Foreign Ministry: 5,600 Mongolians abroad wish to be evacuated www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. At today’s press briefing organized by the State Emergency Commission (SEC), L.Munkhtushig, Director General of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave an information on upcoming evacuation flights that were announced by the SEC to be arranged to Tokyo, Japan and Seoul, South Korea.

Two citizens recovered from coronavirus to be released from hospital www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The first imported case of novel coronavirus has been recorded in Mongolia on March 9. As of today, there are 12 confirmed cases in Mongolia while two of those patients have fully recovered, Director of the National Center for Communicable Diseases D.Nyamkhuu reported.

50 billion cubic meters of natural gas possibly to be supplied annually to China through Mongolia www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ President of the Russian Federation V.V.Putin has given permission to ‘Gasprom‘ Public Joint Stock Company (PJSC) to commence a work to develop blueprint of ‘Power of Siberia-2’ project on pipelines that supply natural gas to China from Russia.

The European Union supports environmentally friendly and sustainable production www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. Mongolia's wool and cashmere sector is one of the most important sectors, accounting for 36 percent of total exports other than mining sector. The Government of Mongolia has focused more on the cashmere sector in recent years and within the framework of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that 193 member states of the United Nations aims to achieve by 2030, there was set a goal to adopt more environmentally friendly production methods, thereby, lowering GHG and overall pollutant emissions while increasing the share of nationally processed leather, wool and cashmere up to 80%.

China donates medical supplies to Mongolia to help fight COVID-19 www.en.people.cn

ULAN BATOR, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday donated protective medical supplies worth 830,000 yuan (116,961 U.S. dollars) to Mongolia to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Statement by the Prime Minister of Mongolia www.bcmongolia.com

Prime Minister of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh issued a statement on March 26 at 15:00. Below is a summary of the Prime Minister's statement.

Mongolia’s Small-Country Strategy for Containing COVID-19 www.thediplomat.com

The global pandemic of COVID-19 did not skip Mongolia. The disease, caused by a novel strain of coronavirus, has affected all the countries in East Asia, and the number of infected is increasing daily. As of this writing, China, where the outbreak began, had seen a total of 81,897 cases, South Korea had 9,332, Japan had 1,387, and Russia had 1,036 (North Korea has so far denied the existence of any COVID-19 cases, though that is widely questioned).

In East Asia, then, Mongolia so far has the lowest number of infected people with just 11 cases.

The government of Mongolia’s containment strategy is so far working for the country of 3.2 million people.

As early as mid-February, when the new coronavirus was beginning to spread within Chinese borders, the Mongolian government’s strategy was to adopt decisive preventative measures. By canceling the national holiday Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian lunar new year, the country was able to slow travel between Ulaanbaatar and provinces outside the capital. Additionally, Mongolia closed its borders with China and Russia, stopping the inflow and outflow of people, and banned international flights from hotspots like South Korea. These steps have helped immensely to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

It is imperative for Mongolia to take COVID-19 seriously because of its vulnerability. The scope and the rate of infection of COVID-19 pose a great threat to Mongolia medically, economically, and socially. On the other hand, the Mongolian government was able to quickly mobilize a COVID-19 task force of 832 individuals monitoring 336 checkpoints around the country as early as February 23, 2020.

Mongolia’s small population potentially made it easier to track, locate, and contain the spread of the virus. The government was also able to bring its citizens home from countries like South Korea, Japan, Turkey, and Russia.

The first case of COVID-19 in Mongolia was a French energy company employee who traveled into Mongolia via Russia on March 2. The Mongolian government and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) quickly responded by containing the man and the people he had been in contact with. The government’s containment effort was supported by the public, who had already been alerted by mid-February. Mongolians learned about the increasing severity of the outbreak and the vulnerabilities shown in China, South Korea, and Italy.

Mongolia has even been active in supporting other countries in combating COVID-19. Mongolian President Battulga Khaltmaa’s visit to China on February 27 was viewed as an example of the most genuine support to China, which at the time was in the most difficult part of its struggle to contain COVID-19. In support of China’s fight against the virus, Mongolia donated 30,000 sheep as a strategic partner and a neighbor. Mongolia has also been on the receiving end of aid. The United States, as Mongolia’s fifth strategic partner, has committed $1.2 million in financial support to combating COVID-19 in Mongolia.

