Mongolia Brief June 9, 2014 Part II



Merit Athlete B.Ser-Od Wins 2014 International Marathon
Held in Ulaanbaatar
June 9 (infomongolia.com) The Fifth International Ulaanbaatar Marathon was successfully organized by the Department of Physical Culture and Sports, the implementing agency of Ulaanbaatar Administration, and other organizations last Saturday on June 07, 2014.

The 2014 Marathon was held in two categories as for professional and amateur runners in 6 distances including 42 km and 21 km for professionals, and nonprofessionals for 8 km, 5 km, 4 m and 1.5 km, where in the latter distance, family and runners with disabilities have challenged.
The competition brought a total of 16,839 participants including foreign 40 runners such as winner of the marathon race at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Hwang Young-cho and Silver medalist of 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, Yamamoto Yoshihiro.
The most competitive race was held in the full marathon of 42 km, where Merit Athlete of Mongolia Bat-Ochir SER-OD came in the first in the men’s category with a record time of 2:18.31 and in the women’s category IMS Luvsanlundeg OTGONBAYAR finished first with 2:52.46 respectively.
The Fifth International Ulaanbaatar Marathon results
Men’s category for 42 km distance
1. B.Ser-Od (Mongolia) - 2:18.31,56
2. Kochi Oka (Japan) - 2:27.39,40
3. B.Dorjpalam (Mongolia) - 2:29.01,37
Women’s 42 km
1. L.Otgonbayar (Mongolia) - 2:52.46,86
2. B.Munkhzaya (Mongolia) - 2:55.59,99
3. B.Dolgormaa (Mongolia) - 3:18.17,07
Men’s 21 km
1. Yamamoto Yoshihiro (Japan) - 1:02.18,85
2. O.Boldoo (Mongolia) - 1:03.00,91
3. Ts.Byambajav (Mongolia) - 1:03.22,75
Women’s 21 km
1. Ch.Shinetsetseg (Mongolia) - 1:17.22,39
2. Ya.Undarmaa (Mongolia) - 1:18.12,40
3. U.Sanjidmaa (Mongolia) - 1:18.36,45
Men’s 8 km
1. G.Odkhuu (Mongolia) - 26.08,17
2. T.Tserenpil (Mongolia) - 26.21,49
3. A.Bakhyt (Mongolia) - 27.35,30
Women’s 8 km
1. D.Mart (Mongolia) - 33.31,25
2. J.Khaliunaa (Mongolia) - 33.53,92
3. B.Dulamsuren (Mongolia) - 33.57,34 
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Mongolians Win Six Medals in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship
Ulaanbaatar, June 8 (MONTSAME) The wrestlers at Mongolia’s Jiu-Jitsu Federation (MJJF) grabbed six medals in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, which ran May 29-June 1 in Long Beach city, California State, the USA.
The MJJF Saturday called a news conference on the results of our wrestlers. This year’s events were attended by 3,000 wrestlers from 40 countries. Mongolia was represented by 20 people. A gold medalist of the 2013 Jiu-Jitsu World Champion M.Sugar won a bronze medal in the women’s 79 kg weight. A wrestlers Sh.Bumbayar (58 kg) and Kh.Urankhishig (69 kg) captured silver medals in the junior categories, and four youngsters won bronze medals in 48, 53 and 84 kg tournaments.
For the time being, the Mongolian wrestlers are having training to compete in the Asian Beach Games and the US Open tournament.


Young Chess Players Win Medals in Russian Ulan-Ude
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) The Mongolian young chess players Ts.Ashid and Ye.Togstomor have recently won gold and silver medals, respectively, at the "World Family" international chess tournament in Ulan-Ude, Russian Buryatia.
Players of "Uramtai Shatar" (Inspiring Chess) club led by international master N.Tuvshintogs won the Grand Prix among nearly 100 players of 27 teams.
The Mongolian team included Ts.Ashid from "Zuunii Shatar" (Chess of Century) club and world junior champion Ye.Togstomor, who grabbed gold and silver medals in the category of U12.


