March 22 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's COVID-19 tally rose to 468,700 after 46 new local infections were recorded over the past 24 hours, the country's health ministry said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, no new deaths were reported in the past day, and the country's COVID-19 death toll remains at 2,108, the ministry said.

So far, 66.8 percent of the country's total population of 3.4 million has received two COVID-19 vaccine doses, 1,030,410 people have received a third dose, and 112,360 have received a fourth dose voluntarily.

Mongolians have basically returned to normal daily life due to high vaccination coverage and declining daily infections. Notably, the Asian country has resumed in-person classes for all levels of educational institutions and fully opened its borders to foreign tourists, who will not be required to have a PCR test or to quarantine.

One more country has joined the worldwide clamor to remove entry requirements in the past few days, with Mongolia now completely removing its entry rules for travelers.

In doing so, Mongolia – located in Asia – has become the 17th country around the world to remove Covid-19 related restrictions, and return to ‘normal’.

Compared to last year, 2022 has been a much brighter one for travelers, with a growing number of worldwide destinations taking steps to make it much easier for travelers to visit once again.

Located between Russia and China, Mongolia is a melting pot of culture and history that travelers heading to the country can experience at every corner of its vast expanse – and it’s suddenly become extremely easy for travelers to be able to enter.

Mongolia has now joined the ever-growing list of countries to completely remove their Covid-19 related entry requirements, making visiting the country a much more affordable and attractive proposition.

Mongolia’s government updated its entry requirements for foreign travelers on 14 March 2022, with the new rules coming to effect from that date.

The update now means that all travelers, regardless of age, vaccination status, or country of departure, will no longer have to take a PCR or rapid test to enter Mongolia – nor will they have to test upon arrival or go into quarantine or self-isolation.

The update comes just a few weeks after the country opened for the first time in two years. Of course, travelers may still have to jump through some hoops in order to visit. American travelers don’t need a visit in order to visit for less than 90 days, whilst Canadians can stay visa-free in Mongolia for up to 30 days.

Flights may also be longer than usual given the restrictions over Russian airspace as a result of their invasion of Ukraine.

With a unique value proposition to tourists, Mongolia’s tourism sector has substantial growth potential, but faces key constraints in air transport and sector coordination, according to the World Bank’s new study on Mongolia’s tourism sector.

The study, entitled Fostering Inclusive Tourism Development in the Aftermath of COVID-19, analyzes the performance of the Mongolian tourism sector, its regulatory environment, and policy options based on a data-driven economic modeling approach.

“Mongolia’s tourism sector has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its full potential is yet to unfold. The country has an abundance of strong niche products for leisure tourism linked to its diverse nature, nomadic lifestyle, culture, and historical legacy,” – said Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia. “This new study aims to help the government identify policy priorities for a more inclusive and sustainable tourism sector.”

Tourism is an important contributor to Mongolia’s economy and accounted for 7.2% of GDP, 6.8% of total exports, and 7.6% of total employment in 2019, which was the best year ever, before collapsing in 2020 due to COVID-19. Relative to comparators in Eurasia as well as to countries outside of Eurasia with similar geographic features and/or tourism offerings, Mongolia has been losing market share over the last decade. However, leisure tourism has continued to expand while business travel has declined. Leisure tourists spent less time in Mongolia comparing with similar tourist markets.

The government aims to develop sustainable and inclusive tourism and make Mongolia “the international destination for nomadic culture and tourism”. This may require prioritizing segments and markets with highest value potential before increasing the number of foreign tourist arrivals, the report points out.

The lack of resources allocated for infrastructure development and a protectionist aviation policy impede sector development, according to the enterprise survey of tourism companies conducted in the beginning of 2021. Furthermore, the tourism industry representatives acknowledged policy and sector coordination issues to be among the top issues facing the sector, including the lack of centralized marketing support, national tourism policy implementation, and coordination.

“Mongolia’s tourism sector has suffered a loss of MNT 1.5 trillion due to COVID-19 with around 1,600 companies and 88,000 jobs put in risk. We are facing an unprecedented challenge of retaining experienced professionals in the sector and minimizing the impact of the economic downturn. The comprehensive analysis—prepared by the World Bank at this critical time when we need a strategy to revive the tourism sector—will assist us in assessing the current situation and defining the appropriate measures and policy,” – said Minister of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia Mr. B. Bat-Erdene.

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 21, 2022 /Mongolia Growth Group Ltd. (the "Company") (TSX-V:YAK), announced today that TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") has accepted a Notice of Intention to renews its normal course issuer bid to purchase outstanding common shares of the Company on the open market in accordance with the policies of the TSXV.

Pursuant to the NCIB, (the "Bid") the Company may acquire up to 1,935,000 common shares (representing up to approximately 6.97% of the 27,778,499 common shares of the Company currently issued and outstanding, or approximately 9.99% of the 19,362,249 common shares constituting the Company's current Public Float (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) from time to time during the next 12 months. In accordance with the Policies of the Exchange, the maximum number of common shares that may be purchased under the Bid in any 30-day period may not exceed 2% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company when aggregated with all other common shares purchased under the Bid in the preceding 30 days.

The Company is undertaking the Bid because, in the opinion of its board of directors, the market price of its common shares, from time to time, may not fully reflect the underlying value of its operations and future growth prospects. The Company believes that in such circumstances, the purchase of the common shares of the Company may represent an appropriate and desirable use of the Company's funds and further enhance market stability.

The Company may, subject to market conditions, sell one or more of its investment properties to finance purchases under the Bid from time to time.

From March 18, 2021, to March 17, 2022, the Company purchased 2,250,000 of its shares at an average price of $0.76 under its most recently expired NCIB.

The Company has retained M Partners Inc. of Toronto, Ontario as its broker Member for the purposes of conducting the bid. The Bid will commence on or about March 24, 2022, and the Bid will end no later than March 23, 2023. The common shares will be purchased for cancellation on the open market through the facilities of the Exchange, at market price. This transaction is subject to the TSX Venture Exchange approval.

(This article was originally titled "Mark Johnstad" in the Oct-Dec. 2018 issue of Fly Fisherman magazine.)

The green audio waves of my recording software pitch as the fire crackles and snaps beside us. I wonder briefly how I’m going to edit out the noise, but my concerns are quickly overtaken by Mark Johnstad’s charisma and jovial smile. He finds it amusing that I’m so interested in his history; quick to derail any thorough questioning, ya-dee-ya-da’ing through his intense climactic story arc. As so many of my podcast guests do, he warns me that his story isn’t really all that interesting—that is, until we start to piece together his time line. As the wine flows and the fire spits, I get the feeling that even he can see his accomplishments are truly special.

Though technically born in Minnesota, Johnstad is from Montana. Since he was two years old, the vast and wild landscape of Montana has surged through his veins, thoughts, and fantasies. He’s the son of an outdoorsman, and hunting and fishing played a major role in his upbringing. Now, as a father himself, he passes along the same knowledge to his son, Cooper.

He has an animated way about him, though it’s hard to tell if he’s this way in the absence of children or red wine. In our short time together I’d never seen him away from either. We were on an eight-day float trip with his fishing operation Mongolia River Outfitters, and spirits were running high. The fish were biting, the weather was cooperating, and the giggles between Cooper and Dave McCoy’s young daughter, Nessa, were contagious. Occasionally I caught a glimpse of a straight-faced Johnstad speaking to conservation officers and staff, but such seriousness was brief and temporary. I had expected him to be different. Admittedly, I was guilty of assuming that a man with such impressive credentials would be a little less ... likable. He was welcoming, funny, and about as quick-witted as anyone I’d ever met.

I suppose none of this should be surprising considering the yin and yang of Johnstad’s past. At college in Minnesota, he majored in English literature and minored in Middle Eastern studies. During his sophomore year he attended school in Jerusalem, and completed his senior year at Cambridge University. After graduation, he shucked fish in Alaska, ski bummed in Vail, worked horses in New Mexico, and traveled to Central America in pursuit of untapped fisheries, but his passion for classic Montana remained the same.

After seeing the changes that were taking place in his beloved Montana, he decided to study environmental law in hopes that he might have a hand in conserving the last vestiges of the wild. Such ambitions required an advanced degree, so he enrolled in law school.

The institution and accompanying stresses of student loans and deadlines drove Johnstad to explore one final “hurrah” before committing to yet another few years of academics. A friend told him about the vast terrain of Mongolia and its undeveloped landscape that was, in many ways, similar to Montana.

It was the year after the Berlin Wall came down, the Soviet Union was collapsing, and Mongolia, though inhabited by nomads untouched by the modern era, was beginning to open up to Westerners. Johnstad dreamed of nomads untouched by the modern era, and he dreamed of riding a horse east to west across the country. He visited the library to see what he could learn, but the Iron Curtain ensured reading material was scarce.

At that time, foreigners needed an invitation from the government to be granted access, so Johnstad set up a meeting with the First Secretary of Mongolia, and secured an invitation from the Ministry of Nature and Environment in 1991.

Eager to commence his trip, Johnstad and Minister Batjargal discussed the future of Mongolia. They were aware of the potential exploitation that could ensue if they didn’t have some protective measures in place: poaching, mining, forestry, commercial development, and all exploits in between.

