Manila: The southern region of Mongolia has potential for sustainable growth if investment for green development, renewable energy, and tourism are matched with large infrastructure projects in energy, transport, and extractive sectors, ADB and stakeholders in Mongolia discussed at an event today. They were attending a provincial-level regional conference organized by ADB with the Government of Mongolia to hold a dialogue on rural development challenges and on-site project experiences.

“Capturing operationally relevant knowledge is crucial for our efforts to strengthen sustainable partnership impact in Mongolia,” said ADB Country Director for Mongolia Pavit Ramachandran. “We hope these outreach events will provide an opportunity for our stakeholders to share innovative practices and lessons from project design and implementation so we can replicate successful practices in our future operations.”

The first in a series of four provincial-level regional conferences to be held under the 30th anniversary commemoration of the ADB–Mongolia partnership covered southern provinces—Umnugobi, Dornogobi, Dundgobi, and Gobisumber—and started with virtual site visits to highlighted projects to showcase their positive impact on the economic and social development of the province. Following video visits, high-level representatives of project executing agencies, including the state secretaries of the Ministry of Construction and Urban Development, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, and the Ministry of Health, commended ADB’s long-standing cooperation, highlighting the timeliness of operations to increase the capacity of social and urban services in the region where the number of residents is steadily increasing.

The second part of the event focused on the region’s sustainable development and the need for ADB’s support. A panel discussion with government representatives highlighted key areas of ADB’s engagement in the region, including trade facilitation, logistics, connectivity, and job creation. Governors of the four provinces discussed development priorities, policies for ensuring socially and environmentally sustainable growth in the region, and ADB’s role in supporting rural development.

The ancient Gobi desert stretches across the southern region, which recently became the center of Mongolia’s mining boom. Large mineral deposits and new mining projects brought increased investment, jobs, and fiscal revenue to the region. The Russia–PRC transport and trade corridor runs through a part of the southern region, making Dornogobi province home to the country’s busiest border crossing point.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

Erdene Resource Development Corp. [ERD-TSX; ERDI-MSE] said Friday June 18 it has commenced drilling on the Ulaan target located 350 metres west of the company’s Bayan-Khundii gold deposit in Mongolia.

“We are excited to test the potential of the southern portion of the Ulaan license area following the acquisition of 100% of the property in late 2020,” said Erden President and CEO Peter Akerley.

Erdene shares advanced on the news, rising 2.8% or $0.01 to 37 cents. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 71 cents and 28.5 cents.

The Bayan Khundii mining license covers 2,309 hectares and includes the Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar deposits which are located 16 kilometres apart. Together these deposits comprise the Khundii Gold Project.

An independent feasibility study for the Bayan Khundii Gold project envisions a high-grade open pit mine, producing 63,500 ounces per year at an average grade of 3.71 g/t gold over seven years, using a carbon in pulp processing plant. Production is expected to begin in early 2022.

Erdene holds a 100% interest in the Ulaan license. The northern portion is situated along the western boundary of the Khundii license, while the southern area is approximately 350 metres west of the Bayan Khundi gold deposit, separated by the Khuren Tsav license held by the Mongolian government-owned gold company Erdenes Alt LLC.

Based on Erdene’s drilling near the western Khundii license boundary, satellite imagery, geophysical analysis and surface alteration, the hydrothermal system that hosts the Bayan Khundii gold deposit is expected to extend west, southwest of the Bayan Khundii deposit across the Khuren Tsav license and along the southern boundary of the Ulaan license.

Drilling results along the western boundary of the Khundii license intersected thick sequences of gold mineralization, locally beginning at surface, with the highest grades at 100 to 160 metres depth. Highlight intersections from drilling near the border include 7.0 metres of 18 g/t gold in BKD-220; 5.0 metres of 25 g/t gold in BKD-265, and 28 metres of 2.4 g/t gold in BKD-334. The latter is located to the north and outside the reported resource at Bayan Khundii.

Erdene said it has established a series of drill targets in the southern portion of the Ulaan license. It said initial drilling will be wide spaced, testing targets over an approximately 2.0-kilometre strike length to a maximum depth of 350 metres.

