It is possible to transport international cargo from Mongolia to 18 countries. Currently, intergovernmental agreements on international road transport have been signed with Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Turkey, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, Slovenia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. In addition, it is intended to sign the agreement with Georgia, Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany and Moldova. The agreements have yet been formalized, but it is possible to transport goods to these countries by exchanging permit documents.

Moreover, with aims to facilitate international transport, a protocol between the Ministry of Road and Transport of Mongolia and the Ministry of Transport of China on the implementation of the international road transport agreement between the Governments of Mongolia and China was renewed in 2019.

Within the framework of the ‘China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor’ program which aims to develop transport connectivity and cross-border trade services, ‘Intergovernmental agreement on international road transport along the Asian Highway Network’ was signed by the three countries. It is now effective since 2019. In this context, it is possible to transport in two directions: Asian Highway Network’s AH 3 route or Ulan-Ude –Ulaanbaatar –Tianjin port, and AH 4 route or Novosibirsk –Bayan Ulgii-Khovd -Urumqi –Hongiraf port. Unfortunately, transportation has been currently suspended due to the pandemic, reports the Ministry of Road and Transport.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Mongolia held the second meeting with the relevant officials to discuss a launch of direct flight between Mongolia and the US.

The meeting discussed the process of establishing air services between the two countries, concluding air transport agreements, and the requirements and preparations of other countries for direct flights from the US Federal Aviation Administration. MIAT JSC also introduced the options of direct flights between Mongolia and the US.

According to U.Batbayar, Ambassador of Mongolia to the United States of America, two sides are planning to make the first direct flight by 2023.

The direct flight has the advantage of saving time and money for citizens traveling to and from the United States and Mongolia. Furthermore, the direct flights between Mongolia and the United States will be a significant milestone in economic and bilateral cooperation.

Today (17 February), Mongolia reported 874 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 459,183. Meanwhile, three more COVID-19 patients died in the past day, bringing the death toll to 2,152.

The daily tally showed pandemic-related hospitalizations stood at 5,937, a drop of 230 compared with the previous day. This includes 45 patients in intensive care units, a decrease of three. Furthermore, 19,557 Covid-19 patients are receiving home-based care; decreased from 20,637 on 16 February.

Mongolia on Monday canceled a heightened state of readiness imposed in February 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed in-person classes for all levels of educational institutions. The decisions were made based on the country’s infection rate, high vaccination coverage, and assessments by relevant authorities.

So far, 66.8 percent of the country’s population of 3.4 million people have received two COVID-19 vaccine doses, while more than 1 million people over 18 received a third dose. More than 91,000 people have received a fourth shot, which the country started to administer in January on a voluntary basis.

The construction of a railway at Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod – the port handles more than 50 percent of Mongolia’s copper and coking coal exports was one of key issues at talks between Mongolian Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meeting was held on 7 February when L.Oyun-Erdene attended the Opening Ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod border crossing has been a contentious topic for Mongolian policymakers for years. Although different parties and ministries have agreed on the economic importance of the railroad, they disagreed on many important technical aspects such as the railroad gauge, allocation of investment, and the environmental and geological impacts that come with such a significant megaproject. The financial question was one of the major hurdles as well. The China-proposed railroad project is more costly than what the Mongolians envisioned.

This means Mongolian coals will be transferred to the Chinese trains in Gantsmod.

The Mongolian folk-metal group announced a slew of tour dates following their show at this year’s Coachella Festival on 15 April, 2022.

Following Coachella, the band will be on the road until ending May 31, 2022 in Mexico City. The group is leaving no stone unturned. The tour includes stops in San Diego, Las Vegas, Detroit, Maine, Washington, DC, Nashville, and Dallas.

The band has said the tour will continue to tease new music from their highly anticipated second album, due later this year from Better Noise Music.

Founded in 2016, the band hails from Mongolia. They blend heavy metal and traditional Mongolian throat singing. The group of four guys describes their style as “Hunnu Rock.” The Hunnu people were an ancient Mongolian empire. Their name, The Hu, is the Mongolian root word for human being.

Today on February 16, Minister of Finance B.Javkhlan announced that the strategy and development policy for the Ministry of Economy and Development was approved at the regular Cabinet meeting.

