As the UK gets ready to leave the EU, its partnerships outside of Europe will take on an even greater significance and importance.

I am looking forward to visiting South Korea, Mongolia and Japan and learning more about the wealth of opportunities for international investment and trade in each of these countries, as well as their approaches to pressing international issues such as climate change and gender equality.

In Seoul, the Minister will highlight the UK and Korea’s shared historic, economic and cultural ties, including the recently signed UK-ROK continuity Free Trade Agreement, the first in Asia.

Alongside Korean Ministry for Foreign Affairs 2nd Vice Minister Lee Tae Ho, Minister Wheeler will launch a new Senior Economic Dialogue that will facilitate discussion on the ways the UK and Korea can deepen cooperation in areas such as finance, digital economy and climate change.

She will also urge Korean Climate Change Ambassador Yoo Yeon Chul to join the UK by raising Korea’s climate ambition ahead of COP26 in Glasgow and highlight the UK’s ambitious new commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to ‘Net Zero’ by 2050.

With a focus on gender equality and female empowerment, the Minister will give a keynote speech at the Chevening Female Empowerment Reception held at the British Embassy Seoul and share her own views and experience as a successful politician.

On Wednesday, the Minister will travel to Ulaanbaatar, where she will meet several Ministers in the Mongolian government. Discussions will be broad-ranging and will cover trade and investment, democracy and media freedom, climate change, the Illegal Wildlife Trade and wider geo-strategic issues.

On Thursday Minister Wheeler will lead the official opening ceremony of its new Embassy office in the Shangri-La Office Tower and then spend the day visiting the world-class Oyu Tolgoi mine in the Gobi desert.

On Friday the Minister will travel to Tokyo, where she will meet with the Environment Minister to discuss climate change, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs to discuss security, trade, and the UK-Japan relationship following the UK’s exit from the EU.

Total budget revenue for next year is estimated at MNT 12.9 billion and total expenditure at MNT 13.8 billion. Taking into the consideration the total equilibrated revenue of MNT 11.7 billion from sources of tax revenues, nontax revenues, revenues from assistance, stabilization fund, future heritage fund as well as total expenditures, which include salaries, pensions, social benefits, subsidies, loan interest payment, investment, expenses of products and services, repayments of loans, the state budget balance is expected to fall short of MNT 2 trillion, which equals to 5.1 percent of GDP.

However, the Finance Minister Ch.Khurelbaatar noted that the state budget is likely to show profitability from 2023 and the government is taking measures to reduce budget deficit gradually so that business entities and citizens are not affected.

The economic growth for next year is projected at 7-8 percent (economic growth was 7.2 percent and 7.3 percent in the first half of 2019) and inflation rate to remain the same as this year at around 8 percent. According to Finance Minister, domestic risks to the state budget performance are the possibility of Mongolia being included in an international financial grey list, drop in mineral commodity price and a risk of severe wintering.

Some key highlights from the projected state budget for 2020 are;

- Tax refunds to be issued every quarter
- No domestic or foreign bonds to be issued in order to alleviate budget deficit
- MNT 200 thousand monthly-stipend to be issued to students of the vocational centers and colleges
- In terms of mining commodities, a total of 42 million tons of coal to be sold (coal energy at USD 75 and coking coal at USD 125) and total of 1225 thousand tons of copper concentrate to be sold.
- MNT 160 billion for salaries is allocated to the budget for coordination of salary and inflation rate.
- MNT 5.4 billion to be spent for “Healthy Teeth” program.
- MNT 53 billion for rebuilding the Natural History Museum
- MNT 30 billion for rebuilding the Grand Theatre of National Arts
- MNT 4 billion for rebuilding the National Academic Drama Theatre
- MNT 4 billion for rebuilding the National Library.
- MNT 20 billion for the participation in the Tokyo Olympics
- MNT 15 billion for development of Industrial Park of Darkhan
- MNT 137 billion for Air pollution reduction
- MNT 1.3 billion for drug control.

Mr. Jaroslav Kubera will hold meetings with President Kh.Battulga, Speaker of the Parliament G.Zandanshatar and other high-level officials.

Moreover, he will open a business forum, which will be held at the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and officially open the Czech Export Promotion Center. In frames of the visit, Mongolian and Czech companies running activities in infrastructure, energy, agriculture, mining, exploration, law and legislation, insurance and transport logistics fields will hold one-on-one meetings.

Besides meeting with Mongolian graduates of Czech universities and colleges and Mongolian businessmen, who are contributing in development of bilateral relations the President of Senate is expected to visit New Ulaanbaatar Airport to discuss new projects on development of general purpose air transport.

The agreement will enable the number of aviation companies to be increased from Mongolian side and to conduct direct flights with frequency of 3 times a week from the two sides each with maximum of 800 seats.

Currently, only ‘Turkish Airlines’ aviation company is operating flights from Turkish side 3 times a week with maximum 500 seats and an intermediate stop in route Istanbul-Bishkek-Ulaanbaatar.

By increasing number of flights, seats and aviation companies to operate flights in route Ulaanbaatar-Istanbul-Ulaanbaatar, numerous opportunities such as save time to travel to European countries and reduce ticket price, will be opened. The agreement will come into effect when the sides exchange notes.

Mongolian delegation headed by Head of Air Transport Policy Coordination Department of the Ministry of Road and Transport Development D.Myagmarsuren and Director of the Civil Aviation Authority L.Byambasuren and Turkish delegation led by Director General of Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Turkey Mr. Bahri Kesici attended the bilateral meeting.

