The Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia has issued a travel notice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nationals and permanent residents of Mongolia and foreign nationals of the countries/regions stated in the official Visa Exemption List of Mongolia, which can be found here, are allowed to enter from 10 May 2021.

However, there are certain entry requirements as stated in the travel notice and all passengers are required to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test, which must be taken within 72 hours before departure of the first embarkation point.

Moreover, all persons arriving in Mongolia who have not been fully vaccinated against coronavirus infection will be quarantined at designated facilities for 7 days and PCR tests will be taken during the quarantine period. Information on the quarantine facilities can be found at www.tabinfo.mn and contact the listed hotels for reservations.

In the case of PCR test results are positive, the individuals will be transferred to a hospital for treatment. Persons arriving to Mongolia 14 days after receiving the full dose of coronavirus vaccines or those who were diagnosed earlier with a coronavirus infection and fully recovered are exempt from quarantine upon presenting proof of vaccination, antibody test result or other medical document.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, have officially launched the construction of new reactors at two nuclear power plants in China.

The official ceremony, along with bilateral talks, took place on Wednesday via a video link. The event marks the building of four new reactors at two nuclear plants in the Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Jiangsu. Both plants are reportedly being developed with the use of Russian technology.

“Russian and Chinese professionals are setting in motion a truly signature, flagship joint project,” Putin said during the ceremony, describing the technology as “powerful state-of-the-art Russian-made nuclear reactors compliant with all the safety regulations and the highest ecological standards.”

According to the Russian president, the projects are to be completed by 2026 and 2028, thus “making a great contribution .... to maintaining China’s energy security.”

The Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant is the biggest joint project between China and Russia, signifying the nations’ groundbreaking cooperation in nuclear power. The first two reactors were completed and put into operation in 2007. The third and the fourth blocks were brought into commercial operation in 2018.

The power plant is co-owned by Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation, a joint venture partially owned by the China National Nuclear Corporation and Atomstroyexport, the nuclear equipment exporter branch of the Russian corporation Rosatom. When completed, Tianwan will reportedly become the world’s largest such plant, with a total generating capacity of around 8,100 megawatts.

Before the pandemic, Ms. Kimiko used to travel to the ger district in a crowded bus to teach her students – who were all not in one place like kindergarten or school, but they waited for a kind-hearted Japanese teacher at their home. She doesn’t mind walking through impassible summer mud and the icy, slippery winter streets, nor the choking smog of burning coals and woods in the ger district. All she cares about is how to teach her students with disabilities and how to change the attitudes of their parents. Ms. Takahashi Kimiko came to Mongolia in 1998 for a two-year volunteer assignment as a kindergarten teacher and lived in the third largest city – Darkhan. Her passion of working with children brought her back to Mongolia in 2004 to work at a private kindergarten. In 2011, she established her own non-governmental organization to help children with disabilities. It was another touching podcast throughout which we felt her love for children and the unbending commitment to her dream of helping children with disabilities.

She Has Never Chosen Whom She Would Teach

The most challenging aspect of working in the development sector in Mongolia is to cope with excessive financial paperwork – she sighed – as she works alone. Otherwise, she likes to work in Mongolia. Even though there has been progress in increasing educational opportunities for children with disabilities, she pointed out there were a number of challenges. Teachers are not prepared to work with children with disabilities since they are already overwhelmed with 20-30 students per kindergarten classroom. There are private kindergartens, but it is not available for all disabled children. So, Kimiko san ventured out to help those who cannot go to kindergartens and schools – and she helps only those parents who allowed her to teach their children. In other words, she has never chosen whom she would teach depending on the location or level of disability. She insisted that she would never build or establish a kindergarten, or day care centre, because that is the job the Mongolian government should do. Therefore, she does not want to build a kindergarten or day care centre. She wants to work with a child when the parents are around. It seems to me that her key principle is to focus on the ‘can do’ and being creative about getting a child interested in learning, repeating, and experiencing with joy.

