The US$1.9 billion (A$2.6 billion) investment in Amrun will replace production from the depleting East Weipa mine and increase annual bauxite exports by around 10 million tonnes. Amrun is expected to reach a full production rate of 22.8 million tonnes a year during 2019.

Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive Alf Barrios said "Bringing Amrun online further strengthens our position as a leading supplier in the seaborne market. We have the largest bauxite resources in the industry and are geographically well positioned to supply China’s significant future import needs, as well as supporting our refinery and smelting operations in Australia and New Zealand.

"The Amrun mine will ensure generational jobs for Queenslanders and build significantly on our 55-year history on the Western Cape."

At a ceremony on the Western Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland, more than 80,000 tonnes of bauxite was loaded on to the RTM Weipa bound for Rio Tinto's Yarwun alumina refinery in Gladstone.

Rio Tinto Growth & Innovation group executive Stephen McIntosh said "We are proud to have delivered the project safely, ahead of time and within budget thanks to innovation in the design and fabrication of key infrastructure purpose-built for construction at Amrun's remote location.

"We thank our community and Traditional Owner partners for their continued support and congratulate the Amrun Project and Weipa Operations teams on this great achievement."

During construction the Amrun development set a benchmark in supporting local and regional suppliers with US$1.6 billion (A$2.1 billion) invested with Australian companies, including US$181 million (A$244 million) invested with local Cape York companies.

At the peak of construction 1,200 people worked on site, and since project inception in May 2016, close to 400 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been employed by the project.

Notes to editors

The ceremony marking the first shipment was attended by local Wik-Waya Traditional Owners and representatives of the Western Cape Communities Co-existence Agreement (WCCCA).

The first shipment is expected to arrive in Gladstone next week.

Rio Tinto is the world’s largest producer of bauxite, with production of 50.8 million tonnes last year.

The CGAP, financially supported by the government of the Republic of Korea, will help identify and implement actions and investments to address priority environmental issues in the capital of Mongolia. It is expected that the first project under the framework will be aimed at the improvement of Ulaanbaatar’s solid waste management system.

The launch event was attended by the Chairman of the City Council, S.Amarsaikhan, the Deputy Governor of the City of Ulaanbaatar, J. Batbayasgalan, and the EBRD Head of Mongolia, Irina Kravchenko. It was followed by a workshop, where stakeholders together with GCAP consultants examined the areas of primary importance for the capital.

EBRD Green Cities is a €950 million facility that offers a comprehensive business model for green urban development, combining strategic planning with investment and associated technical assistance.

Green Cities is one way in which the EBRD is scaling up its green financing as a part of its Green Economy Transition (GET) approach. The Bank seeks to increase the volume of green financing to 40 per cent of the EBRD annual investment by 2020.

The EBRD works in Mongolia to build a diverse economy by developing the private sector and supporting infrastructure improvements. The Bank has invested more than €1.5 billion in almost 100 projects in the country since it started operations there in 2006.

The scandal took a toll on Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry (MFALI), which was responsible for monitoring the fund, and resulted in dismissal of its minister Batzorig Batjargal. Thus, the Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC) has begun an investigation on six Parliament members. Although the IAAC refused to disclose the names of those MPs, local media outlets suspect Batzorig Batjargal, Sodbaatar Yangug Bolorchuluun Khayngaa, Enkhbayar Jadamba, Uchral Nyam-Osor and Soltan Gombojav to have been involved in the case. Moreover, the recently appointed Minister of Road and Transport Development Sodbaatar Yangug held a press conference yesterday and disclosed his involvement with the fund scandal and submitted his resignation letter to the Prime Minister.

• SMEs have lost access to financing as the fund currently has no officials that can authorize loans.

• MNT 72.4 billion was allocated to SME Development Fund to finance 132 projects this year

• The situation will only be settled if the Parliament appoints the next Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry.