Railbus Operational and Costs 3,500 MNT between Far Eastern and Western Destinations of Ulaanbaatar
June 9 (infomongolia.com) Upon the initiation of the Mayor of Ulaanbaatar E.Bat-Uul, the Capital City Administration and "Ulaanbaatar Railway" joint venture have been introducing a "Railbus" public transportation between Tolgoit (western side of UB) and Amgalan (eastern) stations from June 06, 2014.
According to timetable, the train serves 3 times before noon and 3 times afternoon with stopovers at Tolgoit, Tavan Shar, Bars-2 or Kharkhorin market, Ulaanbaatar Railway Station (Vokzal), Dund Gol, Narantuul market and Janjin Klub stations.
The morning trip from Tolgoit is scheduled to depart at 07:12 am and to reach the last destination of Amgalan at 07:44 am. Also, evening timetable from Amgalan is to start at 06:20 pm with approximate travel of 30 minutes to Tolgoit.
Moreover, the tariff of total ride costs 3,500 MNT (Tugrug), the travel between each stations costs 500 MNT, in other words, if you travel two stations, it will cost 1,000 MNT and an additional 500 MNT per stations.


Mongolia and Columbia held consultative meeting
June 9 (news.mn) A consultative meeting between the Foreign Affairs Ministries of Mongolia and Columbia was held in Bogota, Columbia on June 5th and 6th.
The meeting was chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister D.Gankhuyag from Mongolia and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Patti Londoсo Jaramillo of Columbia. At the meeting delegates discussed the current plateau of bilateral relations and cooperation and further opportunities.
During the meeting, a representative of the Columbian ministers of mining, agriculture, trade and tourism delivered a presentation and expressed their willingness to cooperate with Mongolia by sharing their experiences in the field.
The Deputy Foreign Ministers of the two countries expressed appreciation that bilateral relations have been intensified and that the mining ministries have had business links since the Columbian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Patti Londoсo Jaramillo`s official visit to Mongolia in 2012.
The counterparts emphasized that there are many opportunities to expand bilateral cooperation in agriculture, environmental protection, culture and education in addition to mining.
Parties expressed reciprocally to support relations between the two countries people and exchanged documents for the approval of travel without visa for travelers with diplomat and official passports. The counterparts also talked about launching business cooperation on free-trade  and investment between ministries and companies and about sharing experiences.
The Columbian Foreign Affairs Ministry suggested to involve tour guides and journalists in Spanish language courses that are conducted by Columbia`s Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation.
Parties also agreed to keep the regularity of political talks and agreement and cooperate and support each other in the arena of international organizations.
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Parliamentary Office Secretary-General Meets IRI Delegation
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) The secretary-general of the Parliamentary Office B.Boldbaatar Monday received Ms Gretchen A.Kunze, a country representative of the International Republican Institute (IRI) to Mongolia.
As the IRI country representative for Mongolia she was appointed recently, and arrived here to share views with Mongolia on the cooperation, Me Kunze said.
She also noted that some projects and programmes were implemented in Mongolia in 2004-2008 to increase the women’s participation in politics, to intensify the election reforms, and to make parliament more transparent to the public, within a project on forming political parties.
In response, Mr Boldbaatar expressed a satisfaction with the collaboration between Mongolia and the IRI and underlined that the political life in Mongolia got many achievements, for example, the latest parliamentary and local elections utilized automatic ballot-paper counting machines. He expressed a willingness to collaborate in improving skills of his Office's staff and MPs assistants.
Founded in 1983, the IRI is a UN-partnered organization, partially funded by the U.S. House of Representatives, that conducts international political programs, sometimes called democratization programs with a special emphasis on promoting women's involvement in politics. It opened its permanent representative office in Mongolia in 1997.