Mark Johnstad fell in loved with Mongolia when he rode his horse across the country on a three-and-a-half-month journey that took him to the border of Kazakhstan. (Earl Harper photo)

The Chinese aphrodisiac market had already put a dent in big-game numbers, dropping a herd of 200,000 elk to a mere 20,000 in the space of ten years. At the time, the Mongolian government already had 13 protected areas, but it was their intention to expand. Johnstad, likable, knowledgeable, and adventurous, was the perfect candidate to help them achieve this goal. They funded him to visit various parts of the country to see which parts of it should be classified as protected zones.

The fire in the ger has been stoked, and the bottle is getting low. I’ve since stopped watching my computer. I’m so enthralled by our conversation, I forget that I’m recording it all. I’d heard that Johnstad was “the guy” to talk to about the fishing industry in Mongolia, but this was next level.

I continued, “So when you came in to do all this conservation work...”

He interrupts me, “No, I came here to ride horses across the country and got looped into doing conservation work.”

Looped into it he may have been, but they sure lassoed the right cowboy. Johnstad fulfilled his dream of riding across the country, and spent three and a half months riding his horse to the border of Kazakhstan. He fished along the way. He got a job working with the United Nations and lived in Mongolia from 1993 to 1995, when his love for the country first blossomed.

Johnstad eventually finished law school and then went to work as a consultant for the UN, USAID, and the World Bank designing and implementing major conservation programs. In the late 1990s, he ended up in Africa helping local communities conserve biodiversity through sustainable tourism and resource use. The German government asked Johnstad to return to Mongolia to try and get something similar off the ground. That effort didn’t progress as Johnstad hoped, so he decided to just try it on his own.

An international rush toward mining in Mongolia brought people with loads of cash into the country. Newly rich urban Mongolians and unscrupulous foreigners with too much money—and not enough sense—took up fishing. They were killing large numbers of taimen, often with the help of local “guides” paid with a couple bottles of vodka.

Taimen simply can’t handle aggressive retention rates. They take seven years to reach sexual maturity and can live up to 50 years. In the best of times, taimen are few and far between. Rural communities and the government of Mongolia desperately wanted help.

“Taimen exist on a scale much different than your normal trout species. These are huge apex predators. They have enormous home ranges and require large, pristine watersheds to survive,” Johnstad explains.

“Taimen represent wilderness. Successfully protect taimen and you will successfully protect some of the Northern Hemisphere’s most amazing wild rivers.”

The plan? Use fly fishing as a catalyst for conservation. Johnstad teamed up with some Mongolian friends to found Mongolia River Outfitters (MRO). They started small, slowly building up the operation to gain the trust of local communities and the global market. At first, MRO was just Johnstad guiding a couple of guests supported by a skeleton camp crew. Twenty years later, MRO is now a world-class fly-fishing operation with over a dozen international and Mongolian guides.

Their float/fish programs link a complex of 28 cozy fishing camps that collectively protect nearly 625 miles of coldwater fisheries. These rivers are designated catch-and-release, fly-fishing-only with streamside setbacks, motor prohibitions, and a cap on total anglers.

MRO has partnered with The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Federation, BioRegions International, The Taimen Fund, and companies including Costa, Patagonia, Orvis, and some of the world’s most prestigious booking agencies to quietly create one of the globe’s most innovative fisheries conservation programs.

Everything MRO does is designed to incentivize community-based action. Almost all of their 60+ staff members were raised near the rivers where MRO fishes. Every one of them is now a grassroots taimen conservation advocate.

All international anglers must arrange their trips through MRO. Domestic anglers must secure a license through local fishing clubs. These same anglers who once killed taimen are now accompanied by a representative who makes sure the catch-and-release rules are followed. All the permit fees are distributed to local communities to support taimen conservation.

MRO has built shelters for staff in protected areas, helps with programs to enhance arts and culture, funds scholarships, and supports established eco-programs in local schools. MRO and their Mongolian guides also help sponsor national fly-fishing contests. And with the University of Nevada, Reno they are engaged in important taimen research, including a genetic study where our group contributed quite a few samples!

I recently watched One Path: The Race to Save Mongolia’s Giant Salmonids, a Fly Fisherman documentary. In the film, Johnstad organized a wellness clinic where angler/volunteers provided 150 children with free dental and health screenings in a single day. It’s just one example of how Johnstad’s vision always benefits the local people, who are in effect the real guardians of the river.

And his vision is already paying off. MRO’s rigorous catch records show that every year these protected rivers deliver more and bigger taimen.

“It’s definitely a work in progress,” smiles Johnstad. “But we’re getting there.”

BY: April Vokey is a former B.C. fishing guide, longtime Fly Fisherman contributor, and host of the podcast Anchored. She has a home on the Bulkley River in British Columbia.