On 29 October, the works selected by children will be sent to 38 thousand meters above the centre of Ulaanbaatar with a special high-altitude balloon. The balloon will also carry the official crest of Ulaanbaatar and the names of 380 randomly selected citizens of the capital. The balloon will also have some proper work to do including collecting information on air quality above the capital and performing other scientific task.

Ulaanbaatar cwill be the second capital in the world to launch a high-altitude balloon from its central square. A joint team from the Mongol Koosen College of Technology and Japan’s Chiba Institute of Technology will launch the balloon.

Chinese furnaces now produce 56% of the world’s steel despite pollution-related output cuts mandated by Beijing over the winter months and a slowdown in construction activity.

This is due to blast furnaces in the rest of the world being idled, notably in Japan where August saw a 7.8% drop in crude steel leaving mills. US output was flat while Europe marked a 2.2% decline. Production in the rest of the world outside China is now down for three straight months.

Benchmark iron ore prices were flat on Friday with the Chinese import price of 62% Fe content fines exchanging hands for $90.91 per dry metric tonne, according to Fastmarkets MB, after coming close to triple digits a fortnight ago.

Iron ore remains in a bull market for 2019, up 25% on the back of supply disruptions from top miner Vale following a deadly dam burst in January.

The Australian export price of metallurgical coal (FOB hard coking coal Fastmarkets MB) used in steelmaking eased again on Friday to $121.50 a tonne. That’s down almost $70 a tonne compared to the start of the year amid oversupply and import restrictions imposed by Beijing.

The main objective of this Doing Business with Mongolia Guide is to provide you with basic knowledge about Mongolia; an overview of its economy, business culture, potential opportunities and to identify the main issues associated with initial research, market entry, risk management and cultural and language issues. We do not pretend to provide all the answers in the guide, but novice exporters in particular will find it a useful starting point. Further assistance is available from the Department for International Trade (DIT) team in Mongolia. Full contact details are available in the guide.

To help your business succeed in Mongolia we have carefully selected a variety of essential service providers as ‘Market Experts’; 4u Mongolian Company Formation LLC, Cashmere Holdings Mongolia, IARUDI Financial Consultancy TMZ LLC, Mongolian Business Database/B2B Mongolia, The English School of Mongolia, Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia (TDB) LLC.

The guide has been produced by International Market Advisor, in partnership with the Institute of Export & International Trade, and with support from the British Embassy Ulaanbaatar and Mongolian British Chamber of Commerce (MBCC).

Five things to know about exporting to Mongolia:

• Since 1991, Mongolia has transformed into a vibrant parliamentary democracy, with rule of law and a free, lively media, three times the level of GDP per capita and vast agricultural and mineral resources including major deposits of coal, gold, copper, iron ore and uranium.

• The Mongolian Government is keen to develop its industry, and there are opportunities for UK companies in many areas, such as the mining and oil and gas industries, the supply of equipment and expertise, financing, and other professional, legal and consulting services.

• Mongolia has a younger generation with an increasing number of English language speakers who are open to new products, services, and ideas.

• China provides a ready market for much of Mongolia’s mineral exports as there are no duties, and with no taxes on exports, Mongolia can serve as a gateway to nearby markets provided you have a Mongolian partner or are part of a joint venture.

• Mongolia's GDP growth rate increased from 1.2% in 2016 to 5.3% in 2017 and 6.9% in 2018 and the outlook remains positive in 2019, with the IMF having now raised its projections for Mongolian economic growth for 2019 from 1.5% to 1.8%. Supported by robust growth in private consumption as well as private investment in mining and manufacturing. The country is expected to be one of the world’s fastest-growing economies in the next few decades.

"In past decades, Inner Mongolia has witnessed a green miracle. In the future, we will conduct strict surveillance of the grassland via satellite remote sensing technology," said Mu Yuan, head of the region's forestry and grassland bureau.

He also said the forestry department will promote the technological transformation of grassland recovery and help other regions at home and abroad to fight desertification, bringing more green to the world.

"More innovative ways are encouraged to control the sand for a better ecological system. We will also support cooperation between organizations in Inner Mongolia and other regions both at home and abroad," Mu said.

With 88 million hectares of grassland accounting for 74 percent of the region's area, Inner Mongolia is an important ecological shelter in North China.

However, the region is also home to China's seventh-largest desert - the Kubuqi Desert - which covers 13,900 square kilometers.

Over past decades, more than 6,000 sq km of desert in the Kubuqi have been turned green due to collective efforts from local governments, enterprises and other organizations. Led by a local enterprise, Elion Resources Group, the greening campaign created wealth of more than 500 billion yuan ($70.2 billion) and provided about 1 million jobs to locals.

A "Kubuqi Model" in desertification control has gradually taken shape over the past 30 years, featuring balanced development of ecology, economy and livelihood. Elion's anti-desertification experiences have benefited Beijing, Qinghai province and the Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions.

In addition, the group's techniques have also been used in many massive ecological programs, including Yangtze River Ecological Park and Qilian Mountain National Park.

The Kubuqi Model is highly appreciated by international communities.

During the 7th Kubuqi International Desert Forum held in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, in July, countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan negotiated with Elion to help them improve their local ecological systems through greening.

"We will exploit new ways to enhance our ability to control the sand with the help of modern technologies, such as drones, AI, big data and internet of things," said Ao Baoping, chief executive officer of Elion Green Land Technology.

Tsetsenbileg, mayor of Ordos, said that the city will continue to build itself into an innovative model realizing sustainable development, strengthening the ecological construction efforts and contributing to the country's aim of achieving its sustainable development goal by 2030.