Just prior to the pandemic, she had 17 students – who live widely distributed in the city of 1.5 million population. In one day, she teaches three children, spending about an hour with each child. She said one hour is exactly enough and she does all her best to use that hour effectively. In winter days, she gets out of the ger district around 4 pm before it gets dark and prepares her lessons for the next day. In her teaching, she uses the same book for all children, for example, a well-known story of The Gigantic Turnip, but her teaching method would be different: there would be drawing or colouring activities for a child with Down syndrome, memorizing or speaking exercises for a child with intellectual disability, and concentration activities for an autistic child. And she proudly highlights that this is a mutual learning process for a child, the parents, and herself.

How to Teach Children with Disabilities

Treat a child like an adult, not always in ‘evii evii’ style (Mongolian words often used to spoil little children). The most important task is to build trust. If someone is always critical or does not pay attention, a child knows and will not have a mindset for open communication and collaborative learning. Also, one must be interested – as in her words, if the mind moves, the body will follow. So, one must be creative when in comes to getting the child’s interested and triggering their curiosity. Throughout the podcast, she advises anyone who is working with a child with disabilities not to stop at ‘chadahgui’ (cannot do). If you do focus on ‘chadahgui’, you’ll end up with ‘odoo yanaa’ (a Mongolian phrase used to express in fear or uncertainty), and you cannot think about the future. Rather, you should carefully assess what your child can do and cannot do. Again, you need to be creative about getting your child interested. In this way, you can imagine a realistic future with your child, and help your child continue doing things that they are able to do or are interested in doing. Even if your child does not know the ABC (alphabet), there will always be something that he/she can do. Here, Kimiko san shared one of her projects. The project is named ‘goyo ireedui’ (nice future) – which helped parents with disabled children to think about the future together. This strikes us an important exercise for all of us to do together with our children – pondering together to construct our imagined future of the children, us, and the community – instead of acting as if we knew what is best for them. As Kimiko hinted, parents should help children to see different opportunities rather than imposing their options on them.

Many Mongolian parents asked her why their kids do not speak and how to improve their speaking. So, in response, Kimiko san published a book with speech improvement exercises and teaching methods for Mongolian parents. We felt this book is a valuable book since it is based on her personal experience of learning the Mongolian language in her thirties and having worked with children over two decades.

Differences Between Japan and Mongolia

‘Zam’ (road, sidewalk in Mongolian) is a key difference between Japan and Mongolia. It is difficult not only for disabled people, but for everyone. Kimiko san shared her astonishment over the great balancing skills of Mongolians – on these uneven, often slippery (during the winter) roads and sidewalks. For all of us, it is hard to imagine how parents are struggling to navigate on these uneven, poorly maintained, slippery sidewalks with their disabled children. Otherwise, she thinks, there is no major difference between Japanese and Mongolian parents with disabled children. They share the same feelings and experience similar challenges. They are worried about the future of their children-though conditions and opportunities might be different.

This takes us back to the Mongolian situation. Parents who live in the soum (an administrative subdivision within the province) probably have limited access to a computer/internet and to experts whereas parents who live in the city may have more opportunities. Yes, indeed, one of our previous guests talked about the challenges for disabled people living in the ger district. Although they are in vicinity of the city, they experience similar challenges as those who live in the countryside. Regardless of their location or country, parents with disabled children face similar challenges and are wary of the future.

Advice for Us – Mongolians

‘In Mongolia, people are very helpful and always ready to help. This is unique.’ Besides this praise, she wanted to share her critical view of us. People talk about many good ideas and demonstrate their eagerness to do something about these ideas. But soon, they stop answering their phones and disappear. It is as if when they talk, they look up the sky and imagine all good things, but they do not look down to their feet – or think critically about the implementation. So, it is important for anyone who wants to pursue their good ideas to have a detailed plan – with first, second, and third steps. If it does not work, take a little break, and then try to figure out the causes and find ways to move ahead. If you do, Kimiko san assures, the gradual improvement and success will follow.

