On February 10, the working group in charge of accelerating construction works at Khushig Valley held a regular meeting. Led by the Deputy Prime Minister, the working group was put in charge of the works in the framework of the Government’s policy on decentralizing Ulaanbaatar city, diversifying the economy, and developing a new region for industry and trade, science and technology, bank and finances, university and college complexes, and tourism as well as transport and logistics.

During the meeting, Minister of Construction and Urban Development B.Munkhbaatar introduced plans for resolving issues relating to autoroads, infrastructure, electricity and heating, water supply, flood protection, and waste management in connection with the task given by the Prime Minister to launch construction works at Khushig Valley from April 1.

Deputy Prime Minister S.Amarsaikhan said, “It is necessary to draft an even more detailed plan for the construction works to be carried out in Khushig Valley and ensure its implementation. The participation of domestic and foreign organizations that have prior experience in the development of urban areas and free zones is also important. By making estimates about future demands, plans for transportation such as railroads and LRT should have correlation with the projects.” He then tasked the Minister to include the construction projects for large-scale healthcare facilities such as the National Center for Communicable Diseases and the National Cancer Center in the general plan for Khushig Valley by having the blueprints developed on par with international standards.

A report on 2021 progress of the project to construct a natural gas pipeline from Russia to China through the Mongolian territory was introduced to Deputy Prime Minister S.Amarsaikhan by the project leader L.Amarsanaa and CEO of the special-purpose company Gazoprovod Soyuz Vostok Aseev Evgeny Nikolaevich.

Within the framework of the project, three major works, which were planned for last year, have been fulfilled. In particular, the gas pipeline route has been made clear, the development of feasibility study has been complete as well as necessary permits have been issued to the Special Purpose Company, thus it is now ready for the next phase. This year, the project plans to begin research in engineering geodesy, engineering ecology and engineering archeology. Preparations have been ensured to begin this work in May and are scheduled to be completed by November 30 this year.

During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister S.Amarsaikhan said that the government of Mongolia is satisfied with the results of the works, while expressing he would work to resolve any problems and challenges and continue the project without delay.

Aseev Yevgeny Nikolayevich said, “If we work as fast as last year, we can achieve better results this year" and thanked the Government of Mongolia for supporting the project.

We asked the Governor of the Capital City and the Mayor of Ulaanbaatar D. Sumiyabazar to elaborate on the issues and solutions that were discussed during Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene’s working visit to the People’s Republic of China.

-During the Prime Minister’s visit to the People’s Republic of China, what issues relating to Ulaanbaatar city were raised, and what conclusions were made?

-Ulaanbaatar city, home to nearly half of the country’s total population, is a big social and economic complex. So indeed, there is a multitude of problems that need to be resolved. During times of budgetary and financial difficulties, effective political decisions will drive development. The Prime Minister’s official working visit to PRC lasted for 5 days. The inclusion of city officials in the Prime Minister’s delegation is a sign that the Government of Mongolia is sincere in attaching great importance to Ulaanbaatar city, which makes up 50% of the total population.

Ulaanbaatar's congestion is the most important issue that we are facing today. Therefore, in order to solve this problem the Prime Minister is paying close attention by establishing national committees, allocating MNT 420 billion to the capital city’s budget, thus supporting investment opportunities. Parliament has also supported Ulaanbaatar’s legal environment. Both Parliament and the Government expressing their utmost support for the capital city is an event on an international level. Even though the PRC conducted the Olympics during the pandemic, it was also a great opportunity for us as various Presidents, Prime Ministers, and officials from around the world gathered in one place. Our Prime Minister has seized this opportunity efficiently with good team coordination, thus achieving beneficial results. During this visit, two major projects from Ulaanbaatar city were discussed. One of the projects aims to implement a new form of public transportation in the city in which we have planned to introduce an elevated light rail train or LRT system.

The Chinese side, including the National Development and Reform Commission, has expressed full support for the construction of a 50-kilometer-long three-line elevated mass transit project within five years.

Ulaanbaatar has only three emergency exits. In the event of an earthquake or other natural disasters, there is a danger that Ulaanbaatar residents will be stuck at the city border or on the streets. Therefore, we are planning to build a ring-shaped highway as a solution to protect the lives, well-being, and property of our citizens. The construction of a two-way highway with 3 lanes on each side was discussed during the visit.

What should we prioritize in order to ignite and keep the major projects going?

-A lot of it depends on us. Firstly, we must keep our word. Secondly, we have to have discipline. Thirdly, we must acknowledge the concept of mutually beneficial cooperation. In every interaction whether in business or a relationship, the interests of both parties play an inevitable role.

