Under the provisions of the Mongolian Food Safety Law 2012, all involved in the primary production of agricultural raw materials must implement Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Hygiene Practices. However, the government has not formulated and adopted a national GAP scheme, and there is no common understanding of GAP provisions among producers, consumers, the government, and NGOs.

The APO in partnership with the Mongolian Productivity Organization and Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, Government of Mongolia, organized a national conference-cum-workshop on Enhancing GAP Implementation in the Mongolian Agriculture Sector in Ulaanbaatar, 15–17 January, to train producers and build the capacity of key stakeholders in GAP for fruit and vegetables. It helped reach a consensus among stakeholders on the adoption of GAP scheme standards.
representing producers and family farmers, government officers including those in local government units and the National Agency for Standardization and Metrology, managers of food-processing companies, the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and others in charge of GAP and organic agriculture as well as a resource person from the ROK attended. The project was a follow-up to the APO Training of Trainers in the GLOBALGAP Standard for Greater Market Access held in Pakistan in 2016 and Self-learning e-Course on GAP offered in 2017–2018.
The conference allowed participants to learn from the experiences of other organizations and their achievements in the development of sustainable agriculture worldwide. As well as explaining the principles of product safety and risk assessment for primary agricultural production, the basic technical requirements for introducing GAP in farming and livestock operations were clarified. Participants also learned how to harmonize organic agricultural production standards with GAP schemes.

The comprehensive center is equipped with 250 beds and advanced medical devices, and can provide medical treatments for 250 outpatients a day.

Senior Chinese and Mongolian officials, including Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Xing Haiming, Chief of Staff of the President of Mongolia Zandaakhuu Enkhbold, and Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Mongolia Sodnom Chinzorig, attended the ceremony.

"Sharing a 4,710-km-long borderline, China and Mongolia are long-standing close neighbors. The center for children with disabilities has become a symbol of China-Mongolia friendship," said Xing at the ceremony.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Mongolia, Xing added, expressing the hope that the two countries will take this opportunity to elevate the current level of bilateral relations to a new height in all areas.

For his part, Enkhbold expressed gratitude to the Chinese government and people, describing the development center as one of the largest humanitarian projects in Mongolia implemented with non-refundable aid from China.

In his opening remarks, PM U.Khurelsukh noted it is vital that the Government implements proper policy, backing industrialization. "Public-private partnership is a gateway of the country’s flourishment. The Government will fully support its businesses and wealth creators. I assign members of the council to formulate proper policy to develop industrialization."

Members of the council discussed seven presentations that touched upon issues such as investment report on state budget in industrial sector, pressing issues on it, recommendations on upgrading legal environment, the Government support as well as making tax environment favorable and personnel training and approved its 2019 action plan.

With state budget funding, the Government made purchase worth of MNT 1-1.2 trillion in 2017 and 2018 respectively of which over 40 percent were from national producers.

The campaign is part of the activities to celebrate the 95th anniversary of the development of the banking sector in the country, the Bank of Mongolia said in a statement.

As part of the six-month campaign starting Tuesday, several related activities will be held across the country by the central bank in cooperation with commercial banks.

"The banking sector is playing a vital role in financing the economic development of any country," Nadmid Bayartsaikhan, president of the Bank of Mongolia, said at the inauguration ceremony of the campaign.

The campaign called "Development of Banking Sector in Mongolia-95" aims to increase public participation and get feedback from customers in order to improve banking operations and overcome challenges in the banking industry, said Bayartsaikhan.

Currently, there are some 1,400 branches of 14 commercial banks operating in Mongolia.

Multinational courses were held where 470 Mongolian and 350 foreign military personnel participated. The training was conducted jointly with the United States. These were covered by “Training of Civil Military Experience” and “UN Military Observer Courses” in NATO Education and Training.

Last year, the army held its traditional “Khaan Quest” and “Gobi Wolf’ military exercises.

In 2017, the leading national carrier MIAT Mongolian Airlines expanded its fleet by leasing two 737 Max aircraft from the global leasing company Avolon. The first of the planes arrived on January 21st of this year.

Previously, MIAT bought an 767-300 ER aircraft from Boeing with a $20 million loan from the ING Bank of the Netherlands. The Mongolian carrier finished repaying this loan to ING in December 2018.

The 737 MAX offers flexibility, efficiency and lower per-seat cost in the single-aisle market and is the fastest-selling aircraft in Boeing history with more than 3,600 aircraft having been ordered.

In 2017, D.Uriankhai became the 1st winner of the Asian Literature Award, selected by the Asia Culture Centre and the Organising Committee of the Asian Literature Festival. D.Uriankhai was born in 1940 in Bulgan province of Mongolia and became a poet in 1977. He is held in high regard as a poet for enhancing Mongolian literature through his intuitive and discerning style. In 1964, he graduated from the Plekhanov State Agricultural Academy of the Soviet Union (now the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics) and from the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in 1978.

The current account and investment expenditure are expected to increase this year. According to the BoM, this will stimulate the growth of non-mining sectors and will raise the economy slightly above expectation. These sectors include construction, energy, processing, and retails. Although the economic growth is expected to be stable this year on the back of the progress in non-mining; however, the same growth driver will be the downside limitation for the economy in 2020, noted the BoM. On the other hand, the Government has a more optimistic expectation of 8 percent GDP growth based on four factors, namely the tax reform, budget investment, wage raise, and the construction of the oil refinery. The bill on tax reform has been submitted to the Parliament, but it has been put on hold on the order list.

As for international organizations, the outlook on economic growth is around 6-6.6 percent this year. In specific, the Asian Development Bank forecasts the GDP to rise 6.1 percent, which is 0.3 percentage point lower than the last year’s outlook. The bank previously explained that the investment in mining will continue on further; however, the growth will start to flatten.

International Monetary Fund predicted a 6 percent growth during the sixth review under the extended arrangement. Furthermore, the World Bank Group identified the key challenges to the economy, which includes the settlement of coal transportation issue at the border, growing uncertainty in politics and policy, as well as the adverse impact on the continuation of megaprojects prompted by the 2020 election.

Specifically, I-III class wheat will receive incentive of MNT 45.5 thousand per ton and IV class MNT 41 thousand.
Last year, wheat was sown on 343.9 thousand hectares nationwide. As a result, 428.6 thousand tons of crops were harvested, of which 280 thousand tons of good quality wheat were supplied. With this volume of harvest, domestic flour needs can be ensured.