At the meeting, it was decided to lift the suspension of traffic movements between Ulaanbaatar and 21 aimags on March 3 at 6 a.m. and deploy over 130 more officials of emergency, specialized inspection, and health care services including medical teams of the National Center for Communicable Diseases at seven entrance and exit points of Ulaanbaatar.

As it is estimated that more than 40 thousand citizens by around 14 thousand vehicles will come back to the capital city after the suspension is lifted, the Commission plans to set up local first aid posts every 50 km along state highways to prevent possible accidents.

It was also decided to export coal in sealed containers through Zamyn-Uud border checkpoint; increase the number of beds at quarantine facilities by 250 in total as a precautionary measure; suspend flights on Ulaanbaatar - Irkutsk - Ulaanbaatar and Ulaanbaatar - Ulan-Ude - Ulaanbaatar routes from March 2 to March 11; ban entry to foreign nationals who have traveled to South Korea, Japan, Italy, and Iran within the last 14 days; allow Mongolians to return from South Korea and Japan through Buyant-Ukhaa, Sukhbaatar, and Altanbulag border checkpoints only; and put Mongolians coming from the abovementioned four countries in 14-day quarantine upon arrival;

“The project will promote income and employment generation in rural areas,” said ADB Senior Natural Resources Economist Jan Hinrichs. “This will be achieved by diversifying traditional low-value grain crops into high-value vegetables.”

Agriculture has become a priority for growth in Mongolia, in line with the government’s focus to accelerate economic diversification and job creation. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood in rural areas, but is not sufficiently diversified and relies heavily on imports for vegetables and fodder. In 2008–2016, only about half of the country’s vegetable demand was met by domestic production. Meanwhile, the country’s irrigation systems are recognized as having low water productivity and lacking resilience to severe droughts and floods.

The project aims to install efficient and climate-resilient irrigation infrastructure and management systems, improve sustainability of agriculture production systems, and strengthen technical, institutional, and management capacity and coordination.

Specifically, the project will upgrade, modernize, and climate-proof 12 selected schemes along with directly associated infrastructure to provide irrigation services for 7,000 hectares of land. A total of 3,458 households are expected to benefit, including 1,041 poor households.

The project design introduces innovative features such as high-efficiency irrigation technology in cold regions, summer and winter greenhouses, and an easy-to-use asset management system with remote-sensing technology. Such technology will help detect irrigation performance and resolve problems immediately.

The total cost of the project is $46.25 million, of which ADB is providing a concessional loan of $25.3 million and a regular loan of $14.7 million. The government will provide $4.25 million towards the project cost.

ADB will administer a $2 million cofinancing grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), which has supported projects in Mongolia in poverty alleviation, improving livelihoods, and safeguarding the environment over the past 20 years. JPFR is funded by the Government of Japan.

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.

Around 50 thousand Mongolians are currently living in European countries, 48 thousand in South Korea, and 14 thousand in Japan. 6,200 citizens booked flights to return to Mongolia in the near future after the suspension of flights to and from South Korea is lifted and about 500 individuals will fly from Tokyo to Ulaanbaatar when the air travel suspension to and from Japan comes into an end.

In response to an official request by the Mongolian Embassy in Tokyo, Japan instructed the immigration departments of its 47 prefectures to extend J type visas of Mongolian nationals in Japan by 15 to 30 days

At the meeting, it was decided to lift the suspension of traffic movements between Ulaanbaatar and 21 aimags on March 3 at 6 a.m. and deploy over 130 more officials of emergency, specialized inspection, and health care services including medical teams of the National Center for Communicable Diseases at seven entrance and exit points of Ulaanbaatar.

As it was estimated that more than 40 thousand citizens by around 14 thousand vehicles will come back to the capital city after the suspension is lifted, the Commission plans to set up local first aid posts every 50 km along state highways to prevent possible accidents.

It was also decided to export coal in sealed containers through Zamyn-Uud border checkpoint; increase the number of beds at quarantine facilities by 250 in total as a precautionary measure; suspend flights on Ulaanbaatar - Irkutsk - Ulaanbaatar and Ulaanbaatar - Ulan-Ude - Ulaanbaatar routes from March 2 to March 11; ban entry to foreign nationals coming from South Korea, Japan, Italy, and Iran; allow Mongolians to return from South Korea and Japan through Buyant-Ukhaa, Sukhbaatar, and Altanbulag border checkpoints only; and put Mongolians coming from the abovementioned four countries in 14-day quarantine upon arrival;