Also, we must eliminate complex bureaucratic challenges and increase productivity. The only way we move forward is by getting rid of unnecessary government bureaucracy and corruption. The Prime Minister's New Revival policy will focus on improving the government’s productivity and supporting the private sector. Since this plan was talked about for many years without any progress, people may be skeptical. But we must do it. Implying that the government should only make the key arrangements and not participate in smaller matters. As a result, jobs will be created with the duty and participation of many companies, and the economic opportunities of the private sector will expand.

-Citizens criticize the fact that many projects and programs are initiated to reduce congestion in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, but they soon disappear. You said, one of the issues discussed during the visit was the light train. How realistic is the project to build a 50-kilometer-long light rail line in three directions in the span of five years?

-We have been talking about the planned projects and activities to be implemented in Ulaanbaatar for many years. During E. Bat-Uul's administration, the work went well for a while, but they probably needed a more organized and coordinated approach. In other words, the Parliament and the Government did not provide enough support for them to succeed. However, it is advantageous for us today as this problem is no longer present with the MPP in leadership. Especially now, with Parliament and the Government showing full support in dealing with Ulaanbaatar’s issues. So in order to fulfill our promise and receive the financial support needed, in approaching any project and programs, we must make sure to implement the feasibility report accurately. I would like to highlight a few things that have been done over the past year. The Parliament has provided core support in creating a better legal system and helped take a fundamental step towards making Ulaanbaatar an independent economy. Regarding the budget and finance, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have decided to allocate 420 billion MNT t to the city. These domestic arrangements are sure to attract large foreign organizations. In particular, financial institutions around the world are offering direct loans to Ulaanbaatar. All this attributes to setting our core and legal values properly. During the visit to China, we proposed to organize our projects and programs in the form of direct investment and the form of international partnerships to jointly build the projects. By doing so, we are confident that we will be able to reduce congestion as promised to our citizens and implement the decentralization projects and programs on time.

The first test of a light-rail train will be conducted in 2024. And also, the construction of a highway will be initiated. Feasibility study and blueprints of the Tuul highway have been completed, which is one of the projects that are ready for implementation. So, we have officially proposed to China to implement these two projects within five years. The relevant parties are currently in the negotiation stage. I believe we can complete these projects.

UB CITY TRAINING, RESEARCH, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS AUTHORITY

Since winning the Operalia Competition in 2012 and taking home the audience prize at the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2015, Mongolian singer E.Amartuvshin has become one of the most sought-after baritones in the world.

He has steadily made major debuts and began performing at some of the most important houses in the world including the Royal Opera and Wiener Staatsoper where he debuted in 2021. He has also become a proponent of the Verdi canon making the title role of “Nabucco” one of his signature roles.

He has also performed “Aida,” “La Traviata,” “Ernani,” “Rigoletto,” and “La Forza del Destino.”

Now he adds another Verdi role to his growing repertoire. This week he sings the role of Miller in “Luisa Miller” at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, where he is also making his house debut. E.Amartuvshin has been praised by critics for “his imposing presence with a voice to match” and for having “the voice of a true Verdian baritone.”

Audiences around Italy have already gotten to know his work from Verona to Palermo to Coccia to Genova, and now he will get to show his mastery of the repertoire in the country’s capital.

Further performances this season for the baritone include “La Gioconda” in Orange, “Rigoletto” at the Teatro alla Scala and Genova and Aida in Hamburg, among others.

Rio Tinto Group’s hold on the title of world No. 1 iron ore producer is safe — at least for another quarter.

Vale SA was expected to overtake its main rival in the fourth quarter, but reported a disappointing 82.5 million metric tons of the steel-making ingredient after heavy rains restricted operations in northern Brazil. That compares with 84.1 million tons for Rio Tinto.

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Vale lost the title of top supplier in the wake of a tailings dam disaster three years ago. After focusing on safety, it has slowly brought back production while Rio Tinto has suffered from its own rain disruptions and the fallout from a cultural heritage fiasco.

Now the two firms are level pegging, even delivering identical 2022 guidance of 320-335 million tons, although Rio Tinto’s is for shipments and Vale’s is for production. In Thursday’s report, Vale kept its 2022 projection despite more rain interruptions last month.

Bragging rights aside, the Rio de Janeiro-based company continues to bang the drum of value over volume, wary of flooding a market that’s still recovering from a rout in the second half of last year after China limited steel output to contain pollution and power use. Bloomberg Intelligence sees global supply contracting this year.