The target area is underlain by the same lithologic units associated with the Bayan Khundii gold deposit.

The Bayan Khundii gold resource includes 521,000 ounces of 3.16 g/t gold in the measured and indicated category and 103,000 ounces of inferred resources at 3.68 g/t gold. Within the measured and indicated resource is a proven and probable open pit reserve of 409,000 ounces at 3.7 g/t gold.

June 20 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported 2,400 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours after 10,425 tests had been conducted across the country, raising the national caseload to 93,551, the health ministry said on Sunday.

Eleven more fatalities were reported in the past day, bringing the national death toll to 450, the ministry said in a statement, adding that 641 more patients have recovered, taking the total number of recoveries to 63,113.

Among the remaining patients being treated at hospitals, 219 are in critical condition, it said.

The Asian country launched a national vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in late February, with the aim of covering at least 60 percent of its population of 3.3 million.

A total of 1,907,878 Mongolians have so far received their first dose of vaccine with 1,691,679 people having been fully vaccinated, according to the ministry.

DALANZADGAD, UMNUGOVI PROVINCE, MONGOLIA — Sunlight filters through the window in the corner of Tsetsegdelger Tseveen’s house, where she has set up her studio. Various handicrafts are scattered across her table, including belts and daalin, or snuff bottle pouches, each decorated in elaborate colors, patterns and figures, such as dragons, eagles, lions and tigers.

At 50 years old, Tsetsegdelger has practiced traditional Mongolian embroidery for three decades. In 2017, the Household Services Development Research Association, a prominent nongovernmental organization that works with the garment industry, awarded her the title of master embroiderer, making her the first person in the country to receive this honor.

Producing such intricate work by hand with a needle and thread is laborious and time-consuming. But Tsetsegdelger’s efforts have helped revive the practice of traditional embroidery, an important part of Mongolia’s cultural heritage that for many years was in danger of dying out. In addition to producing and selling her own work, Tsetsegdelger has also taught traditional embroidery to more than 6,000 people in free workshops across the country since 2014.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced Mongolians to explore new ways to generate income and support their families. More and more people are making use of lessons like Tsetsegdelger’s to produce and sell traditional handicrafts — and save a dying art.

Sitting in her studio, between creating her own works and taking orders from customers over the phone, Tsetsegdelger also fields calls from Mongolians who want her advice on how to make a pattern or snuff bag. “Among my disciples, about 360 of them work solely on embroidery to sustain their livelihoods,” she says.

The revival of traditional Mongolian embroidery happened only recently. During the Great Repression, which began in 1922 and peaked between 1937 and 1939, Mongolian authorities backed by Joseph Stalin – the ruler of the Soviet Union, which held enormous influence over Mongolia’s socialist government – killed thousands of Mongolian intellectuals, monks and ordinary citizens who were deemed a threat to the Soviet Union.

The purges involved the looting and burning of invaluable works of Mongolian cultural heritage, some of which were taken to Russia and are now held at the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

By 1980, only a few people in Mongolia still knew the art of traditional embroidery.

In 2005, however, Mongolia joined the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. And in 2019, the Mongolian government launched the National Program to Protect the Intangible Cultural Heritage, creating an official registry of traditions and practices to be preserved and designating 102 “heritage bearers,” including traditional embroiderers, who have upheld these art forms.

There are no official figures on how many traditional embroiderers currently practice in Mongolia. But experts like Tsetsegdelger say they have seen interest take off during the pandemic, and there are now many active Facebook groups dedicated to the art form. The main reason that traditional embroidery survives today is not because of government support, but instead because of the efforts of embroiderers like Tsetsegdelger who have worked to sustain the practice.

Tsengelsaikhan Zadi, a top embroiderer who serves as one of Mongolia’s official heritage bearers, has worked to promote the art form since the 1990s and has organized several national embroidery competitions to raise awareness and encourage people to take it up. The lack of knowledge about traditional embroidery in the country continues to astound her.

