President Kh.Battulga informed that Mongolia’s economic growth reached 6.8 percent in 2018; there are major projects underway such as the construction of a 414.6km long railway between Zuun Bayan Soum of Dornogobi province and Gashuun Sukhait Border Crossing. Another project is constructing a coal terminal on the Sea of Japan – this is being implemented by Erdenes-Tavan Tolgoi in cooperation with Russia’s Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO). The Mongolian president expressed his interest on beginning big deals with Japan as a costumer country.

In return, the Japanese PM said that he will examine the projects proposed by President Kh.Battulga and showed particular interest in Mongolia’s Tavan Tolgoi project. Shinzo Abe applauded President’s visit to the USA and considered that it had been effective; he noted that the visit had become the basis for cooperation between Japan-Mongolia-USA.

The Mongolian President is slated to come on a state visit to India later this month. A number of projects were discussed – particularly the assistance India is currently giving to build a major oil refinery in Mongolia – also the ‘only’ oil; refinery – to meet its energy needs through a line of credit,” he said. “A number of people-to-people issues were discussed including culture, and the spiritual connection. The President specially said he was looking forward to his visit to Bodh Gaya in Bihar, in addition to Delhi as well as to Bangalore,” Gokhale said. A discussion on how to mitigate the level of pollution in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, also took place, he said.

At the meeting, the President of Far East University expressed willingness to cooperate in Mongolia’s road and transport sector, in particular commencing bilateral partnership in establishing joint civil aviation institute in Mongolia.

After briefly introducing about New Ulaanbaatar International Airport and the ministry’s plan for Buyant-Ukhaa airport, the Minister expressed his confidence that the sides can develop mutually effective cooperation in training pilots, navigation, engineering and technical staff, flight attendants at the civil aviation institute, developing human resource of the aviation sector as well as others.

As a conclusion of the meeting, the sides established a Memorandum of Understanding with a purpose to intensify works to establish Mongolia-Korea joint institute of civil aviation and settle the detailed program for aviation training between the Civil Aviation Authority of Mongolia and Far East University.

Within the MoU, the sides concurred to cooperate in implementing joint training program on the capacity building of personnel in road and transport sector, training road and transport students in the Far East University, co-establishing Mongolia-Korea civil aviation institute in Mongolia, co-organizing seminars and research works and exchanging experience and information.

Moreover, it creates possibility to train pilots and navigation, engineering and technical workers in accordance with ICAO training program and standards and establish joint aviation institute within cooperation and support of Far East University of Korea.

At the meeting, they exchanged views on stable supply of oil to oil refinery project being implemented by the Government of Mongolia and aviation fuel to the new airport built in Khushig Valley. Apart from it, Rosneft Company proposed to give assistance and collaborate in geology and mining sector of Mongolia, especially, in oil exploration.

If you’d like to attend the Gala Ball, please reserve your tables and tickets at info@austchammongolia.com or call 9964-4421

The Fold, which opens like a book, will go on sale in South Korea on Friday. Sales in other countries, including France, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, will follow, though Samsung did not specify when exactly the phone will reach those markets.
The foldable phone, which will retail for $1,980, was originally supposed to hit stores in April. Those plans were shelved after reports from early users about how quickly the device broke.
Samsung (SSNLF) said Thursday that it has spent the past several months "refining" the phone.
"Now, we're excited to release this pioneering mobile technology, and allow consumers to experience it for themselves," said DJ Koh, Samsung's president and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division, in a statement.

