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Mongolia is an emerging economic player with enormous potential for UK businesses www.telegraph.co.uk
Ask a friend to summon Mongolia to mind and it is likely that the vast plain of the central Asian steppe will be the image that appears, perhaps populated by traditional, nomadic people living in sturdy tents (known as gers) that have not changed in hundreds of years. A land of wide open spaces, natural beauty and isolation far from the concerns of modern economies.
Your friend would be partly right. Mongolia is the least densely-populated sovereign nation, with just six people per square mile. Its 3.3 million people are spread across the 18th-largest country in the world, with roughly half of them in the central capital, Ulaanbaatar. Nearly a third of the population still lives a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle. But since it was called out as a ‘global growth generator’ in a 2011 report by Citibank economists, the eyes of the world have been on Mongolia as a largely untapped, emerging economic power with enormous potential.
At a fundamental level Mongolia’s potential lies in its natural resources, but there are a wealth of secondary and tertiary trade and investment opportunities waiting to be unlocked. With an estimated 6,000 individual mineral deposits, it is no surprise that mining already constitutes 25 per cent of GDP and makes up 84 per cent of Mongolia’s exports, but it is estimated that at most, only a quarter of the country has been properly surveyed.
Experts project that anywhere from $1-$3 trillion of raw material wealth awaits to be discovered. This presents obvious opportunities for anyone with expertise in surveying, extraction, purification and research, as well as suppliers of equipment and machinery. But there is also a keen interest in innovative and greener mining techniques; the more energy-efficient and modern the mining industry can become, the better for all involved.
Alongside natural resources, Mongolia is acutely aware of the need to improve its transport infrastructure to enable effective trade of the raw materials produced; rail building and its related industries are a key priority for the immediate future. As a landlocked nation with few airports it depends heavily on road and rail freight links.
Similarly, any great expansion of Mongolia’s mining sector is going to place higher demands on the national power grid, which is in need of modernisation. In line with global trends, the government is keen to explore renewable energy sources, particularly as Mongolia has been rated as having the highest per capita potential for solar and wind electricity generation.
An ambitious target is in place to generate 30 per cent of electricity from renewables by 2030. There are further knock-on effects of the country’s natural riches – several mining companies are actively considering IPOs, and there is a programme afoot to develop an international financial centre in Ulaanbaatar. The expertise of the UK’s banks, consultancy firms and related financial service providers could be invaluable in developing the country’s financial sector.
Hand-in-hand with Mongolia’s economic opportunities is a recognised need for sustained investment in its education sector. The country has a strong foundation, with a solid primary and secondary system, and a growing network of universities that saw undergraduate numbers increase sixfold between 1993 and 2010.
But there is high demand for international partnerships on teacher training, for programmes to reach the country’s more remote populations, and for English language teaching. Often, educational opportunities come with corporate backing and support vocational pathways, directly contributing to the education of a specialised workforce that will support the expansion of the mining and infrastructure industries. Engineering, surveying, utilities management and urban planning are all areas of interest that are predicted to grow in the coming years.
From raw materials to city-building, Mongolia’s potential is vast, and represents a great opening for British businesses looking to discover – and be a part of – the next success story.
Sell to the world
Now is an exciting time for your business to sell to Mongolia. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) provides a wide range of free support, wherever you are on your exporting journey.
Find out more about Mongolia and how DBT can support you at great.gov.uk
Published Date:2023-02-14
