In 2024, a total of 7.1792 million travelers crossed the border of Mongolia, representing an increase of 1.8443 million, or 34.6%, compared to the previous year.

Among the 3.5766 million travelers who entered Mongolia in 2024, 34.0% used the Zamiin-Uud border port, 25.9% arrived through Chinggis Khaan International Airport, 9.6% entered via Altanbulag, 8.9% via Gashuunsukhait, 5.2% through Shiveekhuren, and 16.4% via other checkpoints. Of the total inbound travelers, 2.7228 million (76.1%) were Mongolian nationals, while 853.8 thousand (23.9%) were foreign nationals. Compared to the previous year, the number of Mongolian citizens entering the country increased by 714.0 thousand (35.5%), while the number of foreign visitors grew by 209.8 thousand (32.6%).

Among the foreign visitors, 516.6 thousand (60.5%) were male, and 337.2 thousand (39.5%) were female.

In terms of regional distribution, 63.3% of the foreign visitors were from East Asia and the Pacific region, 32.1% from Europe, 2.5% from the Americas, 1.2% from the Middle East, 0.7% from South Asia, and 0.2% from Africa. By nationality, 29.6% of the foreign visitors were from China, 26.2% from Russia, 22.6% from South Korea, 3.1% from Japan, 2.9% from Kazakhstan, 2.1% from the United States, and 13.5% from other countries.

During its regular session on January 29, 2025, the Cabinet of Mongolia approved the action plan of the “Atar-4” Sustainable Agriculture Development Campaign aiming at introducing advanced technology and crops suitable for the soil and climate of Mongolia and supporting industrial agriculture.

President of the Bank of Mongolia Lkhagvasuren Byadran was instructed to fund soft loans to agricultural enterprises that operate in agriculture, livestock, and food production sectors through commercial banks in line with relevant laws and regulations.

As part of the “Atar-4” Sustainable Agriculture Development Campaign, 60 measures will be implemented in line with five goals including “Adapting to Climate Change, Environmentally-Friendly Agriculture,” “Regional Development,” “Industry and Value Chains,” “Innovation and Technology,” and “Risk Management System and Foreign Trade.”

The Mongolian government has decided to resume spring horse racing, granting provincial and local authorities full autonomy over organizing the traditional sport.

"The government has decided to transfer all rights to organize sports and cultural activities to provincial and local authorities," Deputy Prime Minister Sainbuyan Amarsaikhan said at a press conference following Wednesday's regular cabinet meeting.

Under the new regulation, provincial and local administrations will be able to arrange spring horse races starting March 1 independently.

To enhance safety, child jockeys must be at least 12 years old and wear protective helmets and clothing.

In 2018, the government banned horse racing from Nov. 1 to May 1 due to concerns over child jockeys' health and safety, as well as the heightened risks associated with racing in harsh winter and spring conditions.

apan’s largest exhibition organizer RX Japan is launching the registration of Mongolian exhibitors for the “20th LIFESTYLE WEEK TRADE FAIR” in Tokyo, Japan July 02-04.2025.

LIFESTYLE Week comprises 9 specialized shows featuring gifts, interior goods, stationery, fashion items, beauty & healthcare products, etc High-design, functional, and storied products are showcased, drawing tens of thousands of buyers annually.

There are more than 45.000 visitors and major retailers include department stores, lifestyle shops, GMS importers/distributors and professional users account for about 60%.

Please contact MBD Mongolian Business Database an official agent of RX Japan for more information in details at contact@mongolianbusinessdatabase.com or 976 99066062.

The registration will close March 10.2025.

According to a study by the Employment Policy Research Department of the Training, Assessment, and Research Institute of Labor and Social Protection of Mongolia, workforce demand for the domestic labor market in 2025 will reach 83.7 thousand.

The labor market of the country is greatly affected by the season. Two out of every three job openings in a year tend to be created in the first half of the year and this trend is expected to continue in 2025, with 79.2 percent of the total labor force demand falling in the first half of the year. In the last 10 years, the national labor demand has fluctuated between 52 thousand and 95 thousand, with an average of 76.2 thousand, while in 2025 this figure will reach 83.7 thousand.

