Mongolia Brief September 5, 2014 Part V



FM pays tribute to war veteran P.Shagdarsuren
By B. Khuder
Ulaanbaatar, September 5 (MONTSAME) On occasion of the 75th anniversary of Victory on Khalkh River Battle, the Minister of Foreign Affairs L.Bold Friday received Hero of Mongolia, war veteran and Ambassador P.Shagdarsuren to pay tribute to him.

Present at the reception were Ts.Gombosuren, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Ts.Jambaldorj, the Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the ASEAN and president of the Club of Mongolian Ambassadors; and R.Jigjid, a former Ambassador.
Paying tribute to the war veteran, the participants delivered speeches at the reception.

Stock exchange news for September 5
By B. Khuder
Ulaanbaatar, September 5 (MONTSAME) At the Stock Exchange trades on Friday, a total of 10 thousand and 753 shares of 15 JSCs were traded costing MNT 25 million 331 thousand and 981.00.
"E-trans logistics” /3,100 units/, “Mongol alt” /2,733 units/, “APU” /2,200/, “Makh impex” /1,844 units/ and "Silikat” /400 units/ were the most actively traded in terms of trading volume, in terms of trading value were "Mongol alt” (MNT nine million 565 thousand and 500), "APU” (MNT eight million and 190 thousand), "Makh impex” (MNT five million 900 thousand and 744), "Darkhan nekhii” (MNT 419 thousand and 060) and "E-trans logistics” (MNT 294 thousand and 500).
The total market capitalization was set at MNT one trillion 618 billion 201 million 094 thousand and 335. The Index of Top-20 JSCs was 15,730.54, increasing 34.69 units or 0.22% against the previous day.

“Mongolia’s Foreign Affairs” encyclopedia published
By B. Amarsaikhan
Ulaanbaatar, September 5 (MONTSAME) Two volumes of the encyclopedia of Mongolian foreign policy have been released.
The encyclopedia's volumes were published with design and structure of the well-known Britannica encyclopedias, and they are enriched with Mongolian traditional foreign policies, and common concepts and glossaries of international relations cited from Britannica, as well as biographies of Mongolian diplomats, agreements and treaties with foreign countries, and illustrated with photo documents.
Moreover, a book called “History of Mongolia’s Foreign Affairs” almanac, containing history of foreign relations of the country, chronicles of state foreign policy also has been released. It satisfies the standards and designs of “Chronic” brand of Germany.

South Gobi students will return to their homeland after graduation
September 5 (Oyu Tolgoi) - 242 students enrolled in Oyu Tolgoi scholarship programme -
"Educated people are the true wealth of the nation,” says the phrase. In order to help realise this, Oyu Tolgoi supports Mongolia’s best students by providing scholarships for study at Mongolian and international universities. This is a key commitment in a Memorandum of Understanding, signed with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in 2010.
One of these scholarship schemes is known as the Gobi scholarship programme. Based on local needs and the Umnugovi aimag’s human resource development policies, the scholarships help capable students to study the professions needed for social and economic development in the region. The funding encourages students to return to work in their communities after graduation.
Scholarship applicants need a minimum GPA of 3.2 or higher and must commit to return to work in their native aimag after graduation. In return, Oyu Tolgoi bears the full cost of tuition. Scholarships are awarded in cooperation with the Governor's office and administered by a management team comprised of representatives of civil society organisations. The team is responsible for developing a live list of the most sought-after professions in the South Gobi, as well as selecting successful applicants. The team also plays an intermediary role in helping the students find suitable jobs after graduation.
So far, 242 students from the Umnugovi aimag have benefited from the Gobi scholarship programme with Oyu Tolgoi spending MNT 441.1 million on domestic scholarships. Selection for the next round of Gobi scholarships will begin soon. Some of the previous recipients of the scholarships have shared their thoughts on the benefits of the programme.
Uuriintuya Ariunkhuu, native of Khankhongor soum of Umnugovi aimag, is a fourth year student of literature and literary criticism at the Social Sciences School of the National University of Mongolia. Although she is studying literary criticism, she dreams of becoming a journalist or teacher in the future. Her parents run a small business back home and she is the oldest of two girls. Last year she was awarded an Oyu Tolgoi scholarship and is delighted to receive the support. After graduation, she will return to the Gobi to work. Oyu Tolgoi pays her full tuition costs and dormitory expenses, allowing her to concentrate solely on her studies. A. Uuriintuya loves poetry and is a keen writer of poems. During the summer vacation, she undertook a month’s internship at the local "Golden Gobi" TV channel, giving her a chance to practice journalism. "Young people are lucky, you know? I will work for three years back home and am confident in the future. I feel very proud," she says.
Myagmarsuren Bat-Erdene, a native of Bayandalai soum of Umnugovi aimag, won the national school Olympics and was invited to study at the Mongolian-Turkish school. He won the Olympics again in 2009 and received an invitation to study at the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences. B.Myagmarsuren will graduate next spring as a doctor. His parents are herders in his native Naran bagh. They own about 500 head of livestock. His mother graduated from Dornogovi medical school with honours and worked as a doctor in the soum for more than 20 years. This influenced his choice of a medical career. "After graduation, I will work at the soum hospital for one year, then another year in the aimag hospital and after two more years, I will become a specialist medical doctor,” he says. “I plan to return to my soum and work for at least three years in total. He accumulated a lot of experience through internships at the National Trauma Research Centre and Skin Disease Research Centre during his second year of study. He also spent time during his third and fourth years at the aimag’s clinic. Last summer he worked as a bagh medical doctor in Bayandalai soum.
At this point, he realised the value placed on the medical profession by people. "Countryside people have great respect for doctors and even older citizens address me as doctor. This is a great honour,” says B.Myagmarsuren with pride. He is determined to become a good doctor who is respected in the community. A good wrestler himself, he also loves national wrestling and likes to play basketball. Last summer, he successfully competed at the local naadam.
Taivan Bayasgalan, native of Dalanzadgad graduated from secondary school in the aimag and joined the University of Science and Technology. He is currently studying to become a civil engineer and architect. His father works as a guard at the aimag's municipal palace and his mother is a nurse. B.Taivan says, “I will return to work in my home town after graduation. Our aimag is implementing a programme called ‘New Dalanzadgad’ to construct many buildings, including apartment blocks for 50 families, as well as new schools. Construction is good work which benefits many people." Last summer he worked at six construction material factories, at the construction site of MCS Group, and on the construction of the Buyant-Ukhaa apartment complex. He believes that this will help to strengthen the knowledge he has learned in class by linking theory with practice. He is also a political and social activist. He is member of an international student network which has branches in 124 countries. He has a vision to develop young leaders in Mongolia and is interested in the art of rhetoric. He has won the national rhetoric championship in Ulaanbaatar and was listed in the top 25 in the intellectual Olympics.

Para-Judo World Championship begins
By B. Amarsaikhan
Ulaanbaatar, September 5 (MONTSAME) Mongolian team with five athletes has headed for the USA to partake in the Para-Judo World Championship 2014 to kick off Friday in Denver city.
Winners of the World Championship will get rights to compete in Rio de Janeiro 2016 Paralympic Games. The national team of Mongolia has comprised B.Uugankhuu (men's 60kg), A.Monkhbat (men's 66kg), E.Davaadagva (men's 73kg), D.Ganbat (men's 90kg), and P.Bolortuya (women's 52kg).

Two Mongolians lead IJF rankings
By B. Khuder
Ulaanbaatar, September 5 (MONTSAME) Mongolian judokas topped the rankings of world judokas by the latest rankings released Thursday by the International Judo Federation.
The rankings of judokas were updated after the 2014 World Judo Championships held last week in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
A State Honored Sportswoman and 2013 World champion M.Urantsetseg kept her leadership in the women’s 48 kg category with 2,430 points, and a new World champion G.Boldbaatar IMS led the men’s 60 kg division with 2,456 points, being followed by Naohisa Takato of Japan, and Amiran Papinashvili, a Georgian judoka. A silver medalist of World Championships D.Amartuvshin was ranked eighth in this category with 1,042 points.
An international master of sports D.Tomorkhuleg was ranked fifth in the men’s 66 kg, where a Brazilian judoka Charles Chibana (1,978 points) led the category. A State Honored Sportsman and Olympic bronze medalist Kh.Tsagaanbaatar was ranked fifth in the men’s 73 kg. D.Sumya IMS was listed in the ninth in the women’s 57 kg.

Discover Mongolia-2014: Confidence builder
September 6 (Mongolian Economy) Discover Mongolia-2014, a two-day symposium of mining investors, concluded on September 4th. As one of the mining sector’s biggest forums, this year’s talks focused on the legal environment, the current situation of gold and coal, project financing, rare earth minerals, and geology exploration. The forum was accompanied by an exhibition displaying the operations of private-public entities. 
The forum was a direct response to the recent decrease in foreign direct investment. FDI fell by 70 percent in the first half of 2014, according to the Bank of Mongolia. To attract investors, the government amended investment laws at the end of last year, with additional amendments of the Minerals Law and Oil Law passed this spring. A comprehensive policy for the minerals sector was also recently redefined. 
Despite these measures, Discover Mongolia-2014 did not have seats filled at capacity. President of the Mongolian National Mining Association Algaa N said, “that the mining sector has seen its ups and downs in accordance with a natural cycle. The number of participants declined. But don’t take it too seriously.”
He also talked about the new changes made to the Minerals Law, passed by Parliament this spring. He sees these changes as the reform necessary to bring investors back to Mongolia. 
This year, the forum welcomed investors from Australia, Canada, Malaysia, China, and Hong Kong. 
Ochirbat Punsalmaa, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, said “The changes to the Minerals Law are extremely positive changes, particularly regarding the promotion of foreign investment. Now we are allowed to export through eight border points in China, after the Chinese leader’s visit to Mongolia. Meanwhile, the top levels of government have recently discussed the signing of an agreement on transit between Mongolia, Russia, and China. These developments help establish a positive legal environment for Mongolian access to coastal countries’ ports.”
One of the biggest topics of discussion during the forum was the investment environment of the past three years. Bilguun Ankhbayar, CEO of MIBG, said that we need to let Oyu Tolgoi run if want to attract more foreign investment, which he underlined in a presentation titled ‘Review and Outlook of Mongolian Investment Environment.’
Officials from the Ministry of Mining hope for increased investment by the end of this year due to positive changes made within Mongolia’s legal environment. Exploration licenses alone are expected to generate more than two billion dollars. 
The forum also hosted the signing of a memorandum on partnership in the minerals sector by private, public, and civil society representatives. Through the memorandum, multisided representatives of the mining sector promised to conduct their operations with a focus on friendliness, transparency, and responsibility. 
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