With the changes made to the 2022 State Budget and the Law on the Government, the Ministry of Economy and Development was officially established in January this year. “By having the strategy and development policy approved by the Cabinet, the Ministry is provided with opportunities and proper structure to fulfill its duties that have been reflected in the respective law. In its framework, an agency is also being established on foreign investment,” highlighted Minister B.Javkhlan.

“Previously, the Foreign Investment Agency carried out its operations independently under the Government. The agency is now being re-established under the current government after many years. With the re-establishment of the agency, Mongolia’s mid- and long-term policies and plans for foreign investment will become very clear, creating the appropriate conditions to connect foreign investors to large-scale construction projects being carried out domestically as well as with other economic sectors. The agency will be in charge of promoting current opportunities for making investments in Mongolia by carrying out wide-scale works to introduce the country’s business sectors,” he said.

On February 15, Central Geological Laboratory state-owned enterprise and Oyu Tolgoi LLC renewed and signed the agreement to conduct an external inspection and sample of copper concentrate for export.

Under the government’s resolution dated in 2013, the Central Geological Laboratory (CGL) became responsible for conducting an external inspection and sample of copper concentrate for export. Accordingly, the CGL and Oyu Tolgoi LLC first established the agreement on June 1, 2013.

The laboratory has been continuously performing high-quality and international standards works, such as taking samples from every packaged copper concentrate to be exported by Oyu Tolgoi, determining moisture, preparing samples for testing, carrying out chemical analysis and submitting test results.

Since 2013, the laboratory has analyzed about 6.5 million tons of Oyu Tolgoi’s concentrate.

Director of the Central Geological Laboratory O. Davaasambuu said that the agreement has been renewed for five years in connection with the commencement of underground mining operations. He added that according to the renewed agreement, OT’s concentrate sample preparation and inspection work contracts would be established separately, reflecting consumer price index and international standard price for inspection.

The laboratory determines the content of copper, gold, silver and 20 elements in the packaged copper concentrates of Oyu Tolgoi LLC using internationally approved methods, including standard chemical and modern instrumental analysis methods.

The Ministry of Health reported today, February 16 that 834 СOVID-19 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours nationwide. In detail, 479 cases were reported in Ulaanbaatar city, with 355 cases in 21 provinces.

It was also reported that one COVID-19 related death has been reported in the past 24 hours, raising the country’s death toll to 2,077. Currently, there are 6,167 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 whilst 20,637 people with mild symptoms are being treated at home. Of the total patients currently undergoing treatment at hospitals, there are 1,723 patients in mild, 3,855 in serious, 541 in critical, and 48 in very critical conditions.

As of today, the coverage of 1st dose has reached 69.8 percent (2,270,545), 2nd dose – 66.8 percent (2,171,826) and 3rd dose or a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccines – 31.0 percent (1,015,670) of the total population. In addition, 92,216 people (2.8 percent) have received 4th vaccine dose.

The dirtiest fossil fuel is still raising trillions of dollars of funding, despite finance industry pledges to back net zero carbon targets by the middle of the century.

Commercial banks have channeled more than $1.5 trillion across the coal supply chain since the start of 2019, according to a report from German researcher Urgewald and its partners. The findings come just over three months after dozens of banks joined Mark Carney’s global alliance to achieve net-zero emissions from finance.

Most agree it’s necessary to fight rising temperatures, yet few major global banks are willing to shun profitable fossil-fuel clients. The biggest coal lenders included Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the study showed. Chinese banks dominated the underwriting of capital raised by the coal industry.

“What we’re seeing is the tip of the iceberg,” said Heffa Schuecking, founder of Urgewald, in an interview. “This is a clear sign that companies aren’t transitioning.”

Coal sector financing

The study comes with the world burning more coal than ever as the economy bounces back from Covid-19, raising fears that 2022 could be a year of backsliding for some climate initiatives.

Still, there were some signs of a drop in financing during 2020 and 2021, though it wasn’t clear if that was the start of a trend or just the impact of the pandemic on the economy, according to Katrin Ganswindt, head of financial research at Urgewald.

Institutional investors have combined holdings of more than $1.2 trillion in the coal industry. BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc. are the two largest, with share and bond holdings of over $100 billion each, according to the report. Both firms are members of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative.

There’s growing concern that coal plants could be left as stranded assets during the green transition, with countries favoring renewable power sources. Yet the report’s findings show that banks and asset managers still see opportunities to make a return.

“Vast amounts of cash are provided to an industry that is our climate’s worst enemy,” said Ganswindt.

(By John Ainger)