Honorary Consul of Mongolia Granted Patent
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) A ceremony took place last Friday in Japanese Sapporo to grant the patent and seal to Takebe Tsutomu, appointed the Honorary Consul of Mongolia to Sapporo city.
During the ceremony, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to Japan Mr S.Khurelbaatar gave him the patent and a seal and wished him success.
Present at this ceremony were also N.Bayasgalan, the consul at the Embassy of Mongolia in Japan; T.Arata, a deputy governor of Hokkaido Prefecture and member of the House of Representatives of parliament; administrative officials of the Prefecture; business delegates and the local media.
The Honorary Consulate of Mongolia in Sapporo is the 23rd to open in Japan. The latest Consulate provides many opportunities to deliver consular services to Mongolians in Hokkaido, to protect their legal interests, to support collaboration between Mongolia and Hokkaido Prefecture in urban planning, construction technology, agricultural products processing and in land farming. 


IT Zone Company Develops First Smartphone in Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) With software developed by Mongolian engineers, the Mogul company has introduced into the market the very first Mongolia-made smartphone "Sonor smartphone".
With Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) version it is sold at the cheapest price of 140,000 togrog and accessible for all cellphone operators in Mongolia such as Unitel, Gmobile, Mobicom and Skytel.
It supports Dual SIM (WCDMA+GSM) and pre-installed Mongolia's first App Store that enables to install and update Mongolian contents and applications at once. Currently, the system runs in English. The developers say that it would be updated in Mongolian language and is sold at "Mogul" and "Canon" centers in Ulaanbaatar.


City Public Transport Welcomes Rail Bus
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) At initiative of the UB city Mayor E.Bat-Uul, the Ulaanbaatar Railway joint venture put rail buses into public transport services last Friday.
The PA-2 rail bus will carry commuters between eastern Amgalan district and western Tolgoit district through the southern part of the city, passing by crowded areas near big markets (Bars 2, Kharkhorin and Narantuul markets), and the city central railway station. The other stations are Tavanshar, Dundgol and Janjin Club.
A ticket is 500 togrog per station. The rail bus will carry passengers six times a day, three times for each route.


Training Starts for National Instructors
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) Association for International Sports for All (TAFISA), in partnership with the Ministry for Culture, Sports and Tourism, launched Monday a "certified leadership course in sports for all" in Ulaanbaatar.
At the training, thirty methodologists from provincial and city sports committees and universities will study relevant programs for mass sports and traditional styles of physical activities under moderating of Dr Peter Kapustin (Germany), and Dr Dixon Belinda Jane (Australia) from TAFISA.
Within four working days, various topics will be covered, including public health, strategy development and philosophy in sport for all, policies and public relations, globalization of sport for all movement, traditional sport and games, sport and social capital, facilities and public spaces and target groups. After the course the participants will be awarded the certificates.
The Association For International Sport for All (TAFISA) is an organization that unites national associations, clubs, and public institutions to develop mass sports and traditional styles of physical activity. With more than 180 members from over 120 countries, TAFISA hosts mass games of ethnosport and non-traditional games.


Australia-Based Mongolians Run Basketball Tournament
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) The Association for Australia-based Mongolians, together with "Nomads League", organized last Sunday a basketball tournament among Mongolians residing in this country.
Opening the tournament in Sydney, a head of the Association Yu.Amartuvshin gave opening remarks, then "Sydney Dance Crew" entertained the gathered with a show.
The tournament ran in two categories of men and women, with a participation of eight and four teams, respectively. At the men category, the Eagles led others to reach the gold medal, followed by the Wolves and TMG. Among four women teams, the Red Bulls was the best, followed by Black Eagles and Canberra Girls.
The Ambassador of Mongolia to Australia R.Bold presented Cups and gold medals to the winners and a special acknowledgment of the Embassy to referee G.Gantulga.


