Mongolia Brief May 5, 2014 Part II



Municipal administration to run program to develop ger district areas
Ulaanbaatar, May 5 (MONTSAME) The Government of Mongolia, in partnership with the Asian Development Bank is planning to run ‘Ulaanbaatar Urban Services and Ger Areas Development Investment’ program.

A Cabinet meeting on last Saturday agreed to submit a draft law on general agreement approval of financing of this program to parliament.
The investment program aims to promote an inclusive peri-urban development in Ulaanbaatar city's ger areas. Combining spatial and sector approaches, it will introduce sustainable urban services and support the socioeconomic development of urban communities in subcenters located in ger areas. The proposed program will: (i) support urban governance, livelihood and socioeconomic activities through land use planning, and improved access to financial services; (ii) extend and upgrade appropriate and affordable water supply, wastewater collection, and district heating infrastructures; and (iii) improve the operation and maintenance capacities of service providers, and enable sound institutional and regulatory settings for service delivery.
The program is expected to be carried out in three stages within 10 year's time.
Forty percent of Ulaanbaatar's 1.3 million inhabitants live in the city core while 60% (approximately 800,000 people or 30% of the national population) live in ger areas. The ongoing in-migration of households to Ulaanbaatar has accelerated the growth of these ger areas. Despite their size, ger areas have been considered as merely temporary settlements and therefore never been formally integrated in the city development process and infrastructure programming. Thus, the continuing ger area densification and sprawl is putting tremendous pressure in the urban environment. Challenges associated with ger area upgrading are well documented and the huge gap between services in the formal and ger areas remains one of the most difficult challenges for the government.


Minister of Labour reports at “Hours of great constructions” meeting
Ulaanbaatar, May 5 (MONTSAME) The Minister of Labour Ya.Sanjmyatav gave a report on eight projects and programmes being realized by the Ministry, at the “Hours of great constructions” weekly meeting on Monday.
The Central Labour Exchange (CLE) has introduced an online intermediary service through the hudulmur.mn website. 39 thousand active enterprisers and companies out of 56 thousand in Mongolia have posted their information about vacancies. Since opening of the online service from last month, 204 thousand have visited the website, and 1,700 people seek jobs every day, said the Minister. Because of a start of the construction works season, the number of visitors is expected to rise this month, he added.
The number of death due to industrial accidents declined by about 40% in 2012-2013, but the number of accidents at the mining, road and construction areas is still high, Sanjmyatav said, adding that a nationwide campaign has been launched for labour safety and sanitation.
Sanjmyatav reported that the Ministry has urged all workers and employers at the great constructions works of mining, auto roads, construction, agriculture and land farming to ensure a safety at workplaces, and sent to them a postcard called “Works started. Let’s work safely!”.
Moreover, Sanjmyatav said the Ministry is cooperating with about 1,000 employers in a scope of the programme on preparing national vocational workers.


Stock exchange news for May 5
Ulaanbaatar, May 5 (MONTSAME) At the Stock Exchange trades held Monday, a total of 23 thousand and 982 shares of 27 JSCs were traded costing MNT 24 million 844 thousand and 764.00.
"Remikon" /10 thousand and 800 units/, "Mongol savkhi" /2,920 units/, "Asia Pacific Properties" /2,450 units/, "Hermes center" /1,758 units/ and "Khokh gan" /1,520 units/ were the most actively traded in terms of trading volume, in terms of trading value--"Teever darkhan" (MNT seven million 144 thousand and 200), "Asia Pacific Properties" (MNT six million and 076 thousand), "Mongol savkhi" (MNT three million 025 thousand and 420), "APU" (MNT two million 838 thousand and 150) and "Tavantolgoi" (MNT one million 855 thousand and 770).
The total market capitalization was set at MNT one trillion 594 billion 257 million 267 thousand and 296. The Index of Top-20 JSCs was 15,544.68, increasing by MNT 14.99 or 0.10% against the previous day.


Law on library to be submitted to parliament
Ulaanbaatar, May 5 (MONTSAME) A Cabinet meeting on last Saturday agreed to submit a draft law on library to parliament.
The law will be the first of its kind in the nation, which follows a practice that has been carried out in many countries. The law is expected to regulate library practices that include procurement, processing, keeping, protection and utilization, presentation and popularization of library materials; making of catalogues, bibliographies, bulletins, data base and other sources of information; enabling access to library materials, sources of information, provisions and services; providing the utilization and flow of the bibliographical and other sources of information and services; education of users; keeping the records about the materials and the users.
Today, there are 1,509 libraries operational in the nation, 373 of which are in provinces, 101 in universities, 54 in vocational centers, 817 in middle schools, and 120 in governmental and non-governmental organizations.
Mongolia had over 400 public libraries in 1990, but the number decreased to 181 in 2000 due to lack of proper policies and budget.


Apartments to be privatized for health officers
Ulaanbaatar, May 5 (MONTSAME) A Cabinet meeting on last Saturday agreed to privatize 18 flats of cost of 988 million togrog to health officers.
The flats that have been built under budgeted investments of 2012 will be free-of-charge granted to health officers who have worked many years in public health institutions, and who have not received housing from the Government before. The flats are located in central areas of Bayanzurkh district of the capital city.


Currency exchange level hits record high
May 5 (business-mongolia.com) As of today, MNT hits record low against USD. Despite the efforts to stabilize the currency levels and statements that MNT1750 per USD is a justifiable adjusted exchange rate, the Mongolian currency is still depreciating. Commercial banks sold MNT1806 per USD and bought it for MNT1785. Official central bank closing rate was 1796.01.


Ranks of Mongolian judokas decline
Ulaanbaatar, May 5 (MONTSAME) The International Judo Federation (IJF) released the latest rankings of world’s judokas on May 2, and it was resulted by several international competitions.
According to the updated rankings, ratings of Mongolian judokas went down, and no judoka from Mongolia topped any weight category list.
A State Honored Sportsman and Olympic bronze medalist S.Nyam-Ochir was ranked 2nd in the men’s 73 kg category with 1,690 points, falling from the top at the previous ranking. A Belgian judoka Dirk Van Tichelt surpassed him by gaining 1,748 points. An international master of sports D.Tomorkhuleg also fell to the 3rd place in the men’s 66 kg category, having 1,500 points. He followed Brazilian and French judokas.
Two Mongolians G.Boldbaatar and D.Amartuvshin were ranked 3rd and 4th places in the men’s 60 kg category, respectively. In this list, G.Kherlen was ranked 10th.
A State Honored Sportsman and Olympic champion N.Tuvshinbayar has 850 points, and is ranked 15th place in the men’s -100 division.
A State Honored Sportswoman and World champion M.Urantsetseg kept her ranking at 2nd place with 2,428 points. An international master of sports G.Otgontsetseg was ranked 7th in this category. D.Sumya was ranked 5th in the women’s 57 kg as well.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog