Landlocked Mongolia is heavily dependent on demand for coal and copper from China, its southern neighbour and the buyer of more than 90 percent of its exports.

China has sharply reduced purchases of Australian coal after clearing times through China’s customs doubled to more than 40 days amid growing tensions between Beijing and Canberra over issues ranging from cyber security to Beijing’s influence in Pacific island nations.

Naranbaatar Lundeg, an economist and member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, said the problems faced importing coal from Australia had “opened up opportunities” for Mongolian suppliers.

“This might continue until May, due to the parliamentary elections in Australia,” he said.

Mongolia’s export earnings from coal over the first three months of the year reached $644 million, up 25 percent compared to a year earlier, the country’s statistics office said.

The rise in coal exports helped drive up Mongolia’s total industrial output from coal mining by 64.9 percent over the period.

Mongolia’s industrial output rose 17.5 percent over the first quarter, while the total value of the country’s exports rose 19.5 percent, the statistics office said.

Reporting by Munkhchimeg Davaasharav in ULAANBAATAR Writing by David Stanway; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore

The AAFA has expressed its support for the Mongolia Third Neighbor Trade Act after it was introduced to both US legislative chambers, the House and the Senate. The proposed bill would provide duty-free access to the US market for products made in Mongolia, using the one of the nation’s most renowned exports: cashmere.

“Mongolian cashmere is a brand in and of itself,” stated Rick Helfenbein, president and CEO of the AAFA. “This bill would provide a market for Mongolia’s authentic cashmere, supporting growth and creating jobs throughout the U.S. cashmere value chain.

“At the same time, by passing the Mongolia Third Neighbor Trade Act, Congress would forge a stronger partnership with our friends in Mongolia and provide American consumers with better access to these high-end products.”

Regarding America’s future trading relationship with India, the AAFA has, along with 24 other trade associations, sent an open letter to the US Trade Representative to share their collective concern over the plan to terminate India's GSP status, urging the extension of talks to reach a mutually agreeable solution.

The coalition of industry organisations states that the anticipated move by the US to end the agreement appears to "disregard the way in which this programme helps lift hundreds of millions of people out of extreme poverty," before adding that "Congress prioritised this development imperative, as the original intent of GSP was to 'further...the economic development of developing countries through the expansion of their exports' and years later in its renewal remained 'to assist their economic development and diversification through preferential market access'.”

Co-signed by senators John Cornyn and Mark Warner, an additional letter appeals for a delay to the decision due in no small part to the fact that India is currently in the midst of a general election – a factor which they suggest would be a hindrance to meaningful time and resources being allocated to negotiate trading arrangement.

Bangladesh had its GSP status rescinded after the fateful Rana Plaza collapse of 2013, and has since remained unable to regain its previous arrangement – despite several concerted attempts.

Web: aafaglobal.org

The increase was a result of several factors, including the implementation of the three-year Extended Funding Facility (EFF) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Mongolia and higher commodity prices in the global market.

The three-year IMF program, approved in May 2017, is aimed at stabilizing the economy and establish a basis for more sustainable and inclusive growth. Mongolia’s foreign currency reserves have more than doubled since the start of the program.

Meanwhile, the Mongolian Central Bank has set a goal to increase its foreign exchange reserves to 4 billion dollars in the near future.

The official said: “The IMF is in very close collaboration with the Chinese authorities on sharing the best international practices, especially regarding fiscal sustainability and capacity building,” not only for Chinese officials, but also for officials from low-income countries that have joined in the BRI.

According to Rhee, the fund has opened the China-IMF Capacity Development Center in Beijing in order to provide personnel training, support institution building, and boost communication for countries along the Belt and Road.

China’s BRI megaproject (dubbed the new Silk Road) which was announced six years ago by President Xi Jinping covers 152 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. It is expected to significantly boost global trade, and cut trading costs by half for the countries involved.

China’s contribution to the world’s economy will increase, according to Rhee, who noted the country is expected to account for more than 30 percent of global growth this year.

“We welcome the Chinese government’s recent announcement of a growth target in the form of a range, not a point target,” Rhee said. “I think that is quite consistent with the authorities’ emphasis on the quality of growth rather than just maintain high quantity growth.”