However, in the middle of commotion in politics, SMEs are waiting for financing from the fund. This year, MNT 72.4 billion was allocated to the fund to finance 132 projects, out of which 80 percent were in local provinces. The average repayment rate of the fund stood positive at 93.5 percent according to Enkh-Amar Mijidsuren, Head of Policy and Planning Department of MFALI. He informed that an acting Chairman of the fund was appointed; however, the incoming minister needs to enforce his authority before any fund can be released. The situation will only be settled if the Parliament appoints the next Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry.

Ya.Sodbaatar, the Minister of Road and Transportation Development presented his resignation letter to the PM over the ongoing scandal of Small and Medium Enterprises Fund. The letter was accepted and now will be presented to the President Battulga.

Separate from this, the Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh decided to sack Ts.Tsogzolmaa, Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Sports from her job over irresponsible behaviour including direct criticism of her boss.

Previously, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industries, who was responsible for spending SME funding, was removed from his job.

The sides discussed about establishing U.S. Cultural Center in Darkhan-Uul aimag and making contributions to youth education, teaching English and outspreading the country's culture. They agreed to convey the issue to Ambassador of the United States and cooperate in involving youths in Darkhan in scholarship programs announced by the U.S. Government.

Following the meeting, Mr. Robert Tate gave a lecture under subject ‘Right Career Choice-Bright Future’ to the students and youths in the aimag. The students said that the lecture gave impetus to opening up opportunities to them to study at colleges and universities in the United States with scholarships, choosing their career right and resolving issues related to tuition fee.

A total of 267 people have been diagnosed with HIV in Mongolia; 42 of whom have died. The Central Asian country registered its first case of HIV/AIDS in 1992.

The Mongolian government pays great attention in fighting HIV/AIDS. For example, it established the National Committee on AIDS in 2017 and has increased its funding steady. As a result, there have not been any cases registered of HIV/AIDS being contracted via blood or medical equipment or from mother to child. A total of 24 healthy children have been born from 16 mothers with HIV.

In Mongolia, the HIV/AIDS test is free.

Mongolian imports from Taiwan are mostly electronics, medical equipment, medicine and health products. These products account for 87 percent of total Taiwanese imports.

As the only Northeast Asian nation not involved in the nuclear talks with North Korea, Mongolia is often left out of discussions about resolving the region’s most intractable security issue – the North Korean nuclear crisis. Mongolia has offered this as one path for North Korea to develop its economy while retaining its sovereignty.

The organizers said that the meeting in Mongolia, which maintains good relations with both Koreas, intends to highlight Mongolia’s role in promoting inter-Korean relations and contribution to regional peace and stability. A Mongolian delegate expressed that the country has been striving to be an active intermediary in the Northeast Asian issue.

At the G20 summit, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to halt new trade tariffs for 90 days to allow for talks.

An escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies has weighed on markets generally.

The US and China have imposed billions of dollars of tariffs on one another's goods, posing risks to global trade and the world economy.

In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index and Shanghai Composite were up more than 2% in early trading, while Japan's Nikkei 225 rose more than 1%.

"I do not think market consensus is looking for very significant progress, this is a temporary truce," Masamichi Adachi senior economist at JP Morgan in Japan said.

"Many people suspected that there may be a more disastrous outcome, this is definitely a relief."

The US and China have been embroiled in a trade war this year which has seen the US hit China with tariffs on $250bn (£195.9bn) worth of goods since July, and China retaliate with duties on some $110bn of US goods over the same period.

Stakes were high at a meeting between President Trump and President Xi at last week's G20 meeting in Argentina.

Failure to achieve a ceasefire would have seen tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese goods rise from 10% to 25% at the start of next year, and would have opened the way for tariffs on additional Chinese goods.

Hopes of a breakthrough at the G20 had been undermined right before the meeting by comments from the US president.

President Trump said last week he was likely to go ahead with a planned tariff hike and reiterated his threats that the US could impose tariffs on the remaining $267bn of Chinese imports into the country.