The labor market demand research is vital in determining the short-term labor demand of the Mongolian labor market, providing policymakers and decision-makers, as well as researchers and data users with information that can be used in the medium-term and long-term estimates of labor demand, according to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Protection.

A series of discussions under the theme "Current State of the Tax System of Mongolia and Required Changes" are being jointly organized by the Standing Committee on Budget of the State Great Khural (Parliament) of Mongolia and the Working Group in charge of reviewing the implementation of tax laws, issuing conclusions on the implementation, and if necessary, developing relevant draft laws.

The first discussion was held on January 28, 2025, on the topic of the “Implementation of the Law on Corporate Income Tax” at the State Palace of Mongolia. Head of the Working Group, Member of Parliament Gankhuyag Khassuuri noted, “The revised Law on Tax took effect in 2020. Although, for example, the revised Corporate Income Tax Law has established a simplified tax system, taxpayers complain that some regulations are still inconvenient, burdensome, and ineffective."

At the discussion, Deputy Head of the General Tax Department Myagmarjav Regzen and Specialist of the Tax Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance B. Enkhjin made presentations on the topic of “Implementation of the Law on Corporate Income Tax, Current Situation, and Future Measures.” In his presentation, Deputy Head of the General Tax Department Myagmarjav noted that the tax package law has been implemented since 1992 and that the tax rate and amount have changed substantially with each amendment to the law, depending on the level of sales revenue and taxable income. "The average corporate income tax is 21.2 percent internationally. In Mongolia, according to the tax laws in effect today, with the simplified tax formula, in other words, businesses with sales revenue of up to MNT 50 million are paying 1 percent tax on their sales revenue without deduction and exemptions. However, companies with sales revenue of MNT 3-6 billion are taxed at a rate of 10 percent, while companies with revenue over MNT 6 billion pay 25 percent tax" noted Mr. Myagmarjav.

"As of 2023, the average tax burden for businesses is 10.1 percent, according to a survey covering more than 158 thousand enterprises. In other words, enterprises are paying this percentage of their income in taxes," highlighted Specialist at the Tax Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance B. Enkhjin. She further noted that micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises have a tax burden of 5-6 percent, and large enterprises have a tax burden of 12.8 percent. By sector, mining has a tax burden of 19.2 percent, trade or 36.4 percent of all enterprises has a tax burden of 7.3 percent, food and agriculture has a tax burden of 4.3 percent, construction has a tax burden of 5.3 percent, and electricity has a tax burden of 4.3 percent.

The participants of the discussion suggested that when implementing tax reform, it is necessary to encourage the operation of enterprises, pay attention to human resource issues, and implement policies aimed at ensuring the principle of equal and fair taxation. They also put proposals that the legal environment of the insurance sector should be renewed since tax legislation has regulations related to the insurance sector, pay attention to the conditions under the current law that small taxpayers could hide their income, find optimal solutions to expand taxpayers, and flexible tax policies and regulations are implemented for national producers. The discussions are temporarily adjourned.

It might have seemed an unlikely statement for a speaker at a World Economic Forum (WEF) panel discussing the development of artificial intelligence, but Bolor-Erdene Battsengel opened her contribution by talking about her livestock. “I come from a herder community, I still own 300 sheep,” the 32-year-old former Mongolian government official said on Monday at the annual WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

It was a fitting introduction to explain to the audience why she’s so passionate about her work on digital inclusion in Mongolia, a democratic country sandwiched between Russia and China, where about 30% of the 3.5 million inhabitants are nomadic herders.

Battsengel is the founder of AI Academy Asia, which aims to train 500 teachers to provide AI education to rural communities in Mongolia, and will hold its official launch event on January 27. “If we can give people access to equal education … it can create enormous impact,” she told CNN.

For decades, experts have warned of a growing digital divide between people with access to computers and the Internet, and those without. Globally, 2.2 billion children and young people don’t have access to the Internet at home. In Mongolia, about 84% of the population uses the Internet.

Almost 40% of jobs around the world could be affected by AI, according to the chief of International Monetary Fund, who also warned in a blog post last year that “AI will likely worsen overall inequality.”

Some observers are cautioning that the benefits could be skewed in favor of countries with the financial might to plow into research and development, infrastructure like computing resources, and English-speaking nations.

