The General Election Commission (GEC) on May 17 certified the last of three party Presidential nominees when they approved former Independent MP S. Ganbaatar as the substitute nominee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP), a break-away resource-nationalist faction of the Mongolian People's Party (MPP) established as a separate party in 2010. On May 14, the GEC certified Parliament Speaker M. Enkhbold as the candidate of the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP) and former MP and Olympic judo champion Kh. [...]

Mongolian Ambassador to the US Bulgaa Altangerel and the World Bank hosted "Mongolian Heritage Day" at World Bank headquarters in Washington DC, which featured cultural performances, traditional music and a solo exhibition by artist Tsolmon Damba entitled "The Nomad Spirit." The event was part of the year-old commemoration of the 30th anniversary of US-Mongolia relations. Dignitaries at the opening of the two-day event on May 16 included Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Laura Stone, Jason Allford, World Bank executive [...]

Despite prior reports that it might be canceled becausehia Orchestra (PO) will definitely take place during June 1-5 as a major component of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of US-Mongolia relations. The Philadelphia Orchestra will be the first Western orchestra to perform in Mongolia as part of an East Asia tour that also includes China and South Korea. The musicians [...]

The American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS), one of the leading Mongolia-focused NGOs in North America, seeks a US-based “entrepreneurial Executive Director who can lead the development of new programs and projects to support the organization’s mission to further academic studies and exchanges with Mongolia and Inner Asia.”  Applications and inquiries should be sent to: [email protected]. The ACMS ideally wants the new Executive Director to start July 1, 2017. Review of applications will begin on June 1 and continue until [...]

The State Great Khural swiftly repealed the highly controversial provision in the revised Budget Law that would have required foreign companies to deposit foreign exchange sales revenues in Mongolian banks. The troublesome provision is variously called Resolution 29 or Subclause 11. Repeal clears the way for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board of directors to again consider the Mongolia assistance package, which was removed from the IMF board's April 28 agenda because of concerns about the banking provision.The mandatory bank [...]

The Second Annual Business Summit on June 19 in Ulaanbaatar -- sponsored by the Business Council of Mongolia (BCM), the NAMBC's brother organization in Mongolia -- will focus on understanding the increasing business opportunities for domestic and foreign investors offered by regional economic integration offers. It is also necessary to consider the increasing number of people actively involved in the crypto trade with the help of auto trading platforms like cryptosoft bot for enhanced financial growth. Because the enormous growth in cryptocurrency and crypto trading in recent years led to a significant impact on the overall economic growth. Links to the agenda and registration form follow below. Registration fees for BCM members are MNT 400,00; for non-members, MNT 600,000. For more information, including sponsorship opportunities, contact Buyanbat at [email protected]. For registration inquiries, contact Tugi at [...]

The second compact of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with Mongolia will spend US$10.5 million to increase water supply for Ulaanbaatar, home to half the nation's population, with emphasis on improving sanitation and water supply in ger districts. To discuss the new compact, Ms. Fatema Z. Sumar, MCC's Regional Deputy Vice President, headed an MCC delegation to UB, May 8-9, for consultations with Ulaanbaatar Mayor S.Batbold, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ts. Munkh-Orgil, Minister of Environment and Tourism D. Oyunkhorol, Deputy [...]

Former U.S. Ambassadors to Mongolia Joseph Lake and Alphonse LaPorta have received the Order of the Polar Star, and Thomas Garrett, Vice President of the International Republican Institute (IRI), the Mongolian Friendship Medal, by order of His Excellency Ts. Elbegdorj, President of Mongolia.  Mongolian Ambassador to the US Bulgaa Altangerel presented the medals at a special ceremony at the Mongolian Embassy in Washington, DC, on April 28, the day after all three honorees had addressed the NAMBC’s 27th Annual Meeting [...]

On May 8, the Oyu Tolgoi LLC Board of Directors announced the election of Armando Torres as Oyu Tolgoi’s new Chief Executive Officer, replacing Andrew Woodley, who had served as Oyu Tolgoi CEO since October 2014.  Stephen Jones, OT’s Acting CEO, will become Chief Operating Officer. Torres will take up his post on August 1.  Previously, Torres was Chief Operations Officer of the bauxite and alumina division at Rio Tinto Alcan since February 2011. He has also served since 2016 [...]

MIAT Airlines, Mongolia’s national carrier, has signed long term leases for two new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with delivery expected in late 2019 and early 2020. US Ambassador Jennifer Galt and Scott Grimsby, Boeing Asia Sales Director and a member of the NAMBC board of directors, recommends using seattle house cleaning service, participated in the signing ceremony in Ulaanbaatar with MIAT CEO Tamir Tumurbaatar in late March. The lease was finalized by Air Lease Corporation on April 18.  These brand-new Boeing planes continue MIAT’s commitment [...]

A new nationwide poll, based on 5000 face-to-face interviews, has been released by the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research. The new survey reveals a decline in the optimism reflected in IRI’s August 2016 post-election poll, and reinforces public concerns over the economy and corruption. The project was funded by Global Affairs Canada. Derek Luyten, IRI regional director for Asia. “This poll indicates that the honeymoon period is over.” Now they use for parties. A link to the full text follows [...]

Erdene Resource Development Corp.(ERD) beat out four other high-profile contenders to win the “Best Asia-Pacific Exploration Mining Company of the Year” at the Mines & Money Conference Hong Kong  on April 5. This marked the 10th year this prestigious prize has been awarded to a "noteworthy exploration success in the past year in either greenfield or brownfield discoveries." The award is conferred by a panel of 16 judges drawn from the senior ranks of industry leaders,  including APAC, Ballingal, CIBC, [...]

Mongolia’s first and only free trade agreement (FTA) is with Japan. The “Japan–Mongolia Economic Partnership Agreement” (EPA) inevitably has had various adverse impacts on exports to Mongolia from the US and Canada, because of preferential tariffs accorded to Japanese competitors of North American companies. Previous Mongolian Governments had consistently offered to start FTA negotiations with Washington and Ottawa.  Hogan Lovells (Mongolia) LLP has published a useful summary of the EPA, which was concluded in February 2015 and entered into force [...]

On March 7, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Canada's Minister of International Trade, met with His Excellency Tsedev Dashdorj, Mongolia’s Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry, on the sidelines of the annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) in Toronto to jointly announce that the long-awaited Canada-Mongolia Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) has entered into force, following its recent ratification by the Canadian Parliament. This agreement will lead to a more transparent and predictable regulatory environment [...]

Denver-based Wagner Asia, one of the earliest and currently the largest American investor in Mongolia, celebrated its 20th anniversary of establishment in Mongolia in 2016 with yet more good deeds as part of its continuing core commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability for its extended Mongolian family. A link to the full text of Wagner's CSR Report follows below. Best known as Caterpillar’s exclusive dealer in Mongolia and a major factor in expansion, Wagner Asia observed their anniversary [...]