The 4.6 inch-smartphone's key selling point is that it opens up into a 7.3-inch tablet. But reviewers complained of several problems, including defective hinges and broken screens, after they mistook the Fold's protective film for a disposable shield and removed it.
Samsung announced tweaks to the phone's design back in July. It strengthened the phone's hinge area and extended the top protective layer to make it more obvious to users that it is not supposed to be removed. The company also added caps to protect the top and bottom of the phone's hinge.
The early reviews were a setback for Samsung, which is the world's largest smartphone maker. The company has worked to win back customer trust following its Galaxy Note 7 fiasco in 2016. Millions of those devices were recalled because of reports of exploding batteries. Samsung later halted production and sales of that phone.
Consumers will likely be hesitant to buy the Galaxy Fold because of its hefty price tag and the early reports of broken screens, one analyst noted in July. But he added that is unlikely to affect Samsung's reputation or market position since there isn't much demand for foldable devices right now.
Samsung's new phone will go head-to-head with rival smartphone maker Huawei's foldable phone. The Chinese tech company is expected to launch its $2,600 Mate X later this year. The phone was delayed so Huawei could test it further. Huawei hasn't yet revealed an official release date.
Samsung is also dealing with problems in its memory chip business. Global demand has slowed and a dispute between Japan and South Korea threatens to restrict the supply of chemicals Samsung needs to make semiconductors.

However, the deficit amount is lower than the previous year’s USD 200 million. Income for the goods and services of exports has increased by USD 330 million compared to the previous year. Also, services which include travel, tourism, transportation, and paid services decreased by USD 64 million. As a result, current account deficit decreased by USD 183 million but it remains high.

“Current account deficit can be balanced by foreign direct investment, especially, Oyu Tolgoi project and long-term soft loans under the Extended Funding Facility,” said Head of Research and Statistics Department of Central Bank. The deficit is expected to decline slightly as a result.

In terms of the financial account, foreign direct investment totalled USD 1.1 billion since the beginning of 2019, decreasing by USD 44 million from the previous year. Mining mega projects account for more than 90 percent of direct investment.

“The vulnerability associated with external financing has not diminished, and the high current account deficit might affect negatively on investors' confidence and attitudes,” Fitch agency warned about Mongolia's credit rating in July.

Within the framework of the agreement, a mutual investment fund in dollar and ruble currencies is to be set up for financing large scale projects, further providing impetus to the economic development of the two countries.

The RDIF was created in 2011 under the leadership of the President and Prime Minister of Russia to co-invest alongside top global investors, acting as a catalyst for direct investment in Russia. It is a major investment fund that has invested and committed for this purpose RUB1.5 trillion and attracted over USD40 billion of foreign capital into the Russian economy through long-term strategic partnerships.

The DBM Asset Management SC LLC asset management company, was established in 2017 by the Development Bank of Mongolia as a wholly owned subsidiary. The company works towards gaining the confidence of domestic and foreign investors by establishing investment funds and introducing internationally accepted asset management operations in Mongolia. With the purpose to maintain stable economic growth, increase competitiveness and finance major profitable projects, the company founded the National Strategic Investment Fund in 2018. In scope of its aims to draw in capital from international markets, the DBM Asset Management SC LLC is also working on a proposed financing of USD 75.9 million from the Asian Development Bank.

Mongolia sits in a strategically important place between Russia and China, and its economy has been growing largely from mineral exports to its giant neighbour China.

But the Mongolian authorities have been looking for ways to export more to other Asian countries, and the Russian president's visit on Tuesday (Sep 3) was seen as a key opportunity to strengthen ties.

"Russia will never forget Mongolia's help and support when Russia was fighting against the Nazis," Putin said, joining in a celebration to mark the 80th anniversary of a battle fought by Mongolian and Russian soldiers against the invading Japanese army in 1939.

Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga and Putin signed a series of agreements including joint investment funds to finance Mongolia's infrastructure developments, with the Russian president loaning 100 billion rubles (US$1.5 billion) in a gift for the battle anniversary.

Battulga said he planned to use the aid to build new railroads to the Chinese border to open one more channel for coal and mineral export.

Battulga also stated that Mongolia hopes to build its own terminal in a Russian port to facilitate exporting its natural resources through Russia.

While the two countries have US$1.7 billion annually in two-way trade, around 95 per cent of it is Mongolia buying oil from Russia.

Putin's visit comes after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper made a rare visit to Mongolia last month on an Asian tour aimed at shoring up partnerships to counter China's growing influence in the region.

Source: AFP/nr