Initially, in 2009, the Ministry of Road, Transport, Construction and Urban Development of Mongolia and Tianjin Municipal People's Government established a memorandum on China leasing 10 hectares of land of Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone in Tianjin to Mongolia for 50 years on very soft terms to support Mongolia’s access to sea. Then in May 2018, the memorandum was re-established as the Mongolian Minister of Road and Transport Development, Chinese Transport Minister, and Head of the Tianjin Municipal People's Government agreed that the document has to be enriched, revised, and aligned with the ‘Steppe Road’ and ’Development Road’ programs of Mongolia and ‘Belt and Road’ initiative of China.

The sides also decided to build a transport and logistics center on the aforementioned 10 ha of land and the construction work will begin in July. Thus, the project, which has been stalled over a decade, is now moving forward and it will play a key role for Mongolia in having access to sea and further making its way to third markets through seaports.

The well site work had commenced at the Heron 1 location and was expected to be completed within 10 days.

The site construction contractor would then move to the Gazelle 1 location and from there to Red Deer 1.

All three sites were expected to be complete by the end of June.

The work was being carried out by the same construction contractor that successfully prepared the sites for the company's 2018 drilling campaign.

A contractor had been chosen to drill two water supply wells, one for operations at Heron and Gazelle and one for Red Deer.

The contractor would mobilise to Heron in early June.

Permitting, procurement activities and rig preparations were progressing well, ahead of the exploration drilling campaign, the company said.

'The DQE rig has completed its pre-move testing and certification and the required electrical upgrade is expected to be completed in the first week of June,' it added.

Petro Matad said it continued to target an early July spud date for the Heron well with the Red Deer well expected to spud in the second half of July.

Drilling of the Gazelle well will immediately follow Heron, after a short rig move.

The lending marks ADB’s first project loans in Mongolia to focus on tourism and protected area management. They will benefit around 11,000 residents as well as improve local environmental conservation and climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. Khuvsgul Lake in Khuvsgul Lake National Park is Mongolia’s largest freshwater resource, while Onon-Balj National Park is the birthplace of Chinggis Khaan, a revered leader in Mongolia’s history.

“Tourism is the largest and fastest growing sector of the global economy, and Mongolia’s magnificent landscapes and unique heritage can capitalize on this,” said ADB Senior Environment Specialist for East Asia Mr. Mark Bezujien. “That said, ADB’s support will help ensure that tourism growth in Mongolia benefits local residents and preserves fragile environments over the long term.”

In 2017, tourism comprised 11.4% of Mongolia’s gross domestic product (GDP), while generating $1.2 billion in revenue and providing 121,500 jobs. Developing tourism is a government priority to help diversify the economy. By 2028, tourism is forecast to provide 11.0% of GDP, $2.1 billion in revenue, and provide 149,000 jobs. International visitors alone are expected to double to 1 million.

The Sustainable Tourism Development Project will improve planning for community-based tourism that will both support visitors but also create local income generation opportunities. It will also upgrade tourism infrastructure, including tourism centers such as the Chinggis Khaan Tourism Complex and ticket booths, install toilets and other waste management facilities that will benefit both tourists and the host communities, and improve park management to safeguard wilderness areas. It will also pilot test Mongolia’s first tourism concession manuals and eco-certification programs for protected areas.

ADB’s support is aligned with Mongolia’s National Program on Tourism Development, 2016–2030, and promotes the country’s strategies and efforts to diversify the economy, improve climate-resilient infrastructure, protect the environment, and increase economic opportunities for residents in rural areas. The government has identified a range of other sites for ecotourism development. These could benefit from lessons learned under the ADB project.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. In 2018, it made commitments of new loans and grants amounting to $21.6 billion. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

Crowd Credit provides debt capital to peer-to-peer lending platforms, balance sheet lenders, microfinance institutions, leasing/factoring originators or infrastructure, renewable, development projects through its crowdfunding platform based in Japan.

Ard Credit is a publicly listed non-bank finance company licensed by the Financial Regulatory Committee of Mongolia. It is a flagship of Ard Financial Group – a full-service financial holding company. Ard Credit was set up in April 2011 with the goal of providing access to inclusive financial services to Mongolians by leveraging the potential of innovative technologies.

Both organisations will be represented during MFC Annual Conference 2019 in Istanbul starting next days. Meet Ard Credit and Crowd Credit at the Speed Networking Session and Social Investors and Technology Fair!

According to the ministry on Tuesday, it obtained a transcript of the alleged broker mentioning encounters with Ambassador Chung Jae-nam while explaining the details of procuring a visa to South Korea, including associated costs and likelihood of obtaining the document.

Chung is suspected of colluding with the broker and illegally intervening in the South Korean government's visa application review process.

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions representing workers at overseas missions also requested the ministry probe allegations that Chung verbally abused embassy employees, including an incident where he screamed at employees while questioning the whereabouts of leftover food from an event in March.

The incident apparently led to Chung forcefully reassigning the employee in charge of the event.

The diplomat is also accused of misappropriating the embassy budget for personal expenditures.

The airline will provide the service every Monday and Tuesday with a Boeing 737; the travel time will be three hours and 20 minutes.

Established in 1997, SCAT serves over 33 domestic and international destinations with 18 aircraft.

The direct flights between Kazakhstan and Mongolia will support the development of relations and cooperation between the two countries, particularly, in the tourism and business sectors.

According to MBF, there is no way but to acknowledge the fact that there is a need for professional workers in the construction sector. The scope of construction is expanding much further this year in specific as the Government budgeted MNT 1.6 trillion, which is five times higher than in 2017 and doubles the amount of 2018. “The companies are still offering jobs for professional staff; however, the availability of professional labor remains low. There are several reasons for this. For example, the Mongolian labor force in the Republic of Korea has been increasing constantly. We are also working to train young graduates in vocational training and industrial centers, and improve their skills,” addressed a spokesperson of MBF.

49,300 Mongolians are currently living and working in South Korea. In 2014, 64,900 Mongolian citizens had a travel visa to South Korea, which then increased to 108,100 in 2017. Secondly, the labor interests towards the mining industry are causing a decline in construction due to higher labor value and other factors.

There is a lack of sustainability in the construction sector, which is seasonal and stops in the winter. Therefore, the construction workforce creates brigade and it is difficult to build human resources. In particular, construction workers are rarely official. Most of them are temporarily contracted. About 12,000 people graduate from vocational schools, of which 40 percent are working in the industry, according to a survey conducted by MBF.

An official study says over 90,000 people work in the construction sector; however, some studies show that less than 60,000 people are employed. This sector is seasonal, so it is difficult to clearly indicate the number of employees. For this reason, it is hard to train employees and to work with sustainable settlements.

The latter received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Portuguese Republic to Mongolia, Mr. Jose Augusto Duarte, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Spain to Mongolia, Mr. Rafael Dezcallar de Mazarredo, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Swiss Confederation to Mongolia, Mr. Bernardino Regazzoni, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Croatia to Mongolia, Mr. Dario Mihelin, in this regard.

President Battulga welcomed the ambassadors to Mongolia and encouraged them to make efforts towards developing economic, social, and people-to-people relations with Mongolia from Beijing.

During the one-on-one meetings, President Battulga exchanged views with the ambassadors on ways to fully utilize the opportunities for cooperation in the sectors of food, agriculture, light industries, tourism, and energy. President Battulga also gave brief information on certain projects that are ready for implementation in the above-mentioned sectors and expressed his readiness to connect them with the corresponding officials and support their cooperation with the government.