The National Statistics Office reported that at the end of February 2022, the time deposit in domestic currency amounted to MNT 14.3 trillion. It means that it has dropped by MNT 479.5 billion (3.2 percent) from the previous month but increased by MNT 67.9 trillion (0.5 percent) from the same period of the previous year.

In terms of the type of time deposit in domestic currency, 89.8 percent (MNT 12.8 trillion) was individuals’ deposits while 10.2 percent (MNT 1.5 trillion) was deposits of enterprises.

The time deposits in foreign currency amounted to MNT 4.2 trillion, increased by MNT 134.2 billion (3.3 percent) from the previous month and decreased by MNT 273.4 billion (6.2 percent) from the same period of the previous year.

Waste is not only harmful for the environment and human health but it also creates an economic loss. In Mongolia, we do not have a recycling system in place, therefore, almost all waste is collected and dumped at unofficial and uncontrolled landfills, after which it is burned.

“Аbout 300 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced every year. That’s nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population. This is why the EU-funded project is helping to reduce the harmful effects of plastics and focusing on establishing an effective waste management system in Mongolia" says H.E. Ms. Axelle Nicaise, the Ambassador of the European Union to Mongolia during the high-level mission meeting in Bulgan province.

A mission team consisting of H.E. Ms. Axelle Nicaise, the Ambassador of the European Union to Mongolia, H.E. Mr. Jan Vytopil, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Mongolia and H.E. Mr. Krzysztof Bojko, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Mongolia is traveling to Bulgan province. The purpose of the mission is to visit the sites of the project “Sustainable Plastic Recycling in Mongolia” (SPRIM) in Khishig-Undur soum, Bulgan province and to see the interventions of the project.

On 14 March, the mission team met with Bulgan governor Mr. Ariun-Erdene B. and the representatives of government agencies and closely discussed priority areas of the respective organizations and potential future cooperation. Ambassador Nicaise insisted on the full support of local authorities for the proper implementation of the SPRIM project.

“Local authorities' active participation and ownership is crucial for this project. We expect that Bulgan province will become a model province to have an efficient waste management system after the implementation of the project. As a result, other provinces can duplicate good practices from the Bulgan province”, says H.E. Ms. Axelle Nicaise, the Ambassador of the European Union to Mongolia.

In addition, local authorities have expressed their full support for the SPRIM project implementation, as well as potential cooperation areas between Bulgan aimag, Khishig-Undur soum and mission participants.

About project: The SPRIM project aims to contribute to economic prosperity and poverty reduction and support the development of a green economy and the transition towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient and circular economy in Mongolia. It is implemented by the Caritas Czech Republic in Mongolia along with four project partners: Environment and Security Center of Mongolia, EcoSoum, Mongolian Sustainable Development Bridge, and T.G. Masaryk Water Research Institute.

Qin Gang, the Chinese ambassador to the US, has said Beijing will work to achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine, rather than sending arms to any side in the conflict. Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, advancing on Kiev and other cities.

Appearing on CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday, Qin said China will not send weapons or ammunition to Russia or Ukraine. “We will do everything to de-escalate the crisis,” he added.

Beijing has refused to condemn Moscow for its military campaign in Ukraine and, unlike many Western countries and some of their allies, did not impose any sanctions on Russia. Beijing’s defiant stance prompted the White House to warn of “consequences” should it help Moscow to bypass sanctions in any way.

Qin noted that China continues to maintain “normal” economic relations with Russia in all spheres, including the economy. Condemning Moscow will not help to achieve peace, he argued.

“On the one hand, China upholds the UN purposes and principles, including the respect for the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine,” the diplomat said. “On the other hand, we do see that there is a complexity in the history of the Ukraine issue.”

“China has good relations with Russia, has good relations with Ukraine, and China keeps close communications with the United States and with Europe. They enable China to reach out to all parties concerned in a crisis,” Qin said, adding that Beijing’s “unique role” can help to resolve the crisis.

Moscow attacked its neighbor in late February, following a seven-year standoff over Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics in Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols had been designed to regularize the status of those regions within the Ukrainian state.

Russia has now demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.

March 21 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia registered 35 new locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the lowest daily number for two days in a row since March 6, 2021, raising its total caseload to 468,654, the country's health ministry said on Monday.

Meanwhile, no new deaths were reported in the past day, it said.

Mongolians have basically returned to normal daily life due to high vaccination coverage and declining daily infections. Notably, the Asian country has resumed in-person classes for all levels of educational institutions and fully opened its borders to foreign tourists, who will not be required to have a PCR test or to quarantine.

So far, 66.8 percent of the country's total population of 3.4 million has received two COVID-19 vaccine doses, 1,030,054 people have received a third dose, and 111,944 have received a fourth dose voluntarily.