tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86558759337844905152024-03-19T17:29:10.028+08:00Mongolian Economy and FinanceThis blog is all about economic and financial events happening in Mongolia.Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.comBlogger18108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-10701459231045247022021-09-28T05:22:00.003+08:002021-09-28T05:22:37.015+08:00United States and Mongolia Successfully Conduct Khangai-21 Disaster Response Exercise<p> <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Arkhangai province, Mongolia</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> — From September 14-23, the Civil Military Support Element of the U.S. Embassy partnered with the National Emergency Management Agency of Mongolia to organize the Khangai-21 Disaster Response Exercise in Arkhangai Province. Working together with Local Emergency Management Agencies from Arkhangai, Bayankhongor, Bulgan, Khuvsgul, Uvurkhangai, and Zavkhan medical and rescue personnel from the U.S. Air Force led training exercises in confined space and high-angle rescue, along with support training in emergency medicine, crisis communications, and emergency management. In addition to the more than 180 Mongolian participants, the defense attachés of Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Republic of Turkey attended as observers.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 26px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Due to the risk and frequency of seismic activity in Mongolia, special focus was given to earthquake response in order to help Mongolian rescue personnel better prepare to provide assistance and relief to the people of Mongolia in the event of such a disaster. Training consisted of extensive classroom and field instruction on how to extract and evacuate disaster victims safely from confined spaces and high-angle environments. At the same time, medical personnel received training on how to triage and treat patients during an emergency. Additionally, officials from emergency operations centers received classroom instruction on efficient management and resourcing of rescue and medical personnel; how to communicate effectively with the public during a crisis; and ways to work with international non-governmental organizations to provide humanitarian relief. At the end of the training, participants successfully engaged in a large-scale exercise simulating a real-world natural disaster.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 26px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the United States and Mongolia were forced to cancel the Gobi Wolf multi-national disaster response exercise held annually in Mongolia. The Khangai-21 exercise allowed U.S. and Mongolian rescue personnel to solidify their productive partnership in the interim. Lessons learned from Khangai-21 will inform planning for the much larger Gobi Wolf exercise expected to resume in 2022. Khangai-21 further enhanced the strong bonds between the United States and Mongolia while making great progress in preparing Mongolian rescuers to protect and assist the people of Mongolia in the event of a natural disaster.</span></p><div><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-81104860699375548402021-09-28T05:19:00.005+08:002021-09-28T05:19:58.198+08:00China and Russia step in to assist Mongolia with fuel shortage<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px;">China and Russia are exporting gasoline to Mongolia on an emergency basis to assist the country to cope an energy supply shortage.</span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px;">An oil train departing from China arrived at Mongolia through the China-Mongolia border on Sunday, carrying 2,750 tons of AI-92 gasoline, according to a notice issued by Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry of Mongolia. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px;">It is also reported that an oil train from Russia has arrived in Altanbulag, Mongolia on Sunday, carrying 1,212 tons of AI-92 gasoline.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px;">With the arrival of the oil tankers Mongolia said it will resume the normal supply of gasoline in the country from Monday, Mongolian fuel management authorities announced on Sunday.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px;">At the request of the Mongolian government, China is to increase fuel oil exports. Due to the shortage, gas stations in Mongolia have been limiting supply to the public.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px;">Mongolia consumes 38,000 to 40,000 tons of AI-92 gasoline each month, with the landlocked nation entirely dependent on outside supply, of which more than 90 percent is sourced from Russia.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-81407116849113229122021-09-24T06:58:00.008+08:002021-09-24T06:59:19.318+08:00Mongolian Minister Says Russia, China Ready To Increase Fuel Exports To Country - Reports<p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; text-align: justify;">Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh has said that Russia and China are willing to increase fuel exports to the East Asian country to combat the domestic fuel shortage, Mongolian Ikon News reported on Thursday</span></p><div><div class="detail_txt" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;">MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2021) Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh has said that <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/russia.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Russia</a> and <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/china.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">China</a> are willing to increase fuel <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/exports.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">exports</a> to the East <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/asia.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Asian</a> country to combat the domestic fuel <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/shortage.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">shortage</a>, Mongolian Ikon News reported on Thursday.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;">Speaking on the sidelines of the 76th session of the <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/united-nations.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">UN</a> General <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/assembly.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Assembly</a> in <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/new-york.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">New York</a>, the official told the <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/urdu-news" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">news</a> outlet that both <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/moscow.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Moscow</a> and <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/beijing.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Beijing</a> had promised to ramp up their fuel <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/exports.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">exports</a> to <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/mongolia.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Mongolia</a>.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;">Mongolia imports roughly 90% of its fuel <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/from.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">from</a> <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/russia.