Iron ore bulls may find some support in Vale’s quarterly result, which trailed the 85.6 million-ton average estimate as well as the company’s third quarter and the year-ago result.

Vale is also one of the world’s biggest nickel producers and a significant copper supplier. Production of those two metals fell 5.5% and 17%, respectively, from a year ago, although nickel output surged 59% from the strike-affected previous quarter.

At the regular meeting of the Cabinet today on February 9, Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Economic Development B.Javkhlan made a presentation on the Prime Minister’s visit to the People’s Republic of China, issues concerning border checkpoints that were discussed in its framework, and its current state.

“During the visit, additional meetings were organized alongside those that were scheduled. This could be considered as a positive outcome of the visit. As instructed by the Prime Minister, a working meeting was held with the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission’s Deputy Chairman in charge of matters relating to Mongolia. At the meeting, we discussed five projects that are of high economic importance.

The issue concerning the expansion of operations at border checkpoints such as Gashuunsukhait - Gantsmod and Shiveekhuren - Sekhee by connecting them by rail, and the railway border crossing points were finalized. We have now entered the next stage of matters, which is the construction of a freight terminal in order to utilize the connection by rail. As the feasibility study carried out by the Mongolian side for the terminal has been handed over to the side of China, meetings that were initially scheduled for late February and early March are planned to be organized on February 15,” said Minister B.Javkhlan.

He also highlighted that the Prime Minister has tasked the corresponding officials to complete the works to renew border checkpoints by the end of the year during the Cabinet meeting.

The number of newly detected COVID-19 cases and the positive rate in PCR test results decreased by 56 and 30 percent respectively compared to the previous week, reported Deputy Prime Minister S.Amarsaikhan during today’s cabinet meeting.

Moreover, 31 percent of the total population and 52 percent of the target population have received the 3rd or booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Considering the facts that the vaccination rate has reached 50 percent among the target population and COVID-19 infection has relatively decreased, the Cabinet today made a decision to have all types of educational institutes resume in-person classes starting from February 14.

On February 8, Minister of Education and Science L.Enkh-Amgalan announced that the Ministry will work towards the goal of having schools and kindergartens organize in-person lessons as much as possible as a study has recently found that there are 2,000 children in risk of facing disruptions to their education.

“Around 60-70 percent of total students were involved in online classes. As there is a significant number of students that have fallen behind, the Ministry has developed a plan to resolve the situation. According to the students that were involved in the study, 23 percent have reported falling behind in class due to issues relating to technology and infrastructure.

Alongside having all schools return to in-person teaching, it is important to improve the cooperation between the students, their parents, and the schools in order to help students catch up.

The study has also found that parents aged below 40 were significantly better at helping their children with their studies compared to their peers aged above 40.”

Highlighting that schools and kindergartens were re-opened in autumn as the country’s population were sufficiently vaccinated, the Minister said, “The hybrid schedule of in-person and online classes was highly effective. During the time of its implementation, infection cases were detected at 69 kindergartens and 332 schools. However, there were only a very limited number of cases as a result.”

Furthermore, he informed about the Ministry’s plans to have school counselors at public schools starting from the coming academic year as it is considered to be increasingly important to support students during the time of the pandemic.

The iron ore price surged past $150 a tonne on Tuesday as China offered its huge steel industry five extra years of rising carbon emissions.

Steelmaking accounts for about 15% of China’s carbon emissions. On Monday, the government set 2030 as the new deadline for peak emissions for the sector, against an earlier target of 2025.

“This is a big adjustment to the timetable, which gives more room for the steel sector to reach peak emissions in an orderly way,” said Xu Xiangchun, an analyst with researcher Mysteel.

“A rush to meet carbon goals could lead to “unbearable economic costs”, he said.

According to Fastmarkets MB, benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China were changing hands for $149.64 a tonne during morning trading, the highest since August 31. The metal has rebounded more than 70% from November’s plunge on expectations of steadier growth in 2022.

Iron ore futures in Singapore rose as much as 3.8% to $153 a tonne, the highest level since Aug. 31, and traded at $148.20 by 4:20 p.m. local time.

President Xi Jinping said last month that climate targets shouldn’t compromise supplies of commodities that “ensure the normal life of the masses.”

Related read: China plans to increase iron ore output, boost use of steel scrap

Iron ore price

The policy shift may put China’s overall target of reaching peak emissions by 2030 at risk, according to Li Shuo, analyst at Greenpeace East Asia.

“Traditional sectors such as steel will need to peak much earlier to make space for sectors such as transportation that are still developing.”

(With files from Bloomberg)