As one thinks about continuous small improvement, things would already be improving. Here she pointed to one example. She liked a café – that employs adolescents with Down syndrome. To make things easier for customers and employees, the café could use a little check-box menu – on which customers can write their names and mark their orders. This would prevent any embarrassing situation between the customer and the employees with Down syndrome. It will increase the confidence of these young people who are eager to work.

This was another pleasant podcast – listening to a courageous, determined Japanese teacher, who is fluent in Mongolian and an expert of local bus routes. And she has a big heart, passion, and a dream of helping to change the attitudes of parents with disabled children. I felt her weeping inside – when she talked about how parents have changed as she showed how to work with their children with disabilities.

By Mendee Jargalsaikhan

The Untold podcast and blog post are made available by the generous support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Mongolia.

May 19 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's COVID-19 cases rose to 50,099 on Wednesday after 575 new local infections were reported in the last 24 hours, according to the country's health ministry.

Six fatalities were recorded in the past day, raising the death toll from the virus to 239, the ministry said, adding that 865 more patients have recovered, taking the total number of recoveries to 43,586.

The Asian country launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in late February, aiming to cover at least 60 percent of its population of 3.3 million.

More than 1,802,200 Mongolians have so far received their first dose, and over 666,200 have been fully vaccinated.

As of 19 May, Mongolia has 50099 confirmed cases of coronavirus; nearly 87 percent of them have recovered. Unfortunately, Mongolia has reported a further six deaths from Covid-19; this brings the total death toll in the country to 227. Currently, 99 people with coronavirus are under treatment and are in a critical condition.

Mongolia is ranked second for vaccinating 54.7 percent of its 3.3 million population after Israel (62.8 percent). Vaccine roll-outs against Covid-19 pandemic are running in 206 countries around the world.

May 19 (Xinhua) -- The Mongolian government has decided to provide one-time financial assistance of 10 million Mongolian Tugriks (about 3,508 U.S. dollars) to each athlete who qualified for the Olympic Games, the government's press office said Wednesday.

So far, 30 Mongolian athletes have qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Tokyo, Japan this year, the press office said in a statement.

The athletes are expected to compete in 12 sports.

The national currency in circulation reached MNT 1.0 trillion at the end of April 2021, increased by MNT 78.2 billion (7.8%) from the previous month, and increased by MNT 225.7 billion (26.3%) from the same period of the previous year.

At the end of April 2021, the time deposit in domestic currency amounted to MNT 14.7 trillion, increased by MNT 524.1 billion (3.7%) from the previous month, and increased by MNT 4.1 trillion (38.6%) from the same period of the previous year.

In terms of type of time deposit in domestic currency, 88.6% (MNT 13.0 trillion) was individuals’ deposits and 11.4 percent (MNT 1.7 trillion) was deposits of enterprises. The time deposits in foreign currency amounted to MNT 4.5 trillion, increased by MNT 122.3 billion (2.8%) from the previous month, and increased by MNT 747.0 billion (19.9%) from the same period of the previous year.

In April 2021, consumer price index at the national level increased by 2.4% from the previous month, by 5.5% from the end of the previous year and by 5.6% from the same period of the previous year.

The 5.6% increase in consumer price index from the same period of the previous year was mainly contributed by 12.4% increase in prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages group (non-alcoholic beverages by 5.6%), 2.2% increase in prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco group, 3.2% increase in prices of clothing, cloth and footwear group, prices of housing, water, electricity and fuels group increased by 6.3% (electricity, gas and other fuels increased by 7.6%), 4.3% increase in prices of medicine and medical service group.

The 5.5% increase in consumer price index from the end of the previous year was mainly contributed by 12.8% increase in prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages group, 1.2% increase in prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco group, 14.9% increase in prices of housing, water, electricity and fuels group, 1.8% increase in prices of medicine and medical service group, 1.0% increase in prices of transport group. The 2.4% increase in CPI from the previous month was mainly due to resulted from 4.3% increase in prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages group (meat and meat products by 10.9%), 12.0% increase in prices of housing, water, electricity and fuels group, 0.3% increase in prices of medicine and medical service group, 0.2% increase in prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco group.