“Embroidery is the most under-researched intangible cultural heritage of Mongolia,” Tsengelsaikhan says.

In 2019, Gantsetseg Ser-Od, another of the country’s foremost experts in traditional embroidery, began offering free embroidery classes at the Mongolian Art Center for Children’s Creativity in Ulaanbaatar, helping to pass the art form to the next generation. Since then, 170 children have participated in the classes, Gantsetseg says, and the art center shifted to online classes during the pandemic, allowing students to continue learning despite the country’s lockdown restrictions.

“In hindsight, the revival of our intangible cultural heritage on the verge of being forgotten has to do with people starting to take interest in it and consume items decorated with the traditional embroidery,” Gantsetseg says.

The pandemic has provided an added impetus for people to take up traditional embroidery. According to a survey conducted in December by the National Statistics Office of Mongolia, 27% of business owners who participated reported receiving no income during the government-imposed lockdown in November, and 30% of households reported losing at least 60% of their income.

Selling traditional handicrafts has allowed families to supplement their income during this difficult time. Margad Olzvoi, 14, recently took up traditional coin table weaving, a form of embroidery. After she began selling her handicrafts, she made about 200,000 Mongolian togrogs ($70) in two months.

“With the income I made from weaving, I buy mobile data for my online lessons,” she says.

Her brother, Shurenduu Olzvoi, 8, has started learning the art form as well. “I will collect my money to buy a cool phone when I finish the fifth grade,” he says with a smile.

Now, far from being forgotten, traditional embroidery seems more popular than ever. In her studio, Tsetsegdelger deftly threads her needle as she prepares to work.

“Orders,” she says, “are coming in constantly.”

Uranchimeg Tsoghuu is a Global Press Journal reporter based in Mongolia.

On June 17, a ceremony took place at the Sukhbaatar Square to honor the military troops of the Mongolian Armed Forces who served in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Contributions to the United Nations Standby Arrangements signed between Mongolia and the United Nations in 1999, and the Law on participation of Military and Police personnel in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and other international operations that was adopted in 2002, the Mongolian Armed Forces began to contribute to the peacekeeping operations carried out in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan starting from 2003.

The Mongolian Armed Forces sent military personnel to Afghanistan in:

• 2003-2011: deployed 265 officers of mobile training units to prepare artillery units in the framework of the operation, ‘Enduring Freedom’,

• 2009-2015: deployed 1,252 military personnel from the moto shooting battalion,

• 2010-2015: deployed 54 training personnel as well as 439 personnel for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF),

• since 2015: deployed 1,356 personnel for the NATO-led mission Resolute Support Mission (RSM).

A total of about 3,300 military personnel of the Mongolian Armed Forces have served in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, with the most recent team of personnel arriving back home on June 4, 2021.

President of Mongolia and Commander-in-Chief of the Mongolian Armed Forces Kh.Battulga attended the ceremony and gave remarks. He said, “For 30 years starting from 1991, Mongolia-U.S. relations and partnership in the defense sector greatly developed in certain areas through measures such as providing support for reforms in the defense sector of Mongolia, capacity building for peacekeeping operations carried out by the Mongolian Armed Forces, sharing practices, and jointly carrying out duties and serving in missions for regional stability.

Partnership between the two countries' military forces have served an important role in protecting the shared values of democracy, freedom, and human rights, deepening the friendly relations between the peoples of the two countries, strengthening military confidence in the region and internationally, and maintaining peace and stability.

Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Contributions to the United Nations Standby Arrangements in 1999, and the establishment of appropriate legal environment for deploying military personnel for peacekeeping operations in 2002, our military personnel began to serve in the operations from that year on with the deployment of military observers for UN peacekeeping.

As the President of Mongolia and Commander-in-Chief of the Mongolian Armed Forces, I must highlight that the skills, discipline, and organization of the Mongolian Armed Forces personnel have been acknowledged by government leaders, military specialists and personnel of other countries, alongside the contributions that have been made to peacekeeping operations.”