“Aadar” cover Metallica in live concert
June 9 (news.mn) There is some good news for live music lovers. The Mongolian band “Aadar” are to perform a cover concert of “Metallica” at the UB Palace concert hall at 7.00 pm on June 21st.
The 20 best songs will be performed from the Metallica albums “Kill ‘em All”, “Ride the Lightening”, “Master of Puppets”, “And Justice for All”, “The Black Album”, “Load”, “Reload” and “Death Magnetic”.
Metallica has become one of the most influential heavy metal bands of all time, and is credited as one of the "big four" of thrash metal. The band has sold more than 120 million records worldwide.
Metallica was ranked by MTV as the third "Greatest Heavy Metal Band in History". Metallica has issued nine studio albums, four live concert album, 25 videos and 37 singles so far and has had five consecutive albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200.
The band's eponymous 1991 album has sold over 16 million copies in the United States, making it the best-selling album of the SoundScan Era.
Related:
Mongolian Band to Cover MetallicaMontsame, June 9


Prime Minister attends International Labour Conference
June 9 (news.mn) Prime Minister N.Altankhuyag and Labor Minister Ya.Sanjmyatav are attending the 103rdInternational Labour Conference (ILC) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which is being held in Geneva, Switzerland.
The 103rd ILC is attended by numerous heads of state, with an agenda that includes discussions on youth employment, social protection and fundamental principles and rights at work. ILO Director-General Guy Ryder officially invited Prime Minister N.Altankhuyag to have him delivered a speech on Mongolia`s reform government`s achievements and experiences implemented in labor and social welfare.
This year the 103rd International Labour Conference of the ILO is being held under the theme of “Developing with Jobs”.


Consular Department Chief works in Macau
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) The Foreign Ministry's Consular Department Chief Sh.Sukhbaatar met last Friday with Mr Wong Cheong Fat, a director of the Office of the Secretary for Security of Macau, the special administrative region of China.
At the meeting in Macau, the parties discussed measures ahead of reaching successful implementation of a Mongolia-Macau intergovernmental treaty on cooperating in combating human trafficking, agreed to hold a next meeting in Ulaanbaatar in 2016 and to finalize draft action plans that have been offered by the Mongolian part.


Deputy Minister informs on road projects
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) At the ‘Hours of Reconstruction’ meeting, the Road and Transport Deputy Minister Kh.Erjan informed the gathered on ongoing road projects of the Government.
This year, a total of 27 road projects for 1,886-km roads and 2,040-m bridges are running under the overall cost of 465.2 billion togrog, he said at the beginning of his briefing.
For the road projects, the funding comes from various sources including the Government budget (76.8 billion togrog) Chinggis Bonds (219.8 billion), and foreign aid and loans (168.6 billion), he added.
This year, the Government is planning to link six provincial centers to Ulaanbaatar by paved roads, the Deputy Minister said, further detailing that more than half of the Ulaanbaatar--Omnogovi road paving and a two third of the Ulaanbaatar--Govi-Altai road paving have been completed thus far. The other three provinces expected to get connected to the capital city within this year are Khovsgol, Dornod and Sukhbaatar.


Law on Amnesty to be submitted to parliament
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) The Cabinet meeting last Saturday agreed to submit the draft law on Amnesty to parliament.
This bill foresees pardoning of first time offender, pregnant women, women with children under 18, men with children under 18 who are under his direct custody, the disabled who has lost more than 70% of his/her capacity, men over 60, women over 55, and persons who committed a crime when is under 18 years.
The law also allows reducing of 2-3 years from sentence for serious and aggravated crimes.


Stock exchange news for June 9
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) At the Stock Exchange trades held Monday, a total of 6,423 shares of 25 JSCs were traded costing MNT nine million 409 thousand and 458.60.
"Hermes center” /3,600 units/, "Nako tulsh" /2,000 units/, "Gobi” /452 units/, "Material impex" /180 units/ and "Talkh chikher” /70 units/ were the most actively traded in terms of trading volume, in terms of trading value--"Gobi” (MNT three million 416 thousand and 890), "Material impex" (MNT two million and 806 thousand), "Talkh chikher" (MNT one million and 260 thousand), "Atar-Orgoo” (MNT 610 thousand) and "Hermes center” (MNT 540 thousand).
The total market capitalization was set at MNT one trillion 575 billion 007 million 936 thousand and 121. The Index of Top-20 JSCs was 15,566.97, decreasing by MNT 7.92 or 0.05% against the previous day.


