President receives ambassadors of the European Union and its member states www.president.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Today, President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga received resident and non-resident ambassadors of the European Union (EU) and its member states to Mongolia.

Private entities request swap deals to stabilize FX rate www.zgm.mn

Yesterday, the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) received the representatives of Top 200 private entities to discuss the current business environment and economic situations. Participants addressed the necessity of swap agreements in coordination with currency volatility and corporate planning of private entities.

Mongolian Ambassador to Sweden resigns after three months www.news.mn

Mongolian Ambassador to Sweden O.Enkhtsetseg has presented her resignation letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the letter Ms. O.Enkhtsetseg requested to resign from the post for private reasons.

Why the US Should Build on Its Role as Mongolia’s ‘Third Neighbor’ www.dailysignal.com

Mongolia, a landlocked nation of about 3 million people between China and Russia, has become an increasingly important geopolitical partner to the United States.

America’s relationship with Mongolia is not insignificant and provides many opportunities for both countries.

The United States established diplomatic relations with Mongolia in 1987. Since then, the U.S. has been firmly regarded as Mongolia’s most important “third neighbor”—a country that does not border Mongolia, but has strategic relations with it.

Over the past three decades, Mongolia has been a reliable diplomatic ally of the U.S. The country’s transition to stable democracy has been notable, too, especially among former Soviet republics.

Mongolia’s multiparty parliamentary system has yielded an open society, where political dissent is the norm, parliamentary debate is spirited, and compromise between parties is not uncommon.

That contrasts starkly with the rest of post-Soviet Central Asia, where some presidential governments have resulted in autocracies.

The State Department’s Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations for fiscal year 2019 asserts that the “primary goals of U.S. assistance to Mongolia are to ensure the United States remains a preferred partner over geographical neighbors Russia and China, and to give Mongolia greater latitude to chart an independent foreign and security policy.”

More importantly, Mongolia has been considered as an “emerging partner” and as a country with which the U.S. may cooperate to achieve a “shared vision of rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.”

In fact, Mongolia has already demonstrated a strong commitment to working with the United States on strategic issues.

Mongolia is one of nine NATO “partner” nations, along with Japan and South Korea, in East Asia. Mongolia participates in United Nations global peacekeeping operations and has more than 1,000 peacekeepers deployed in Africa.

Mongolia sent troops to Iraq from 2003 to 2008, and currently has more than 200 troops in Afghanistan serving together with American forces.

All in all, Mongolia has maintained a constructively engaging relationship with the U.S. However, more can and should be done in enhancing bilateral interaction.

In particular, the U.S.-Mongolia economic relationship needs to evolve from one largely based on aid and various types of technical assistance to a partnership based much more on private sector-driven trade and investment.

The Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to raise the American profile and elevate its participation in the region are well-advised. However, without a distinct trade component, they are likely to amount to little more than an empty gesture.

The U.S. efforts need substance, and substance that can count in a concrete and practical way is trade.

To that end, Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., and nine other members of the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a bipartisan trade bill concerning the United States and Mongolia.

The proposed Mongolia Third Neighbor Trade Act seeks to deepen the U.S.-Mongolia trade relationship. The bill could play a practical role in ensuring Mongolia’s ongoing economic development by incentivizing targeted economic reforms.

Over the past three decades, the United States and Mongolia have made the strategic choice to forge and defend a relationship based on “shared commitment to freedom, democracy, and human rights.”

That choice must be reinforced with concrete and practical action that can further enhance the two nations’ partnership. Increased trade is the logical step forward.

COMMENTARY BY Anthony B. Kim

Anthony B. Kim researches international economic issues at The Heritage Foundation, with a strong focus on economic freedom. Kim is the research manager of the Index of Economic Freedom, the flagship product of the Heritage Foundation in partnership with The Wall Street Journal.

Rio Tinto to proceed with $2.6B iron ore mine in Western Australia www.reuters.com

Nov 29 – World No. 2 iron ore miner Rio Tinto gave the long-awaited green light for a $2.6 billion iron ore mine in Western Australia, with first production expected within three years.

‘Baby Yak’ to be exported to Norway www.montsame.mn

Arkhangai /MONTSAME/. One of the local brands of Arkhangai aimag, Baby Yak, is to begin exporting scarves and swaddle blankets to Norway.

Gigi Hadid’s Favourite Cashmere Comes With A Sustainable Caveat www.vogue.co.uk

Depending on what you read, cashmere is an ecological catastrophe waiting to happen. The boom in popularity of this once ultra-luxurious wool, and the subsequent proliferation of cut-price cashmere sweaters on the high street, has apparently forced the cashmere industry to its crisis.