The IMF has projected that China’s economy will grow by 6.3 percent this year, higher than the previous forecast of 6.2 percent.

Prices will “absolutely” continue to increase as mine closures in Brazil spur a market deficit in the second half of the year, Wu Wenzhang, founder and president of Shanghai Steelhome Information Technology Co., said in an interview Saturday. Iron-ore prices surged to the highest since July 2014 at $95.90 a ton on Friday, according to Mysteel data.

“They don’t realize what’s going to happen,” Wu said on the sidelines of Steelhome’s conference, which attracts about one thousand delegates from around China. Disruptions will amount to 60 million tons of lost supply this year, according to his “conservative” estimate. “The only thing we can do is try to convince the steelmakers to believe what could happen with iron-ore supply, and to prepare for the upcoming shortage.”

The global iron-ore market is reeling from a late-January dam breakdown at a Vale SA operation that left more than 200 people dead and triggered a sweep of mine closures across Brazil. Shipments from the South American nation are already in contraction, while Australian disruptions and signs of a demand pick-up in China’s steel needs offer a further boost to prices.

Wu said he’d be watching iron-ore stockpiles in China for signs of stress, with a slide below 100 million tons likely to trigger “devastating” price volatility. Port stockpiles totaled nearly 150 million tons on April 5, according to Steelhome’s own data. The safe minimum is about 120 million tons, Wu said.

The International Association for Mongol Studies and Eötvös Loránd University will jointly organize this international conference in cooperation with the Fund for Supporting Mongolian Studies, Gandantegchenling Monastery, the Center of Mongolian Buddhists and the Embassy of Mongolia in Hungary.

This forum is for scholars and monks to present their works on different aspects of Mongolian Buddhism within the theme of ‛Tradition and Innovation’ noting that monasteries, monks, and devotees have always faced and continue to face challenges due to changing historical, social, economic, political, cultural and other social forces.

Presentations will cover various aspects of Mongolian Buddhism including history, monasticism, education, ritual and other practice, textology, philology, folk religion, connection with nature, social environment and other religions, and any other approaches related to the historical and contemporary situation of Mongolian Buddhism.

The conference will focus on Buddhism of Mongols living in the present area of Mongolia, as well as the beliefs and practices of Mongols living in China, Russia or other places in the diaspora. The distinctiveness of Mongolian Buddhist tradition and the innovations that have taken place within it, will be revealed through the presentations and round-table discussions.

Source: Department of Mongolian and Inner Asian Studies, Eötvös Loránd University

The Policy Council will be headed by Senior Vice-President of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ph.D. Chuluunbaatar Gelegpil and Secretary of Information, Monitoring, and Evaluation Department of the Secretariat of the Parliament Mr.Erdenebileg

Also, MPs have decided to establish a provisional committee to review the issue on resolving the murder case of Zorig Sanjaasuren and to introduce a proposal and conclusion to the session. The draft resolution was approved by the Standing Committee on Legislation.

Thus, the first discussions of the draft law on Food and Services of the Secondary School, which was originally set up at the beginning of the agenda, and the “Parliamentary resolution on some measures to implement the law" were held.

The Standing Committee submitted a bill to provide meals and services to the students by assistant staff, cooks, assistant cooks using the qualified equipment at a standardized facility. The majority of the members of the Standing Committee have supported the proposal to reflect on the draft law. It is estimated that MNT 300 billion will be required to solve the problem of kitchen building, maintenance, supplying equipment, preparing staff and other issues. The plan will be implemented in phases over five years.

The center aims to improve people's knowledge of drug risks, reduce drug-related crimes, and prevent drug addiction in youth by organizing related trainings and providing people with information they need, Mongolian state television quoted the NPA as saying.

The number of drug-related crimes has been increasing significantly in Mongolia in recent years, the NPA said, noting that the Mongolian police have arrested 130 people linked to 67 drug-related crimes so far this year. More than 80 percent of the offenders are young people aged 18-35.

A total of 199 drug-related criminal cases were registered across Mongolia in 2018, up more than 30 percent from the previous year.

A lack of knowledge about drugs, curiosity, an attempt to make easy money and weak law enforcement are the main factors in the growth of drug-related crimes, the NPA said.

According to Mongolian law, a person who is found guilty of trafficking drugs faces at least two years in prison.