Nat’l forum and dialogue on sustainable urban development to run
Ulaanbaatar, June 9 (MONTSAME) The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Construction and Urban Development will co-organize a national forum and developmental dialogue on sustainable urban development in Mongolia this June 16.
The dialogue will be organized as a panel discussion. Prior to the start of the panel discussion, there will be a brief presentation of the issues to structure the discussion, and it will be followed by an open exchange of views.
The dialogue is expected to raise a number of questions related to identifying suitable approaches for sustainable urban development in Mongolia such as "what are the key challenges of urban governance?", "to what extent are urban concerns factored into national /sectoral/ regional planning?", "what can be done to spread out urbanization to other cities and reduce pressure on UB?", "how can Mongolian cities become sustainable and smart - i.e. healthy, resilient, and livable?" and "how can urban growth in Mongolia be more inclusive enhancing human development of all citizens?".
Mongolia has experienced rapid urbanization since the 1950s when only about 20 percent of people resided in urban areas. From a historical pre-dominance of nomadic and rural habitats, Mongolia is now overwhelmingly urban with 68 percent of the total population living in cities and towns, much higher than the Asian regional average.
Ulaanbaatar has been the engine of Mongolia's urbanization. Economic growth is increasingly concentrated in the capital which with about 40 percent of the total population, generates more than 60 percent of the country's GDP and 50 percent of its total investment. Occupying only 0.3 percent of its land area, and with population increasing at an annual rate of more than 4 percent since 2000, UB dominates the urban landscape of Mongolia.
Urbanization in Mongolia has two interlinking features:
One, the unplanned growth of the capital city and rapid migration have brought many challenges, including unemployment, traffic congestion, air pollution, negative environmental impacts, and the expansion of the ger areas. More than 60 percent of UB's population lives in ger areas that are often built on or along sites prone to natural disasters, lacking access to modern infrastructure such as piped-in water, sanitation, electricity, paved roads, public transportation, health clinics, schools, housing and recreation facilities.
Two, the predominance of UB dwarfs the problems of other urban centers in the country. It also highlights the need for a more balanced approach that spreads out urbanization by creating additional growth poles, thereby reducing the intense pressure on the capital city.
Urbanization, if done well, can benefit the entire country. Urban areas are centers of education, innovations, political power, technological advancement, social services and finance, all which have the potential to play a positive role in enhancing people's human development. Indeed, few countries have reached high levels of human development without high levels of urbanization.
Sustainable urban development needs attention and sound policies to ensure that the benefits of development and growth reach all citizens - whether they move to the cities, smaller towns, or live in a rural setting. There is a growing demand for public policies to effectively manage the complex urban reality in Mongolia and respond to the needs of all urban residents, both current and future generations.
How should Mongolia plan for urban development so that the cities are livable, healthy, prosperous, sustainable, and promote human development for all citizens? This question is motivating the dialogue.


100 Day Stimulus Plan: 4th week
June 9 (Mongolian Economy) Until the end of December last year, there was a government resolution that freed small- and medium-sized businesses from value-added taxes and custom taxes under the condition that they imported industrial technologies and equipment. Starting this year, this resolution didn’t exist.
As a part of the 100 Day Stimulus Plan, the government decided to bring this legislation back into action. It was passed June 6th of this year by amending the custom tariff and tax law with certain changes. Small- and medium-sized businesses were still freed from these taxes. 
However, not only small- and medium-sized companies will benefit. For events and projects hosted by large businesses, they have the option to partially pay taxes or fully pay taxes after a time allotment of two years. This provides big companies flexible timing, as long as their projects incorporate everyone’s interests, in other terms, reaches a national level. 
In Mongolia, there are currently 66,500 companies and businesses. Of these 66,500, 92% have less than 20 employees, placing them in the range of small and medium-sized companies. Of these smaller businesses, 80% require a replacement of old equipment. These companies can use this tax-free option for the next two and half years.
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