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Russia</a>, with <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/china.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">China</a> covering the rest. In <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/april.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">April</a>, <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/moscow.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Moscow</a> decreased fuel <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/exports.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">exports</a> to <a class="txt_link" href="https://www.urdupoint.com/en/latest-news/mongolia.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Mongolia</a>, citing its own domestic shortages.</p></div><div class="clear" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="ac mb15 mt15" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 15px !important; padding: 0px; text-align: center !important; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><div id="teads" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="clear" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div align="center" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="clear" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition-duration: 0.5s; vertical-align: baseline;"></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-72111169347931814752021-09-24T06:57:00.002+08:002021-09-24T06:57:08.129+08:00Russian, Mongolian troops kick off Selenga 2021 joint counter-terror drills<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #747e89; font-family: Gost, sans-serif; font-size: 23px;">The servicemen have also accomplished a complex combat training operation within specified time limits for unloading military hardware from a railway platform and conducted a march about 60 km long to the Doytym An proving ground</span></p><div class="news-header__actions" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Gost, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 25px;"><div class="social ng-scope" ng-controller="socialController" style="box-sizing: border-box; white-space: nowrap;"><button class="social__button social__button_fb ng-isolate-scope" data-content_soc_icon_facebook_upper="" share="share" social="fb" style="appearance: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/newtass/img/blocks/social/fb.svg"); background-origin: initial; background-position: 50% center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(230, 230, 230); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; cursor: pointer; font-family: Gost, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: 44px; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; outline: none; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 44px;"></button><div class="text-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; margin-top: 50px; white-space: normal;"><div class="text-block" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 680px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">ULAN-UDE, September 23. /TASS/. The Selenga 2021 international counter-terror drills with the participation of Russian military personnel kicked off in Mongolia, the press office of Russia’s Eastern Military District told TASS on Thursday.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;">"The Russian troops have arrived for their participation in the Selenga 2021 annual joint Russian-Mongolian drills at the Doytym An training ground, and their opening ceremony has been held today. Overall, the exercise will involve up to 1,500 personnel and over 200 items of armament and military hardware from both sides," the press office said in a statement.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;">The servicemen have also accomplished a complex combat training operation within specified time limits for unloading military hardware from a railway platform and conducted a march about 60 km long to the Doytym An proving ground. Until October 5, they will be assigned the task of eliminating notional outlawed armed gangs, employing various tactical methods of modern warfare, the press office specified.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;">"The Eastern Military District will participate in the drills with motorized infantry and armored units, a mortar battery, BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers, a flamethrower platoon, and tube artillery squads," the statement says.</p><div class="inread" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; z-index: 1;"><div id="_mwayss-deb9bae0dc0dd889fef31fa4e0fd8b641632437748231" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;">In the course of their preparations for the joint drills, the sides took measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, the press office said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;">Russia and Mongolia hold Selenga drills alternately on their territory each year.</p></div></div><div class="column" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 680px; white-space: normal;"><div class="news-actions" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: left; margin-top: 50px;"><div class="social ng-scope" ng-controller="socialController" style="box-sizing: border-box; white-space: nowrap;"><button class="social__button social__button_fb ng-isolate-scope" data-content_soc_icon_facebook_lower="" share="share" social="fb" style="appearance: none; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/newtass/img/blocks/social/fb.svg"); background-origin: initial; background-position: 50% center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(230, 230, 230); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; cursor: pointer; font-family: Gost, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: 44px; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; outline: none; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 44px;"></button></div></div></div></div></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-55263474895257506502021-09-24T06:52:00.004+08:002021-09-24T06:52:56.751+08:00Did Mongolia Give up on Winning a UN Security Council Seat?<p> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Sans", "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 28px;">Any mention of Mongolia’s candidacy was notably absent from President Khurelsukh’s U.N. speech. Does that pave the way for Japan to win a nonpermanent seat in the U.N. Security Council?</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">September 24 (The Diplomat) The annual U.N. General Assembly is a grand stage for foreign policy announcements, along with the opportunity for world leaders to meet up on the sidelines. This opportunity has been especially meaningful for Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, as he was only elected in June. Khurelsukh has embraced this opportunity for an in-person visit and has been making the rounds in New York to meet counterparts and U.N. officials.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">His <a href="https://estatements.unmeetings.org/estatements/10.0010/20210922/RgvRK5pCuzNl/H7UJUpkFg311_en.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">September 22 speech</a> to the General Assembly reviewed Mongolia’s relationship with the United Nations. However, he did not mention Mongolia’s candidacy for a nonpermanent seat on the Security Council in next year’s election, suggesting that Mongolia is not actively pursuing election and instead ceding the seat to Japan.