Battsengel worries about the impact that imbalance will have in Mongolia, where there are other social disparities.

“Schools in the countryside, they do not have computer science teachers,” she says. “We have education inequality, we have income inequality, we have gender inequality … if you add digital inequality, it will create the gap so much bigger and I think that’s so unfair to children growing up in these communities around the world.”

Equality in AI

Battsengel, who is a member of the WEF Forum of Young Global Leaders, told CNN that she has experienced firsthand the power of education. Born in a rural Mongolian community, she moved with her family to the country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, at the age of 10.

She faced bullying for her rural roots, so she threw herself into her studies and skipped three grades, finishing high school at the age of 14. At 29, she became the first Vice Minister of Digital Development – and the youngest member of Mongolia’s government.

In that role, she spearheaded the “E-Mongolia” initiative to digitize services so people in remote areas could do things like renew their passports and file their taxes online, instead of traveling long distances to government offices.

In 2021, Battsengel founded Girls Code, a non-profit that provides coding bootcamps and mentoring to girls aged between 16 and 18 from nomadic and disadvantaged communities in Mongolia.

Girls Code has produced 120 graduates, some of whom have gone on to study at Harvard, MIT and Cambridge, created apps, and founded startups, according to Battsengel.

With AI Academy Asia, she hopes to scale up that work, extending its reach to more people, including boys, so they can leverage AI in their work and studies.

That could be vital as the technology upends the way people across the world work and live. Trends such as technological change and demographic shifts are expected to generate 78 million new jobs by 2030, with some of the fastest growth in technology, data, and AI, according to the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs report 2025.

But making sure that the benefits of AI are shared equally requires tailoring national AI strategies to local challenges, according to “Blueprint for Intelligent Economies,” a report launched by WEF at Davos, in collaboration with KPMG.

AI Academy Asia has developed curriculums to teach herders practical skills, says Battsengel. Last winter, a weather phenomenon called “dzud” that causes extreme winter conditions, killed millions of cattle, sheep, yaks, horses and goats in Mongolia – threatening the livelihoods of its herders.

By learning how to leverage AI to predict weather and manage the health of their livestock, herders might be better able to withstand future dzuds, she says.

Battsengel adds: “I really hope that they use the knowledge (of AI), even in the countryside, to really improve their quality of life.”

The “Managing Peatlands of Mongolia, Improving the Adaptivity of Pasture Ecosystems and Nomadic Livelihoods” project will be implemented in the peatland areas of Khuvsgul, Arkhangai, Bulgan, and Khentii aimags.

Through this project, 1,000 hectares of peatlands will be restored and 1,000 hectares of land will be improved using sustainable management practices. This is expected to increase carbon absorption while also preventing the emission of 594,000 tons of carbon dioxide over the next 20 years. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism reported that at least 14,000 people will directly benefit from the outcomes of the project.

The Climate Change Research and Cooperation Center of Mongolia, which is overseeing the project, aims at enhancing peatland ecosystem services in Mongolia. In particular, it seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from degraded peatlands, curb land degradation, strengthen the capacity of the local reindeer herders, improve ecosystem services, and bolster the population’s ability to adapt to climate change.

Peatlands in Mongolia are critically important ecosystems for carbon absorption, water purification, and biodiversity conservation. Unfortunately, due to climate change, the improper use of natural resources, and overgrazing, these wetlands have deteriorated, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions and reduced ecosystem services.

The 2025 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting took place in Davos, Switzerland from January 20-25. To Mongolia, this year’s theme – “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age” – aligns with its digitalization, technological, and investment goals. On the sidelines of Davos, Mongolia signed multiple Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) and agreements to expand and diversify Ulaanbaatar’s economic and business partnerships particularly in the fields of digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI), and renewable energy.

Today in many industries, the development and utilization of AI is almost unavoidable. As leading tech industries in both developed and developing countries pour millions in investment into the global AI race, private and public entities have grown exponentially in this specific space and are seeking major investments. What could this mean to developing countries like Mongolia is that the development and the assimilation of AI is coming more quickly than policymakers can formulate policies to support, manage, and mitigate these newer innovations.

At Davos, Mongolia showed the world that it is not getting left behind. According to the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation, and Communications, “Mongolia will officially announce its ‘National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence’ to the world in February.”