Key actions from the Government of Mongolia to prevent from the Coronavirus:
All flights from/to Japan and South Korea suspended until at least March 11.
Public events including conferences, sports, and entertainment events have been prohibited.
Mongolian and foreign nationals arriving from the countries affected by Covid-19 in quarantine for 14 days starting from their date of arrival.
All authorities of the state organizations banned to do domestic and foreign business trips until March 30.
It is assigned to penalize individuals who lied about their travel history and health or refused to give the information required upon arrival from coronavirus-affected countries.
It has been decided to empty some state and private hospitals in the city, including the Military Medical Center and health resorts in provincial centers, if the new coronavirus comes into the country.
MIAT Mongolian Airlines cancelled the flights to Bangkok and Tokyo until March 30.
Inter-provincial roads and highways throughout Mongolia including public buses and domestic flights are closed during the Mongolian Lunar New Year (23 Feb – 27 Feb). The State Emergency Commission made a decision to extend the suspension of traffic movements until March 3rd.
It is suspended Tsagaan Sar celebration which is the traditional Mongolian celebration of Lunar New Year (23 Feb-26 Feb).
Every university, high schools, kindergarten and vocational training center have been suspended all around the until March 31.
Mongolians prohibited to travel the countries affected by Covid-19 until March 02. It is now extended until March 31.
The government of Mongolia and non-governmental organizations has decided to launch a campaign to provide assistance to China to help contain the outbreak of coronavirus under a slogan of “Emotional Support to Eternal Neighbor”.
All borders with China have been closed to foot and vehicle traffic since January 27.
As of March 1, 2020, the number of coronavirus infections reached 86,964 worldwide with 2,978 dead, 42,126 recovered and infection has been detected at least in 57 countries. It if fataly rate 3.42% and recovery rate 46.43%.

It regulates that the drivers, who fully ensured disinfection, quarantine and hygiene requirements should crossed out the border, transporting coal, petroleum and minerals and come back within the day. Copper concentrate export by Oyu Tolgoi deposit is running normally so far and trucks are being completely disinfected in addition to providing protective wears to heavy truck drivers. Therefore, it was resolved to introduce the standard into other exports, reports Ch.Khurelbaatar, Minister of Finance.

Furthermore, several regulations have been reflected in the resolution regarding to easing burden on individuals and entities. In particular, the resolution included issues such as formulation of a bill on not imposing deferred interest and fine in cases the entities could not pay their social insurance premium of their staffs in the period of heightened state of readiness and its submission to the Parliament. Moreover, a bill on not imposing fine and deferred interest on entities that couldn’t pay their tax and exempting markets, trade centers and service provider places which reduced their rental payment, from income tax, will be submitted to the Parliament.

“Although the state budget revenue dropped by MNT 210 billion compared to the same period of the previous year, no budget amendments will be made this year. The country’s economy is shrinking to a certain extent in the period of heightened state of readiness. As suspension of investment will cause adverse impact in this time, general budget managers have been ordered to carry out tender works on building schools, kindergartens and hospitals. In the last two to three years, the Government set goals and worked on improving economic basic indicators and easing debt burden. As a result, the Government paid back debt worth MNT 8.2 trillion. Therefore, the budget has a capability to overcome one-year hardship. Mongolia exported 4 million tons of coal this time last year. While, as of the first two months of this year, the country has exported 2.7 million tons of coal. The Chinese side expressed its readiness to receive coal from Mongolia,” the Finance Minister said.

Additionally, authorities of the Bank of Mongolia presented measures to be taken. The BoM’s Monetary Policy Council plans to hold its meeting at the beginning of March to discuss whether to reduce monetary policy rate. "With reduction of the monetary policy rate, conditions will be created to improve solvency of the banks and to decrease loan interest," said BoM President Lkhagvasuren.

In the prevention of pasture deterioration, grazing areas in aimags such as Bulgan, Tuv, and Arkhangai will be freed, as herders of other aimags oblidged to leave the areas by March 1.

Bulgan aimag received the most number of livestock for fall and winter grazing. Herders from Dundgobi, Uvurkhangai, Tuv, and Arkhangai aimags have been grazing their animals in the territories of Rashaant, Gurvanbulag, Saikhan and Mogod soums of Bulgan aimag, said D.Batmunkh, head of Department of Animal Husbandry Development Policy and Coordination, MFALI.

The hay and fodder worth MNT1.9 billion will be distributed from the state reserve to some aimags, where spring conditions are likely to worsen.

Since 2016, the creation of Mongolian Business Database (MBD), we have been operating active projects according to the mission of being "A bridge of your business with Mongolia". MBD has become a leading network/business platform. Currently 7600 businesses in Mongolia and investors/professionals from abroad are keeping an eye on Mongolia via MBD.

We aim to specifically promote particular B2B business cases by our information links and communication network. We will be pleased to be soon announcing the opening of new business projects by MBD which relate to UK and Czech Republic. Taking this opportunity, we wish to express our special gratitude for the cooperation and assistance to the Embassies of UK, Czech Republic and Australia, Mongolian-British Chamber of Commerce (John Grogan), Honorary Council General of Mongolia in Sydney (Nigel Finch) and the team at Petrovis Company!!