"The trilateral economic corridor is an important part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)," Tuvshintugs Battsetseg, deputy director of the Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Battsetseg said more efforts are needed to "intensify the establishment of the Mongolia-China-Russia economic corridor," expressing confidence that the economic corridor adopted by the three countries in 2016 will make significant contributions to the development of trilateral cooperation not only in the economic sector but also in fields including transportation and tourism.

The three countries have agreed to implement 32 projects under the framework of establishing the economic corridor, she said.

The official said joint feasibility study is underway for reforming the central railway corridor, which is one of the three major projects under the construction of the tripartite economic corridor.

Mongolia has been supporting the BRI from the onset and actively participated in it, said Battsetseg, adding that her country has been focusing on "integrating its Development Road Initiative with the BRI."

China has been one of the biggest trading partners and key investors of Mongolia for many years, she said, noting that Mongolia is interested in attracting foreign investment to its non-mining sectors.

One third of the Mongolian population is living a nomadic life. They sustain livestock and move seasonally across the vast Mongolian grasslands, bringing with them their Ger— foldable traditional homes made of felt and yak’s wool. Their whereabouts range in infinite areas, hours away from a paved road and maybe days away from a village.

When you constantly travel with all of your belongings, you are much less dependent on things—you carefully choose to own and carry only what is essential. And one of the few technologies that has become ubiquitous in Mongolian Ger is solar.

The Mongolian government launched the “National 100,000 Solar Ger Electrification Program”, an initiative to provide nomads with portable solar home systems (SHS). Simple portable panels and batteries, easy to set up and carry, have become a modern accessory in the traditional nomad homes.

They power LED light bulbs to light up the evenings. They power mobile phones and radios, providing vital information on weather conditions and connecting the nomads with the outside world—be it their children, who stay in dorms during the school year, or a rescue service, in case of need. Even in the age of technology, the freedom of nomadic lifestyle is sustained by the environment: empowered by the Sun.

Damdinsuren welcomed the Cuban diplomat at the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with whom he talked about various issues of mutual interest.

During the meeting, Damdinsuren and Delgado reviewed the current state of bilateral ties, the progress made in recent years and analyzed ways to encourage mutually beneficial cooperation links.

They also discussed activities to celebrate jointly next year the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the information added.

The two sides highlighted the success of the recent meeting of Political Consultations between Foreign Ministries, held in Havana January 18-19 this year.

This meeting, they agreed, constituted an important boost for the new perspectives of commercial, cultural and sports exchange.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on that occasion between Cuba's Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment and Mongolia's Ministry of Environment, Green Development and Tourism.

Havana and Ulan Bator have had diplomatic relations for 59 years. In 1960, Cuba was the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean to establish ties with that Asian nation.

The search giant promoted its plans in a blog post on Wednesday, saying the investments would spur the creation of more than 10,000 construction jobs.

The firm will also add tens of thousands to its workforce, doubling its presence in states such as Georgia.

Google's emphasis on its US investments comes amid wider concerns about slowing business spending in the US.

Big tech firms such as Google have also faced criticism that they have not contributed as widely to the economy by way of jobs, taxes and and other support as the corporate giants of previous eras.

In the post, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said the company had hired more than 10,000 people in the US last year and invested $9bn.

That figure will grow to $13bn in 2019 and include major expansions in 14 states, including Oklahoma, South Carolina, Ohio and Nebraska.

Google expects 2019 to be the second year in a row it grows faster outside of the Bay Area than in it, becoming a presence in 24 of 50 states, he said.

"I'm proud to say that our US footprint is growing rapidly," Mr Pichai said.

The investments the firm highlighted include previously announced plans to expand in New York city.

Unlike Amazon, which has also said it would build a New York campus, Google's commitment was not accompanied by a subsidy package - a move that won the firm praise last year.

However, the firm's growth has spurred controversy elsewhere, amid fears of gentrification.

The firm's commuter buses have been targeted in San Francisco. Last year, it also dropped plans for offices in a trendy district of Berlin after opposition by local campaigners.

The investments come as Google's parent company, Alphabet, more than doubled its profits last year to more than $30bn, while revenue increased more than 23% to almost $137bn.

Despite those gains, investors have questioned Alphabet's rising costs.

The firm's capital expenditures increased to $25.1bn last year and operating expenses exceeded $50bn.

On a call with financial analysts, Alphabet's chief financial officer said the firm remained committed to investments, but that spending was likely to "moderate significantly".

The memorandum is aimed at supporting infrastructure development and public-private partnerships in Mongolia. Moreover, within the scope of the memorandum, those interested in investing or running business in Mongolia will be connected to the one–stop service center at NDA.

In the frameworks of the memorandum, highly efficient DPF filters of the South Korean company, ‘Ceracomb’, will be installed on public buses. With 25 years of experience of manufacturing the filter, the company have introduced it to seven countries so far.

The filters were installed on four buses as a test last year and the results showed the emission being reduced by 50-60 percent.

Deputy Governor of the Capital City D.Enkhtur, Head of the Transport Department of the Capital City D.Otgonbaatar and representatives of KOTRA Ulaanbaatar attended the signing ceremony.

Last year, a total of 215 projects with an available office space of 985,000 square meters was commissioned. About half of these are located in the downtown area in Sukhbaatar district. 72.9 percent of offices in this district are luxury-class; however, about 80 percent of private entities operating in the capital are the small and medium-sized enterprises with up to 20 workers. According to a survey, these entities prefer comfortable, low-cost offices that are not too far from downtown. In other words, there is a gap between the purchasing ability of customers and construction supply.

The trend in the office market is dependent on economic growth. Experts highlight that almost half of the demand for class-A offices are both, directly and indirectly, connected to the mining sector. Thus, the office market began to restore on the back of the upsurge of the mining sector since 2017.

The number of office seeking entities annually grow by 1,100 on average, which equals to 50,000- 60,000 in square meters. Plus, nearly 40 percent of entities renting office spaces are unsatisfied with the office environment. Considering these indicators, real estate agents forecast the demand for office to grow steadily in the upcoming years, suggesting an annual growth of over 8 percent.

As for ideal offices, a survey shows that private entities prioritize location the most, preferably near downtown. The priority list is followed up by price, class, and availability of parking areas. The preference drops significantly for office buildings that perform poorly on these areas, noted Tenkhleg Zuuch LLC.

** The coal mine project will have an annual capacity of 8 million tonnes

A theme of ‘Pathways to Sustainability 2030’ will be explored over a five-day agenda, featuring topics such as: cashmere sector sustainability; the environmental, social and economic challenges facing the industry; along with long-term sustainable development and innovative cooperation.

Ts.Elbegdorj served as President of Mongolia from 2009 to 2017. He previously served as Prime Minister in 1998 and again from 2004 to 2006. He was one of the key leaders of the 1990 Mongolian democratic revolution that ended 70 years of communist rule in Mongolia, and co-drafted the country’s 1992 constitution that guaranteed democracy and a free market economy.