Demand for air transport in Mongolia is rising, with Ulaanbaatar, its capital and thus most important political, economic and commercial hub, at the center of growth. In 2018, the number of passengers utilizing the existing airport reached 1.42 million, up 14% from the previous year. With continued investment in its abundant coal, mineral and livestock resources, demand for aviation services is expected to increase further in Mongolia and boost the importance of its airports.

While the New Airport is located approximately 50 km south of Ulaanbaatar city, its new geographical location enables aircraft to take off and land from both ends of the runway. This is a significant improvement from the existing airport, where, due to mountains to the south and east, only one end of the runway can be used and flight schedules are more often adversely impacted by weather conditions such as wind direction. The New Airport has been realized through an ODA (Official Development Assistance) yen loan provided by the Government of Japan to the Government of Mongolia.

The agreement was signed by sides on July 5 in Ulaanbaatar.

The project is being implemented in the framework of the general agreement on soft loan in the amount of $700 million from South Korea.

The signing ceremony was attended by Minister of Finance of Mongolia Bulgantuya Khurelbaatar and Executive Director for Crediting of the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

Battulga made the remarks when he sent a message of condolences to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, over the recent deadly floods in the Siberian region of Irkutsk.

"In addition, the Mongolian people have begun collecting money, food, warm clothes and other essentials in order to provide humanitarian aid for flood victims in the Irkutsk region," Battulga said in the message.

According to a statement by the Irkutsk regional division of the emergencies ministry, since June 25, 96 settlements of the region have been flooded, including 10,097 residential houses inhabited by 32,798 people, among which 7,938 were children. Medical and obstetric centers, schools and kindergartens were also affected.

The 17 judges were dismissed on 26 June by the Judiciary Council and National Security Council, based on amendments to laws governing the judiciary and anti-corruption agency that were adopted in an emergency session of Mongolian parliament on 27 March. At that time, Transparency International criticised the amendments as threatening to “undermine the separation of powers and systems of checks and balances designed to prevent abuse and ensure respect for the rule of law.” In May 2019, the head and deputy head of Mongolia's anti-corruption agency were removed from their posts under the amended laws.

Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of Transparency International, said: “Mongolia is heading in a dangerous direction, and sacking 17 judges on accusations of corruption just after one month after two UN Special Rapporteurs recommended that the government stop politically interfering in the judicial system shows a flagrant disregard for the country’s international commitments. Removing these judges and sacking the heads of the anti-corruption agency threatens any recent gains in the fight against corruption in Mongolia.”

Some Mongolian parliamentarians had called for judges to be dismissed, and Transparency International urges all state and non-state actors to respect the rule of law and due process in their words and actions. Further, through a newly proposed draft law on non-profit legal entities and social media, the Mongolian parliament appears to be attempting to reduce freedom of expression, association, and civil society’s access to resources. Undermining democratic freedoms will lead to increased corruption and impunity, Transparency International warned.

A recent assessment by Transparency International showed that only 24 per cent of corruption cases in Mongolia were prosecuted and 76 per cent were dropped by prosecutors. Mongolia should eliminate any interference by the National Security Council in the independence of the anti-corruption agency and establish a well-resourced and specialised anti-corruption court.

For any press enquiries please contact
Michael Hornsby
T: +49 30 34 38 20 666
E: press@transparency.org

The Mongolian member committee hosted by the Mongolian Federation of Engineering Organisations aims to promote and support safe, affordable, and reliable energy transformation in the region.

As part of its work, it will provide a platform for all stakeholders to discuss and work on the future of energy while representing the Mongolian perspective within national, regional and global energy debates.

Originally existing as a member committee in the past, Mongolia has now re-joined the Council’s network as a new entity with Mr O.Erdene-Ulzii of the Mongolian Federation of Engineering Organisations appointed as Chair and Mrs. Mungunchimeg as its new Secretary.

Mongolia currently ranks at 94 among 130 countries on the World Energy Council’s 2015 Energy Trilemma Index and achieves an energy balance score of BCD, with 90% of its population having access to electricity.

The Index measures countries’ energy sustainability performance based on the three pillars of the trilemma: energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability.

Mongolia’s parliament recently adopted broad measures aimed at future sustainability including the Green Development Policy and the Law on Energy Conservation and Efficiency.

Also, there is a problem of lack of opening ceremony ticket. National Sports Stadium has only 12,300 seats and finding tickets is a big problem tourists face every year. A total of 15,000 tourists submitted a request to watch Mongolia’s traditional festival opening ceremony. However, around 1500 tickets were allowed to the tourists. This year, the standard ticket price is MNT 16,000-24,000 the same as the last year.

“The Stadium has 13,500 seats, and tourists can receive 3500 of it. This is our capability. If we allow all the tourists who want to attend the opening of the Naadam Festival to enter the Central Stadium, Mongolians cannot watch their traditional festivals. We are aiming to receive one million foreign tourists in 2020, making an effort to improve sanitation standards in tourism zones,” the Minister of Environment and Tourism Tseerenbat Namsrai said to the press.

In Mongolia, the tourism season starts in May, and travelers tend to attracted by Naadam Festival. There is statistical data on an average of 450,000 tourists visit Mongolia annually. However, according to the officials, the number of tourists visiting Mongolia only exceeds 90,000 per year.

Tourists came to Mongolia decreased by 4.8 percent last year
During Naadam, National Sports Stadium become extremely crowded, due to the centralized trade and trade services. “730 organizations, which include food, souvenirs, handicrafts, and other trading will work in the stadium and Khui Doloon Khudag. Under General Manager of Ulaanbaatar’s order related to Naadam, the Metropolitan Professional Inspection Department, Police Department of Ulaanbaatar city, and the Mayor’s office of all districts will jointly work in maintaining security,” said the spokesman.

The number of tourists came to Mongolia last year decreased by 4.8 percent. The decline in tourists from China and Australia was the key factor to it. Although the total number of tourists has dropped, tourists from Ukraine and Hong Kong have risen. In particular, the tourists from Ukraine increased by 37.2 percent compared to last year. Traveling flow between the two countries has doubled since the adoption of the non-visa law to Russia.

"Today, the Mongolian government made a decision on establishing Genghis Khan's museum in the capital city Ulan Bator in the near future in a bid to boost tourism," Baatarbileg told a press conference.

The minister said the museum would be the main center of works of all scientific studies and rare findings related to Genghis Khan.

The Asian country has been striving to diversify its tourism sector to promote the growth of its mining-dependent economy.

In an effort to develop heritage tourism, the country has been paying special attention to Genghis Khan.

The government has recently decided to establish an independent institute for Genghis Khan research in the eastern Khentii Province which is best known as his birthplace.

Genghis Khan (1162-1227) founded the Mongol Empire in the 13th century by uniting individual tribes in Northeast Asia.

The parties will discuss the target demanding sectors in Mongolia and select the appropriate courses from 102 online training programmes first and plan to announce the in-class training courses. According to the initial consideration, the training on finance, accounting, bank and financial institutions staff training will be implemented first followed by hospitality and food service industry staff training courses would be considered. The project mission will be commenced this year.

MBD and GAPE hope to enhance human capacity improvements for Mongolian generation in near future with the UK standrad Skills Training and Education.