On March 24, in an interview with a local media agency, Major General Badral Tuvshin, director of the National Emergency Management Agency, stated that “In combating COVID-19, Mongolia is not in the stage of a national emergency. In accordance with the decision of the Cabinet Secretariat of Mongolia, the National Emergency Management Agency is working under the ‘heightened awareness’ stage in containing COVID-19. If the situation worsens, the next level of containment strategy will be ‘all-hands-on-deck-readiness.’”

He continued by giving an outline of Mongolia’s situation: “Moreover, as of March 24, 2020, there are 2,034 people in quarantine; however, the numbers are expected to grow as Mongolians are expected to return home from abroad. Among the nine provinces that are currently utilizing quarantine facilities, Bayan-Olgii province [in the very western part of Mongolia] has the highest number of people [in quarantine], around 360.”

On March 22, 2020, the Cabinet Secretariat of Government of Mongolia assembled an emergency session and made a decision to close down schools and social activities until April 30. The government is currently expecting to receive around 750 Mongolian citizens from abroad. The earliest arrivals will be coming from South Korea on April 2, and Japan on April 3. Those arriving will be quarantined for an extended 21 days, per a recent government decision on containment of COVID-19. The successful mobilization of the Mongolian government and its task force in locating registered citizens abroad continue to play a crucial role in containment efforts.

Thanks to the National Management of Emergency Agency’s COVID-19 task force and its efforts, thus far Mongolia has been able to contain the spread of the virus in its small population.

Bolor Lkhaajav received a Master of Arts degree in Asia-Pacific Studies from the University of San Francisco. She is currently writing a book on Mongolia’s foreign policy and security.

Government unveils MNT 5.1 trillion plan to help those affected by COVID-19 www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On March 27, Prime Minister of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh delivered an address to the people and entities of Mongolia to introduce the government's new measures concerning the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the time of the coronavirus crisis, the government adheres to two main principles, first, to protect the health of the Mongolian people, and second, to pay attention on the economic situation. In this connection, we are utilizing all available resources.” said the Prime Minister.

"MNT 17 billion has been disbursed for purchasing essential medical equipment and for disinfection and decontamination, and additional MNT 20.6 billion is to be allocated" he said. “MNT 159 billion financing will be spent for necessary medical and protective equipment and so on”.

He then noted that the government is spending MNT 200 billion in total to safeguard health of the people.

Afterwards, PM Khurelsukh announced that the government of Mongolia today decided to take the following measures to be financed with MNT 5.1 trillion to support the country’s economy weakened by the coronavirus outbreak.

1. All entities and companies are exempt from paying social insurance contributions for six months from April 1 until October 1.

2. Personal income tax will be waived for six months from April 1 until October 1.

3. Entities with revenues of less than MNT 1.5 billion are entitled to exemption of corporate tax for six months from April 1 until October 1.

4. For 3 months, the government will pay monthly MNT 200,000 to each employee of private companies keeping their workers on their job despite the difficulties in their businesses and declining revenues.

5. Loan with 3-percent interest rate, totaling MNT 300 billion, will be granted by the government to national cashmere companies for purchasing cashmere from herders. Cashmere for price will be set at less than MNT 100 thousand. This measure is expected to directly benefit 233 thousand herding families, according to the PM.

6. For 3 months, the monthly ‘Child Money’ allowance of MNT 20,000 to children aged under 18 is raised to MNT 30,000.

7. Necessary measures will be taken so that retail price of fuel per liter would be cut by MNT 300-400, starting April 15.

During the address, the Prime Minister expressed his position on the President’s address on the steps for containing the impacts of COVID-19.

“We consider that halting the large scale crucial development projects outlined in the State Budget would result in further employment decline. Therefore, we are not planning to make revisions to the 2020 State Budget. Furthermore, the upcoming Parliamentary Elections will not be postponed as we see that as an unnecessary step at this moment. However, we respect the recommendations by the President and will further look into them” said PM Khurelsukh.

Following the Prime Minister’s address, Finance Minister Ch.Khurelbaatar introduced that the State Budget is running short of MNT 275 billion than planned and the MNT 5.1 trillion required for today’s new measures will be made available through government’s appropriate capital management of state funds.

The Finance Minister also mentioned that the government has paid off debts amounting to MNT 8.2 trillion in the past three years with the help of budget discipline and economic growth.

Throughput grows in China-Mongolia border customs despite COVID-19 www.xinhuanet.com

HOHHOT, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The land checkpoint of Erenhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region saw an increase in throughput in the first two months, despite measures taken to reduce gatherings for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Bilguun: Drop in copper price may affect other commodities www.zgm.mn