Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia is planning to offer a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine to its citizens on a voluntary basis, Mongolian Health Minister Sereejav Enkhbold said on Wednesday.

"We are now working on a decision to administer the fourth dose," as the number of daily infections in the country is increasing again due to New Year celebrations, Enkhbold said during a press conference.

Mongolia recorded 585 new infections of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, the highest record since Dec. 1, 2021, bringing the national tally to 392,189, according to the health ministry.

The disease has so far claimed 1,992 lives in the country after three more patients died in the past day.

So far, 66.5 percent of Mongolia's population of 3.4 million have received two COVID-19 vaccine doses, while 922,681 people aged over 18 have received a booster.

Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia exported 15.9 million tons of coal in 2021, down 44.3 percent from the previous year, the country's Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry reported on Wednesday.

The sharp drop is directly related to restrictions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry said in a statement.

Coal is Mongolia's main export commodity.

The country has planned to export at least 36 million tons of coal in 2022, according to authorities.

At its regular meeting on January 5, the Cabinet discussed the parliamentary resolution on the Khushig Valley free economic zone and decided to submit it to the parliament.

The establishment of the free economic zone will pave the way for solving social and economic issues in the development of Khushig Valley.

The development of sustainable tourism, resorts, creative and cultural industries, malls, environmentally friendly industrial zone, and an international transport and logistics center in the valley will help the country have a multi-pillar economy not dependent on mining.

150 thousand citizens will move to the satellite city to be created in Khushig Valley, which is expected to reduce Ulaanbaatar’s air and environmental pollution by 10 percent and traffic congestion by around 20 percent.

Travel industry groups have called for all remaining Covid restrictions on travellers to be removed in the latest government review.

With data last week suggesting one in 25 people in the UK currently had the virus, airlines say passenger testing is having no real impact.

The government said it continued to "keep all measures under review".

The travel industry said compulsory testing for UK arrivals and departures had held back the sector's recovery.

The prime minister will meet his cabinet later and urge them to back his decision not to impose any further Covid restrictions in England.

On Tuesday, Boris Johnson said he hoped the country could "ride out" the current wave, although he acknowledged parts of the NHS would feel temporarily overwhelmed.

What are the current travel rules?

Currently, all travellers to the UK aged 12 and over have to show proof of a negative test, which can be a PCR or a lateral flow test, and must be taken up to two days before departure for the UK.

They then have to take another test - which this time must be a PCR test - within the first two days after their arrival in the UK.

But at the time that rule was brought in a month ago, the number of new cases reported in the UK each day was running between 40,000 and 50,000 - and was only rising relatively slowly because it was almost entirely made up of the Delta variant of Covid.

But now, the UK has announced more than 200,000 new cases in a day for the first time in the entire pandemic and Omicron is the dominant variant - so airlines can argue that there is no longer any hope of relying on testing to "keep out Omicron".

The only other countries in the world that have topped 200,000 positive tests in a single day this week have been the US and France.

The trade body Airlines UK argued that continuing the current measures would be financially disastrous for the industry. It added that the current limits have depressed demand and dented consumer confidence.

Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has sent the government research it commissioned, which it claims shows that pre-departure testing has had little or no impact on the spread of Omicron.

It said that passenger numbers at MAG's airports fell by more than 30% after Omicron measures were introduced.

Last month, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that "very soon", if Omicron became the dominant variant, there would be "less need to have any kind of travel restrictions at all".

As well as travel restrictions, ministers must also consider future plans for domestic testing.

The system has come under pressure in recent weeks as cases have surged, with appointment slots and home test kits periodically being temporarily unavailable.

And on Tuesday, Mr Johnson announced plans for 100,000 critical workers to take daily tests.

The Daily Telegraph has reported that the government is planning to change testing rules so that people who test positive on lateral flow devices do not need to take a confirmatory PCR test.

The government did not comment but pointed to the guidance from the UK Health Security Agency which maintains that people should take a follow-up PCR test if they receive a positive lateral flow result.

"We continue to review PCR availability and continue to make more PCR booking slots available every day," the agency said.

