bilateral and multilateral partners. Minister Fayot also highlighted that the gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights is of particular interest to Luxembourg.

The signing ceremony was attended by Mr. Bold Luvsanvandan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Ms. L.Bolormaa, Officer in charge of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Franz Fayot, Minister for Development Cooperation Humanitarian Aid of MFEA, Mr. Christophe Schiltz, General Coordinator for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of MFEA, Mr. Manuel Tonnar, Director of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of MFEA, Mr. Robert de Waha, Deputy Managing Director of LuxDev, Ms. Anika Bruck, Asia and Gender Desk of MFEA, Mr. Frederic Rouffe, Programme Officer of LuxDev, Ms. Anne Nicolas, Press Officer to the Minister of Economy of Luxembourg, Ms. Justine Coulson, Country Director for UNFPA Mongolia and Representative for UNFPA China (who participated virtually), Dr. Khalid Sharifi, Head of Office of UNFPA Mongolia, and Dr. L. Oyunaa, Assistant Representative of UNFPA Mongolia.

After the signing, Head of Office of UNFPA Mongolia Dr. Khalid Sharifi confirmed the commitment of UNFPA Mongolia to the efficient and effective implementation of the project, before thanking the Government of Luxembourg for their continued support to improve health care in Mongolia.

UNFPA in Mongolia

UNFPA Mongolia began supporting the Government of Mongolia in the late 1970s providing equipment and training to the Central Statistics Office to undertake the Population and Housing Census of 1979 – and again in 1989. Support to maternal and child health began in the early 1990s and included training for medical personnel and the provision of modern contraceptives.

The first comprehensive Country Programme between the Government of Mongolia and UNFPA officially started in 1992 and focused on the delivery of family planning services and information and the promotion of population data use to support government development policies and programmes.

UNFPA’s 6th Country Programme in Mongolia was launched in 2017, with a specific focus on youth participation, realizing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of youth, and addressing GBV. The current Country Programme is supporting Mongolia to achieve the SDGs and is closely aligned and implemented with other UN agencies under the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2017-2022.