From government services and businesses, Mongolia’s tech-savvy young generation demands constant innovation, keeping pace with the rapidly changing tech world, and digitalization.

According to Oxford Insight’s 2024 Government AI Readiness Index, Mongolia ranked 98th out of 188 countries – advancing 11 positions in comparison to the previous year. In the last five years, Mongolia has made tremendous efforts in technological advancement in AI, digitalization, and even launching its own satellite station with global partners.

The emergence of the AI sector itself has become an important element in Mongolia’s economic and third-neighbor partnerships. As Ulaanbaatar promotes and expands AI and space related partnerships, Mongolia is seeking investments and reliable partnerships to develop its critical minerals and become a player in the global supply chain for these industries.

While developing and exporting critical minerals will still keep Mongolia’s economy dependent on the mining sector, learning to maximize use of AI and creating global partnerships that can invest in human capital are more important. Bolor-Erdene Battsengel, the former vice minister of digital development who recently founded the AI Academy Asia, highlighted the need to educate and train the younger generation in AI. Bolor-Erdene told CNN that her academy “aims to train 500 teachers to provide AI education to rural communities in Mongolia.”

In addition to expanding partnerships in AI, on the sidelines of Davos, Mongolia signed an MOU with Envision Energy, a global renewable energy already contracted to operate in Ulaanbaatar. In November 2024, Envision Energy was contracted to build Ulaanbaatar’s first battery storage station, using domestic capital. An expanded MOU will help accelerate Mongolia’s energy transition, decarbonization, and green workforce development.

At Davos, Mongolia was represented by Dorjkhand Togmid, the deputy prime minister, who is also the chairman of the National Committee on Energy Reforms. Dorjkhand told reporters attending Davos that Mongolia is committed to the energy transition and is willing to partner with global technology leaders in pursuing climate investment projects. Highlighting Mongolia’s partnership with Envision, he said, “Envision’s track record and solutions will enable us to maximize the potential of Mongolia’s renewable resources and build a sustainable energy infrastructure that benefits the region.”

Also at Davos, Mongolia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed a collaboration agreement that see them cooperate on solar, wind, and energy storage projects. Key initiatives under the deal include technical support, feasibility studies, and comprehensive environmental assessments for hydroelectric powerplants. The goal is to construct and commencement of up to 300 megawatt (MW) of solar power plants and 200 MW of wind power plants with energy storage, including transmission infrastructure, by 2028. In 2024, the EBRD provided 264 million euros for projects in Mongolia.

The Mongolian government’s goal to achieve “sustainable economic growth, energy security, and development of green industries” is a long-term ambition, but leaders are starting now with the assistance of Mongolia’s global partners, who can provide both funding and know-how.

At the 2025 World Economic Forum, Mongolia’s delegation pursued opportunities to attract investment in all things AI, including education, training, and the development of AI in businesses and government services. But it remains a challenge to attract and allocate investments toward Mongolia’s digital sector and reduce the digital divide. The successful implementation of these newer initiatives and AI-related engagements will no doubt diversify Mongolia’s mining-dependent economy and will have immense impact on its human capital.

BY Bolor Lkhaajav

Bolor Lkhaajav is a researcher specializing in Mongolia, China, Russia, Japan, East Asia, and the Americas. She holds an M.A. in Asia-Pacific Studies from the University of San Francisco.

Mongolia’s rangelands occupy 70% of the country's territory and are vital for climate mitigation through carbon storage. Research highlights the importance of sustainable grazing practices and collective herder management to restore degraded rangelands and maintain their ecological functions.

Spanning more than 110 million hectares across 70% of Mongolia’s land territory, and renowned as one of the last remaining natural steppe ecosystems, Mongolian rangelands have a crucial role to play in the country’s climate mitigation efforts.

If well managed, rangelands can serve as more stable carbon stores than forests, as they are more resilient to environmental stresses such as drought and fire.

Effective management practices can boost soil carbon stocks by increasing organic matter input or reducing carbon losses. Through photosynthesis, plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. As grasses grow, their dry and dead leaves and stems fall to the ground and decompose.