Travellers must pay for private tests rather than using free NHS tests.

Graph showing Covid cases since March 2020

MAG chief executive Charlie Cornish and Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade said the government should press ahead with the "immediate removal" of travel testing requirements which come at "huge cost" to the industry.

"It is therefore vital they do not remain in place a day longer than is necessary," they wrote in a statement.

A government spokesperson said that they keep all measures "under review" and added that the temporary testing requirements were introduced to "prevent additional Omicron cases from entering the UK, stopping people from passing it on to others if they are infected".

The Times has reported that the requirement for people to take a pre-departure test before they arrive in England is likely to be dropped by the government in the update later. But it said the requirement that people take a PCR test within two days of arriving in England is set to remain.

Separately, European airline and tour operator stocks rose on Tuesday amid a rise in investor confidence in the sector.

Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter told Reuters: "With so many people in the short-term being forced to isolate at home, it's likely many people will be spending the next few weeks browsing travel blogs for inspiration, given there is so much desperation for a holiday."

A recent report by aviation analytics firm Cirium found that the Covid pandemic triggered a 71% drop in international flights in and out of the UK in 2021.

Mongolian men’s U23 team has come first in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA)’s 3x3 Federation Ranking, following an update on January 3, 2022.

The Mongolian team is at the top of the ranking with 1,212,317 points, followed by the Russian team with 1,147,600 points and the Lithuanian team with 1,070,712 points.

KARACHI: Uzbekistan and Mongolia are on the radar of the Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) for traininig of its top fighters ahead of the Commonwealth Games slated to be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8 this year.

“Foreign training is absolutely necessary. We are considering sending our top fighters to either Uzbekistan, to train in the IJF academy, or Mongolia,” PJF vice-president and media director Masood Ahmed told ‘The News’ in an interview on Tuesday.

“Our fighters need to train with the best lot and we will be able to get some good sparring partners in these countries. It all depends on the state support and we will definitely request the government to back us before the Commonwealth Games where we have solid medal chances,” Masood said.

In the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Japan-based judoka Shah Hussain won silver medal. He was the only judoka from Pakistan who featured in those Games.

Judo was not part of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Masood said that besides Shah they had a few fighters who could do wonders in Birmingham.

“This time we want to send at least four male and two female fighters to Birmingham,” Masood said.

“Besides Shah, we have Qaiser Afridi, who recently won bronze in the Asia-Oceania Junior Championship in Beirut, Hamid Ali and Haseeb from HEC who played outstandingly in the recently held national event in Peshawar,” he said.

Masood also urged the government to help the PJF in holding camp for the Commonwealth Games as soon as possible. “We need a camp at the earliest and I hope the state will back us,” he said.

The PJF plans to keep 16 male and 12 female judokas in the camp.

To a query, Masood said that the federation had interacted with a Russian coach but he did not promise his availability.

“We will look at this matter as a foreign coach is important. There are a handful of major events ahead for us and we will definitely need a good coach,” said Masood, also a former PJF secretary.

The big issue which PJF is facing is Shah Hussain’s weight category. Shah, the two-time Olympian, has played during his entire career in the -100 kilogramme in which he also took part in the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Games. But now he wants to change his weight and come down to 90kg. He is currently 120 kg and he will have to reduce his weight by 30kg.

Masood said that the PJF could only give him advice on his new decision. “We have told him if he comes down to the 90kg weight category then it will be difficult for him to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics as he will have to start from zero there. But he has made up his mind. He is also determined to reduce his weight. Let’s see how it goes,” he said.

His father Hussain Shah told ‘The News’ from Japan on Tuesday that it would not be easy for Shah Hussain to reduce his weight to 90kg.

“Age also counts and I don’t think he will be able to come down to 90kg. I will talk to him and will advise which weight will be good for him. I think he needs to stick to -100kg in which he has done so well so far and can also easily qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics,” said Hussain Shah, the only Pakistani boxer to have won bronze at Olympics — in 1988 in Seoul.