Mongolia, where the majority of the world’s cashmere is produced, is bearing the brunt of the increase in demand. With temperatures frequently hitting -40 degrees Celsius, the region’s goats have developed fluffy undercoats to protect themselves over the harsh winters; these are then sheared by nomads in April-time and sold to manufacturers. Reports suggest that with an increase in demand for wool, more goats have been raised on the pastures than the grasslands can handle. There is also concern for the nomad herdsmen’s welfare, as prices have fallen dramatically. Then there’s the issue of quality: a lot of companies claim to source from Mongolia, but are actually purchasing wool from Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of northern China.

So, where to go for ethically-sourced, sustainably-produced cashmere as temperatures in the UK drop? Try Mandkhai, a newish brand by Mandkhai Jargalsaikhan, which specialises in goat-to-garment transparency, not to mention deliciously soft cashmere. The 30-year-old designer knows her wool: she is Mongolian, and her parents were the first family to set up shop in post-Communist Mongolia twenty-five years ago, with a cashmere factory. The family’s two factories now comprise one of the country’s biggest cashmere manufacturers – as well as a tourist hotspot. “I can remember Julia Roberts and Richard Gere dropping by the factory to see the spinning machines when I was a child!” Jargalsaikhan laughs.

Mandkhai designs are as cosy and comforting as one would expect – and Gigi Hadid is a fan. The model has been regularly spotted in New York swaddled in her chunky mocha-hued, Mandkhai ribbed cashmere coat. “People think we paid her – but we loaned a sample via our PR company and she must just like it,” Jargalsaikhan says. “My dad doesn’t know who she is, but we see a spike in sales on our website every time she wears it!”

Jargalsaikhan came to London in her twenties to study fashion and marketing and has never left. Having completed a post-university accountancy course – “I need to know my numbers” – she set up her own brand in addition to acting as a wool supplier to designers including Rejina Pyo and Grace Wales Bonner. “There was a gap in the market for something different and modern. We’ve moved on from the navy blue crew-neck. And people are looking for quality and transparency.”

Ah – transparency. How can she guarantee her wool comes from happy goats and equally happy herdsmen? “The goats and sheep we source our wool from are free-roaming, so there’s lots of land for them to graze on,” she says. “We’ve been working with the same nomads for years so we always pay them a fair price – over 60 per cent of the price of each garment goes on raw materials, and I know that they have a good quality of life. Then there are the women in the factories, many of whom have worked with our family for years.” The factories, one of which deals with dyeing and spinning of the raw materials, the other for processing and knitting, are run by Jargalsaikhan’s mother, “an encyclopaedia of cashmere” who trained in knitwear in Japan.

Furthermore, reports that Mongolia’s cashmere industry is devastating the land have been exaggerated, Jargalsaikhan asserts. “Mongolia is a huge country – it’s five times the size of Germany – with only three million people living in it. Many of the herds are free-roaming so they don’t decimate the land because they’re moving around a lot. A lot of the sheep who provide the cashmere wool which is harvested every year in April actually die over the winter due to the cold. So, nature has its way of balancing out the herds.” Her family’s factory produces very little waste. “We sell on anything left over to make felt. I looked into what happens to the fabric over time, and it is entirely biodegradable, so there’s no damage to the environment, unlike the fibres in a synthetic sweater.”

Not that she’d ever purchase a synthetic fibre – this is a woman who lives in cashmere, 24/7. “I know I’m very lucky,” she laughs. “But it’s just the best fabric in the world.”

Report on bolstering foreign investment discussed with private sector www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has recently released a report to help Mongolia formulate a new investment policy and strategy to better leverage existing foreign direct investment (FDI), attract new forms of FDI, and diversify its economy. This week, IFC and the National Development Agency (NDA) are holding another round of consultation that focuses on private sector stakeholders.

Mongolia to construct six international airports www.news.mn

During 2017, Mongolia received 470,000 tourists who have contributed over USD 400 million to the Mongolian economy. Analysts have divided the tourism sector into divided into 14 sub-divisions; of all tourists travelling to Mongolia, some 36 percent came to see the country’s beautiful nature; 28 percent of them came to witness nomadic culture and others in search of adventures.

Mayor of Mongolia's capital resigns after PM's criticism www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Mayor of Mongolia's capital Ulan Bator, Sundui Batbold, announced his resignation Tuesday after the country's Prime Minister demanded him to resign.