The inflation rate was 6.0% in April 2018, 7.0% in April 2019, 4.7% in April 2020 and reached 5.6% in April 2021, increased by 0.9 percentage points from the same period of the previous year.

In April 2021, the highest increase in CPI for goods was 7.5% in Ulaanbaatar city, and the highest increase in CPI for services was 2.2% in Ulaanbaatar city.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Mongolia (CAA) introduced charter flights scheduled for June.

A total of 20 repatriation charter flights will be operated next month to countries namely South Korea, Japan, Hungary, Turkey, Germany, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Citizens, who want to buy ticket in accordance with the approved flight schedules should directly contact to aviation companies, reports the CAA.

Canada’s Centerra Gold (TSX: CG) has enacted a series of measures to protect shareholder rights after Kyrgyzstan officially seized control on Monday of the company’s Kumtor gold mine.

On a conference call with reporters and analysts on Tuesday, chief executive Scott Perry said the Toronto-based miner is already in contact with Canadian and English authorities, who have offered their support.

“As a significant investment partner of the Kyrgyz Republic, Canada is very concerned about continued developments in the mining sector,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau and International Trade Minister Mary Ng said in a joint statement on Monday.

“Canada is also disappointed that this dispute between foreign investors and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic was not allowed to be resolved transparently by the parties working together.”

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which has provided financing to the Kumtor project, has said that the mine seizure “would put in doubt the commitment of the Kyrgyz Republic to stand by its obligations to its international partners and foreign investors.”

The London-based bank also said the takeover risked “the country’s economic recovery and its reputation as a secure place for investors to operate.”

Centerra initiated on Sunday binding arbitration against the Kyrgyzstan government, after the parliament passed a law allowing the state to temporarily take over the company’s Kumtor gold mine, the country’s biggest industrial enterprise.

Kyrgyzstan’s move came after a court fined Kumtor Gold (KGC) more than $3 billion for allegedly dumping mining waste on glaciers near the mine 4,000 meters above sea level. A state commission also recently alleged that KGC owes more than $1 billion in unpaid taxes.

Late on Monday, Centerra also placed restrictions on the sale of shares held by state-owned Kyrgyzaltyn JSC, which has a 26% stake in the Canadian mining company.

The miner also said it had accepted the resignation of Kyrgyzaltyn nominee Tengiz Bolturuk from the board with immediate effect, adding it did not intend to make any further public comments regarding this matter unless required by law.

“Rest assured that we’re taking all measures possible to ensure that we’re protecting the rights of the organization and the rights of our shareholders,” Perry said on Tuesday.

Kumtor, which accounts for a fifth of the ex-Soviet country’s total industrial output, has produced more than 13.2 million ounces of gold between 1997 and the end of 2020. Last year’s output was slightly over 556,000 ounces.

Multi-year “degradation“

Dalton Baretto of Canaccord Genuity said in a note last week that he wasn’t surprised by Kyrgyzstan’s move.

“We have been anticipating something like this since President Japarov took power on January 10; however, the speed and breadth of these reforms has caught us off-guard,” he wrote.

The analyst added he believed the government has opened the door to what is likely going to be a multi-year degradation of the relationship between Centerra and the Kyrgyz State.

Centerra moves to protect investors after Kumtor seized

Kumtor is Kyrgyzstan’s biggest industrial enterprise, providing employment to more than 4,000 people. (Image courtesy of Kumtor Gold.)

“While Centerra Gold will leverage all available avenues of international trade disputes, we believe these are unlikely to be effective in the long term,” Baretto said.

Kumtor has been the focus of a number of disputes between the company and the Kyrgyz government.

Japarov, who seized power after violent riots last October, once campaigned for the nationalization of the mine. After assuming the post, however, he said he no longer considered it necessary.

Kyrgyzstan has a history of popular uprisings and political turmoil, ever since gaining its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Protesters had ousted two prior PMs in revolutions in 2005 and 2010.

Midday Tuesday, Centerra’s stock was up over 7% in Toronto. The company has a C$2.7 billion market capitalization.