Mongolian court slaps huge bail fee on former PM and Finance Minister www.news.mn

The trial of former PM S.Bayar and other six people started at the Ulaanbaatar’s Chingeltei Criminal Court today (15 June) at 09.00 a.m. However, the trial was postponed to 18 June after lawyers and one of the defendants – former finance minister S.Bayartsogt – simply did not show up in the court because he was away election campaigning in Selenge province.

European Business Associations in Mongolia Cooperate Closely www.mongolianbusinessdatabase.com

The European Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EuroChamber) has signed a Cooperation Agreement with the German Mongolian Business Association (DMUV), French Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FMCCI) and the British Business Group (BBG) .
One of the founding principles of EuroChamber Mongolia it to bring the European and Mongolian business community closer together and to have a strong common voice that represents the interest of its members. Today with the signing of the cooperation agreement the German, French and British business associations become represented in the EuroChamber Board, allowing for common decision making, leadership and alignment, while the bilateral business associations' member companies are becoming members of EuroChamber.
With this step, EuroChamber Mongolia now provides a united platform to more than 125 British, French, German and other European as well as Mongolian member companies from very diverse sector backgrounds.
All European business associations and EuroChamber intend to promote the highest values of cooperation and partnership, while exercising unified power toward improvement of business and investment climate in Mongolia, for the benefit of our members and the wider public. Mongolia has a tremendous potential for development, and we jointly intend to support the socio-economic development with helping removing bottlenecks and obstacles for investment and ease of doing business for Mongolian and international companies, investors and banks.
The main focus areas and goals of EuroChamber in cooperation with DMUV, FMCCI and BBG are:
1/ Policy dialogue and advocacy on behalf of its members, with focus on trade facilitation and barriers (export/import), business and investment climate, human resource development, etc.
2/ Additional Networking opportunities for establishing and developing business contacts 3/ Support to Mongolian companies to access European markets; among
others through cooperation with the EU-funded Trade Related Assistance to Mongolia (TRAM) program, with whom EuroChamber enjoys close cooperation.
Based on main interests and needs of our members, the team of EuroChamber, DMUV, BBG and FMCCI will develop white papers as a basis for policy dialogue with the Government of Mongolia.
We would like to express our gratitude to those who made this milestone European Business Cooperation happen, especially to the leadership teams of the three bilateral business associations and EuroChamber. Special thanks go also to HE Ambassador Traian Hristea and the team of the EU Delegation to Mongolia as well as all national diplomatic representatives for their continued support.

Mongolia reports no new COVID-19 cases, three more recoveries www.xinhuanet.com

June 14, 2020 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Mongolia reported no new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, with its total confirmed cases remaining at 197, the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Sunday.

Japan to give JPY 1.2 billion to Mongolia as non-refundable aid www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Amid COVID-19 global pandemic, the Government of Japan has decided to provide JPY 1 billion as part of the non-refundable assistance to promote economic and social development, and another JPY 249 million as nonrefundable aid to carry out human resources development program to the Government of Mongolia.

Mongolia’s population totals 3,296,866, latest census shows www.montsame.mn

The cabinet irregular meeting convened June 12, heard the results of the 2020 nationwide population and housing census.

Mongolia Livestock Commercialization Project kicks off www.montsame.mn

On June 12, Government of Mongolia, with support from the World Bank, kicked off the Livestock Commercialization project to improve the health and productivity of livestock and increase value of products by commercializing targeted value chains.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations will provide technical support towards building human, technical and institutional capacity in support of strengthening animal health systems in the country.

In presence of Mr. Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank’s Country Manager for Mongolia, Mr. Vinod Ahuja, FAO Representative in Mongolia and Ch. Ulaan, the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry signed a sub-agreement today that aims to strengthen animal health and food safety systems in Mongolia.

As part of this agreement, FAO will work closely with the project implementation unit to strengthen Mongolian national veterinary services in line with international standards and improve the quality and safety of animal products along the value chain through improved management of animal health.

Mr. Ulaan.Ch, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry expressed his appreciation by highlighting that “This will be a significant project that will contribute to the long-term vision of improving and diversifying economy, with increased export of livestock product opportunities. Longstanding technical support from FAO in the sector has proven to be successful and we are happy to be partnering with FAO and WB in this new endeavour.

“Mongolian agriculture and livestock sectors have huge potential as a driver for economic diversification and as a key source of broad-based employment. As the economic shocks caused by COVID-19 are likely to increase poverty and threaten the food security, the project’s importance is even more relevant now,” – said Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia.

“This is truly an ambitious project and we are pleased to be partnering with the Government of Mongolia and the World Bank. I thank the Government and the World Bank for their trust. As a global knowledge organization and a technical leader in the field of animal health, we are committed to bring the best expertise and practices to Mongolia”, said Mr. Vinod Ahuja, FAO Representative in Mongolia

Livestock is a true lifeline for the people of Mongolia contributing to some 80 percent of the total agricultural production, almost 13 percent of the GDP and representing an invaluable cultural heritage. Yet, the livestock sector also faces the sustainability challenge due to climate change, livestock overstocking and depleting natural resources that threaten this lifeline.

FAO’s support will focus on strengthening capacity of the institutions involved in the delivery of animal health services, including related policy and legislation, upgrading veterinary and food safety laboratories to enable animal health related diagnostic services and accreditation and promote digital innovations in support animal health and traceability together with an integrated animal health information system. All these activities will also strengthen the resilience of Mongolia’s livestock system against adverse climate change events and ultimately help preserve Mongolia’s livestock as lifeline for future generations.

FAO Representative Office in Mongolia

Non-performing loans in banking system amounted to MNT 1.9 trillion www.montsame.mn

At the end of May 2020, the total amount of outstanding loan to entities and individuals amounted to MNT 17.2 trillion, increased by MNT 16.6 billion (0.1%) from the previous month, but decreased by MNT 795.6 billion (4.4%) compared to the same period of the previous year. Of the total outstanding loans, 51.2 percent or MNT 8.8 trillion were individual loans.

Mongolia’s unemployment rate increases by 10.6 percent www.news.mn

Applications for Mongolian unemployment benefits have increased due to the pandemic closures. The number of registered jobless people increased by 10.6 percent in January-May, 2020 compared to same period last year. In addition, the number of active job seekers increased by 4.5 percent and number of employed fell by 0.2 percent in the first five months of 2020.

Mongolian drug smuglling diplomats sentenced to 11 years in prison www.news.mn

It was the most spectacular drug discovery of the past year. Germany Customs and the Federal Police stopped the Mongolian Vice Consul Batushig B. (40) and his chauffeur Sosorbaram E. (48) on the A 17 in the diplomatic Mercedes on 3 May 2019.

Banks finalize requests of deferring mortgage loan of MNT 500 billion repayment www.zgm.mn

According to the Governor of the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) Lhavgasuren Byadran, the commercial banks have decided to postpone the repayment of mortgage loans worth about MNT 500 billion.The banks have also restructured more than 37,000 loans that have been encountered difficulty to repay due to the new strain of COVID-19 outbreak. The BoM emphasized that commercial banks have the opportunity to finance mortgage loans from their own resources to the extent of financing provided by the central bank. BoM and commercial banks will provide MNT 25 billion each, or a total of MNT 50 billion, for mortgage loans in May. In the remaining months of this year, the central bank will provide MNT 20-25 billion in mortgage loans every month. In line with the central bank’s order, commercial banks are required to limit the amount of funding provided by the Bank of Mongolia by MNT 100 million, to provide at least 25 percent of the total funding to individuals buying apartments in rural areas, and to finance only new loans.