The ceremony was attended by Minister of Defense G.Saikhanbayar, Head of the Office of the President U.Shijir, Security and Defense Advisor to the President L.Bold, Foreign Policy Advisor to the President T.Tegshjargal, Chief of the General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces D.Ganzorig, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America Michael S. Klecheski.

The Industrial and Commerce Bank of China (ICBC) has enabled a feature allowing users to convert their digital yuan to cash at over 3,000 automated teller machine (ATM) locations in Beijing, Xinhua news agency reported.

ICBC thus has become the first bank in the country to launch such a feature. It made it possible for customers to switch with ease between digital and non-digital versions of government-issued currency, called renminbi in China.

According to Xinhua, the Agricultural Bank of China or AgBank, which is one of the nation’s “big-four” lenders, had installed a similar feature at over 10 ATMs in the capital city’s Wangfujing shopping area.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) plans to have its sovereign digital currency ready in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics. It said that the new currency, which doesn’t have an official name but is known by its internal shorthand DCEP – or Digital Currency Electronic Payment – will share some features with cryptocurrencies.

The digital yuan is projected to replace cash in circulation. It will be linked to the holder’s smartphone number, with transactions taking place through an app. Users will be able to transfer money between accounts by tapping their phones, much like having physical cash change hands. Pilot testing programs of the digital renminbi have been underway in major cities across the country. Authorities have been also handing out millions of yuan in free digital currency in public lotteries.

(CNN)China has administered more than 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses, an astonishing milestone that comes as the country rolls out an unrivaled inoculation drive.

A total of 1,010,489,000 doses have been given as of Saturday, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said in a statement.

Those doses are almost 40% of the 2.5 billion shots administered globally.

The NHC said 100 million doses were given in the five days up to and including Saturday, according to state media outlet Xinhua.

The 1 billion number is all the more remarkable given that China's rollout had a stuttering start.

China only reached its first million administered doses on March 27 -- two weeks behind the US. But the pace picked up significantly in May, with more than 500 million shots given over the past month, according to data from the NHC.

"It took China 25 days to climb from 100 million doses to 200 million doses, 16 days to increase from 200 million to 300 million, and six days from 800 million to 900 million," Xinhua reported.

China's about to administer its billionth coronavirus shot. Yes, you read that right

China's about to administer its billionth coronavirus shot. Yes, you read that right

Beijing has successfully contained the virus but several recent local outbreaks, including in the northern Anhui and Liaoning provinces and Guangdong in the south, have fueled fears of infections, prompting a rush to get vaccinated in affected regions.

China has also begun to vaccinate people under the age of 18, with teenagers eligible to receive the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.

For those still reluctant, China has a powerful tool in its arsenal: a top-down, one-party system that is all-encompassing in reach and forceful in action, and a sprawling bureaucracy that can be swiftly mobilized.

Beijing aims to vaccinate at least 70% of eligible people by the end of the year, Xinhua reported, citing the deputy head of the NHC Zeng Yixin.

Around 1.4 billion people live in China. Due to this, the country's administered doses per 100 people is still behind nations such as the US and Britain.

But if its inoculation drive can keep up the current pace, Beijing will catch up fast.

LHASA, China--Tourism is booming in Tibet as more Chinese travel in-country because of the coronavirus pandemic, posing risks to the region’s fragile environment and historic sites.

The number of visitors is limited to 5,000 per day at the Potala Palace, the former home of the Dalai Lamas. Balancing tourist demand with the need to minimize wear and tear on the massive hillside structure is a constant challenge, said Gonggar Tashi, the head administrator.

“The biggest challenge for us is the contradiction between the protection and usage of the cultural relics,” Tashi told journalists in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

He spoke during a government-organized tour that gave foreign journalists rare access to Tibet, but under the watchful eye of officials who set the agenda.

The growing numbers of tourists appear unconcerned by political controversies long circling Tibet. China’s communist forces entered the region in 1951, and the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s traditional spiritual and political leader, fled to India during an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

Millions of visitors come to Tibet every year, and 2020 saw a 12.6% increase from the previous year, said Ge Lei, deputy director of the China Tourism Marketing Association. He expects the amount of visitors to roughly double by 2026.