Shah Hussain was part of the national event which concluded in Peshawar on Monday where he won golds in both the open and -100kg weight categories. He was seen in the video, dislodging his opponents with an enviable ease.

The revised Law on Labor comes in force from the beginning of this year. One of the amendments to the law is the creation of the legal condition to resolve labor disputes quickly.

According to the law, every entity and organization that employ 20 or more people, regardless of their form of ownership should establish a permanent commission to resolve labor disputes. Entities with less than 15 employees can apply to the Soum and District Labour Rights Dispute Settlement Committee. The Commission should resolve any labor dispute within 10 days.

Therefore, labor disputes are expected to be resolved quickly and at low cost. Resolving labor disputes at the primary level is found to be more effective, noted Sh,Maya, senior specialist at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.

With an aim to address disputes and issues related to labor relation within social partnership, a new chapter on social partnership in labor relations was added to the Labor Law.

The Ministry of Health reported that 585 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the past 24 hours. Specifically, 385 cases were reported in Ulaanbaatar city, with 196 cases in rural aimags and four imported cases.

It was also reported that three COVID-19 related death has been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 1,992. Currently, 2,474 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 whilst 4,046 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

As of today, January 4, the coverage of 1st dose is 69.7 percent (2,266,323) and 2nd dose – 66.5 percent (2,164,579) of the total population. Moreover, 922,681 people (28.4 percent) have received 3rd dose or a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccines nationwide.

The Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) was recently highlighted as the top performing stock market of 2021 by Bloomberg. As of December 5, the MSE Top 20 index grew by 104 percent which served as the core factor for Mongolia’s stock exchange to be considered as one of the leading markets.

On top of this, the domestic stock market was added to the Watch List for ‘Frontier Market’ status by the FTSE Russell Group of the U.K in September 2021. This will promote the Mongolian market internationally, and provide significant support in bringing professional investors to the market, highlighted Executive DIrector of MSE Kh.Altai.

Furthermore, works are being carried out to increase active participation in the market and accelerate its development. In 2021, securities worth a total of MNT 1.4 trillion were traded which set a new record. Nine new securities such as ‘Erdenes Tavantolgoi’, ‘Invescore’, ‘LendMN’, ‘Central Express CVS’, and ‘Mandal Future Growth Fund’ were also registered.

As of currently, the total market capitalization of MSE stands at MNT 5.8 trillion - 12 percent of the country’s GDP. Experts believe that the stock market will further expand once large-scale companies running operations in Mongolia begin to be more involved in the market by introducing their own products.

Following the new amendments made to the Banking Law of Mongolia, Bogd Bank became the first bank to issue its stocks.

In the current time of technological advancements, the cryptocurrency market is rapidly developing - and as such, exchange of cryptocurrencies and coins are becoming active in Mongolia. In order to regulate the legal environment, a law on virtual asset service providers will soon be ready along with corresponding rules and regulations. Thus, in 2022, the Mongolian Stock Exchange plans to conduct tests on the exchange of virtual assets.

In the new year, the growth of the domestic stock market is expected to continue as banks are currently preparing their IPO alongside IPOs by state-owned companies in the framework of the ‘New Revival Policy’ of the Government, and dual listing of companies that are currently listed in stock markets abroad.

According to the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, Mongolia has had the right to export flour to China.

"Ensuring relevant requirements of quarantine, risk assessment and inspections, 13 flour mills of Mongolia will export flour to China. Assessments and successful meetings with the Chinese side made in 2021 has opened up an opportunity for Mongolia to export surplus wheat to its southern neighbor. In Mongolia, there are more than 50 flour manufacturers with an annual wheat processing capacity of 943 thousand tons. The introduction of the first export of wheat flour to China during the pandemic will have a positive impact on the economy, boosting the two countries' foreign trade turnover, expanding the market for companies to become exporters and increasing incomes,” said Z. Mendsaikhan, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry.

In 2021, Mongolia harvested a total of 571.1 thousand tons of crops, which was the highest yield that has not been in the last 30 years. Mongolia’s annual wheat demand is about 310 thousand tons.