Roots, which often have more biomass below ground than above, also grow, and some die and decompose each year. Soil microorganisms aid in decomposing organic matter, and carbon from these sources is incorporated into soil carbon stocks.

Current carbon estimates for rangelands often focus on the topsoil, but a substantial amount of grassland soil carbon is found in deeper subsoil layers.

When rangelands degrade, soil carbon is released into the atmosphere. Therefore, scientists advise that climate mitigation efforts should focus on protecting this irreplaceable soil carbon as its restoration is difficult once lost.

In rangeland management science, this is known as a tipping point where changes in vegetation and soil become impossible to reverse.

Are Mongolian rangelands close to a tipping point? In the past thirty years, the livestock population in Mongolia has tripled, surpassing the rangelands’ carrying capacity by three times. This has resulted in degradation of 65% of rangelands.

However, due to traditional rotational grazing practices, most of the degraded rangelands have retained their ability to recover. Research findings confirm that 85% of degraded rangelands maintain their natural regeneration capacity if the level of degradation has not passed the threshold of no recovery.

Managed carefully in accordance with the seasonal carrying capacity, rangelands can recover and maintain their carbon sequestration and storage capacity for the benefit of the people, the country, and the world’s climate.

Mongolia's first rangeland health report in May 2015 found 65% of rangelands were degraded, but 94% could still recover. By 2018, a second report showed the degraded rangelands had decreased to 57%. According to the third report released in 2022, the percentage of heavily degraded rangelands has declined from 10.2% to 6.6%.

Researchers attributed this positive trend to a high capacity for recovery of Mongolian rangelands, reduced grazing pressure, and herders’ commitment to improving rotational grazing practices.

This suggests the key to maintaining rangeland recovery capacity is resting rangelands during critical vegetation growth periods and adjusting livestock numbers based on seasonal productivity.

Mongolia’s agencies monitor rangelands at thousands of sites nationwide. Collaborating with international researchers, Mongolian scientists have developed tools like Ecological Site Descriptions and State and Transition Models to assess rangeland health. They’ve identified 22 ecological groups based on vegetation, soil, productivity, landscape, and climate, which guide site-specific grazing and stocking plans.

In cooperation with herder households, the Mongolian National Federation of Pasture User Groups has carried out several pilot projects testing the length of time different rangelands take to reach new recovery classes. Even rangelands that reached a heavy level of degradation are still able to recover if there is more than 10 years of frugal management.

The agriculture sector produces 53% of all greenhouse gas emissions, with land use and land management accounting for 34%, according to the latest Biannual Transparency Report. As the dominant ecosystem in Mongolia, rangelands have a huge role to play in the nation’s emission reduction targets.

Research trials conducted to rehabilitate heavily degraded rangelands with a range of modern technologies revealed that this is both difficult and costly. The best method is to revitalize traditional rotational grazing and resting practices. This has to be regulated through the collective control of herder households and supported by a legal framework.

These findings have led to the formation of pasture user groups among herder households that share customary access to the same seasonal rangelands. Group members define the boundaries of their seasonal rotational grazing areas and regulate their use.

These plans form the basis for establishing rangeland use agreements between the groups and local government, which are the means to enforce and monitor rotational grazing and rangeland-resting plans.

When rangelands show signs of degradation, herder households move to the next rangeland to let it regenerate. These are known among herders as the “4 Golden Rules”, followed to manage their grazing areas sustainably: do not exceed the carrying capacity of rangelands; do not deplete the regeneration capacity of plants; give plants time to recover; and practice pre-planned and regulated rotational grazing.

This nature-based solution offers ample opportunities to restore rangelands. Managed carefully in accordance with the seasonal carrying capacity, rangelands can recover and maintain their carbon sequestration and storage capacity for the benefit of the people, the country, and the world’s climate.

Across the globe, the rangeland ecosystem services are often undervalued, and much larger efforts are required to create awareness. Not only is it a source of livestock feed but also crucial in climate mitigation and adaptation efforts and provision of generic ecosystem services such as absorbing excess rainfall and releasing water gradually during dry periods, stabilizing soil quality to prevent erosion and desertification.

By integrating these actions into nationally determined contributions, national adaptation plans, and long-term emission strategies, we can strengthen community and ecosystem resilience and build a future ready to face a changing climate.