The glut of visitors, far exceeding Tibet’s population of 3.5 million people, means caution is necessary to protect the environment and culture, he said.

Tourists are drawn to the “mystique and myth of Tibet as a remote snow-bound land,” said Travis Klingberg, a cultural geographer at NYU Shanghai. “But Tibet has become a place of beautiful natural landscapes meaningful to the Chinese nation.”

Tibet has shifted its focus from international to domestic visitors as China’s middle class has grown, said Emily Yeh, a professor of geography at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Tibetans have at times complained about Chinese tourists disrespecting cultural traditions, including stepping on prayer flags, she said.

The tourism sector reinforces government propaganda, Yeh said. The ruling Communist Party says it liberated hundreds of thousands of serfs when it overthrew the theocracy in 1951 and has since brought economic development to the high plateau that borders the Himalayas.

“Rewriting of history is very much a part of the tourism landscape,” Yeh said.

Among the most popular natural sites is Namtso Lake, ringed by snow-capped peaks and Buddhist shrines, with yak herds and migrating birds on the horizon. Further development of the site must be done carefully to avoid damaging what makes it attractive, Ge said.

“It will be hard to protect the ecology and culture of Tibet ... if we don’t have a long-term plan,” he said. “So it is very important to establish a set of values and rules of behavior for travel in Tibet while building the facilities.”

This profile is intended to serve as public goods to facilitate upstream country diagnostics, policy dialogue, and strategic planning by providing comprehensive overviews of trends and projected changes in key climate parameters, sector-specific implications, relevant policies and programs, adaptation priorities and opportunities for further actions. Mongolia is a landlocked country of East Asia characterized by unique ecosystems and cultures. The contribution of agriculture to Mongolia’s economy has declined in recent years, constituting 12% of GDP, compared to the 50% contribution from the service sector. Historical climate warming is believed to have taken place at some of the fastest rates in the world in Mongolia and other shifts in climate dynamics are already strongly impacting on lives and livelihoods. In response, Mongolia has engaged closely with international efforts to mitigate climate change and its impacts.

This profile provides a number of key messages regarding the future of climate risk for Mongolia, including:

Mongolia has already experienced significant climate changes, with warming of over 2°C and declines in rainfall reported between 1940 and 2015.

The intensity of extreme climate-driven hazards including heat wave, drought, and river flood, is expected to increase.

Without concerted disaster risk reduction efforts and support to communities to adapt Mongolia’s poorest communities face significant damage and loss.

Focus is needed on the interplay between climate changes and current development trends in Mongolia, unplanned development in flood exposed areas and air pollution issues could interact with climate changes to enhance health risks and inequalities.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. As reported by the National Statistics Office, the nation's inflation was at 6.2 percent by May 2021. The inflation rate was 6.1% in May 2018, 8.0% in May 2019, 3.3% in May 2020 and reached 6.2% in May 2021, increased by 2.9 percentage points from the same period of previous year. The increase was mainly due to 13.1 percent price increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages, and a five percent price increase in housing, water, electricity, gas, and fuels.

In terms of contribution of price changes of goods and services groups to 6.2% inflation rate in May 2021, 3.6 units (58.1%) were contributed from changes in prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages group. Moreover, 35.5% of 6.2% inflation rate was mainly contributed by an increase in prices of imported goods and services. However, the contribution of prices of imported goods and services increased by 14.3 percentage points compared to May 2020.

From May 2020 to March 2021, the domestic inflation rate fluctuated between 2-3 percent, falling below the central bank's target. Analysts say this indicates a decline in economic activity during that period. During the pandemic, the government regulated price reductions for some goods and services. On the supply side, changes in the prices of government-regulated goods and services contributed to higher inflation, according to the central bank. In addition, commodity prices have been rising sharply with the easing of lockdown measures and while the economy recovers.

In Ulaanbaatar, inflation was at 6.7 percent in May. According to the Bank of Mongolia, inflation is expected to rise to 7-8 percent by the fourth quarter of this year.