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Khurelsukh’s speech was much more ambitious than President Battulga Khaltmaa’s <a href="https://www.un.int/mongolia/statements_speeches/statement-he-mr-khaltmaa-battulga-president-mongolia-general-debate-75th-session" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">speech last year</a> in explicating the country’s views on major global issues, including development, ecosystem degradation, climate change, and nuclear weapons. Khurelsukh’s speech did also emphasize Mongolia’s support for the work of the United Nations in various areas, including its contributions to U.N. Peacekeeping Operations. Significantly, however, the speech does not make an explicit reference to Security Council candidacy, which leads us to speculate that Mongolia is planning to withdraw ahead of the election or to not pursue election actively.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Due to the influence and privilege associated with the position, the five permanent members of the Security Council attract the most attention. Still, the Security Council includes 10 nonpermanent (ore elected) seats, and the competition for the opportunity to a two-year term in the Council is intense among U.N. member states. In the appointment of representatives to the nonpermanent seats, the U.N. Charter instructs member states to pay special attention to contributing “to the maintenance of international peace and security and to the other purposes of the Organization…” (Article 23, 1). Winning a nonpermanent seat on the Security Council requires two-thirds of the votes from the present member states.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">In the context of intensifying competition for nonpermanent seats, there is a trend of earlier announcements of a candidacy, as long as a decade ahead of the election. Several years ahead of the election, states campaign actively by promoting their past U.N. contributions and current priorities to gather electoral support. Small states face disadvantages in this enterprise, such as a more limited campaign budget, a smaller diplomatic corps, and fewer national representations and permanent missions. Still, being a first-time candidate and/or a small state may also be beneficial in the context of an opinion that all states should get the opportunity to serve in the Security Council. Currently, one-third of the U.N. member states have not yet served.</p><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">In his address to the General Assembly, Khurelsukh enumerated the interactions that Mongolia has had with the U.N., from accession in 1961 to the announcement of Mongolia’s nuclear-weapons-free status in 2000, the beginning of <a href="http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/mongolei/18254.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">participation in peacekeeping activities</a> in 2002, and the establishment of the <a href="http://land-locked.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries</a> in 2009. Mongolia’s participation in peacekeeping activities has grown steadily and Mongolia will host an international conference on the participation of female peacekeepers in U.N. operations in 2022.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">This history and Khurelsukh’s emphasis on deepening ties would have been the perfect set-up to reaffirm the <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2014/ga11560.doc.htm" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">2014 announcement</a> by President Elbegdorj Tsakhia that Mongolia would be seeking election to the Security Council in 2022 and enter into an active campaign phase. But alas, Khurelsukh made no such announcement.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Given the proximity of the Security Council election, the lack of mention of Mongolia’s candidacy amounts to a withdrawal from the election and a ceding of the Security Council seat reserved for Asian states to Japan, which had only <a href="https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/unp_a/page3e_001114.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">declared its candidacy</a> at the 74th General Assembly in 2019.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Why has Mongolia stepped back from its candidacy?</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">The most obvious factors are the close ties between Mongolia and Japan and Japan’s long pursuit of permanent membership in the Security Council. While the movement to reform the Security Council seems to have stalled in recent years, this remains a priority for Japan and it is perhaps not surprising that Japan would not be eager to engage in a competitive election campaign over the nonpermanent seat.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Japan is an important economic ally to Mongolia, of course, with significant investments, an Economic Partnership Agreement in place, and important cultural links. In Mongolia’s quest to <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/mongolia-seizes-the-diplomatic-moment/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">cultivate “third neighbors”</a> (beyond China and Russia), Japan has been an important supporter of Mongolia’s role as a democracy amid an authoritarian sea.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">But there are also domestic factors at play. Khurelsukh appears keen to erase the foreign policy legacy of his activist predecessor Elbegdorj. This may well have played a role in Mongolia’s <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia/2021/afghanistan-hazara-engagement-silence/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">complete silence</a> on developments in Afghanistan despite a history or previous engagement. While Khurelsukh is embracing the international stage with his visit to the U.N. in a way that Battulga never did, the prospect of annoying Japan might have persuaded him to not give in to the allure of some international prominence.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">As president, Khurelsukh is facing the prospect of a difficult position where the United States and China are increasingly trying to construct blocs to face off against each other. Given Mongolia’s near-total economic dependency on China, a China-U.S. conflict puts the country in a very awkward position given its clear preference for democracy. Japan is an important ally in that context and will be pleased to be assured of a Security Council seat in next year’s election.</p></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-57600969702901103112021-09-23T07:21:00.007+08:002021-09-23T07:21:57.238+08:00Iron ore: Why this left-for-dead metal could rocket, and 4 easy ways to buy it<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em;">The last 60 days have been a brutal stretch for iron investors.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">As a result of China cutting back on iron ore production as a means of reducing pollution, the iron and steel sectors have both been walloped.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Iron ore prices have collapsed about 60% since a record in May. And in less than two months, three of the world's largest ore miners, Rio Tinto, BHP and Vale have lost roughly $110 billion in market value.</p><div class="caas-da" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div id="sda-INARTICLE"></div></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">What can we say? It’s tough being Iron Man.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">But if you’ve been sniffing around the ore space waiting for the right time to get in, this could be it. China’s restrictions may provide short-term pain for investors, but the planet’s need for iron ore and steel isn’t going away.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Here are four iron-related investments that might be worth pouncing on — maybe even with <a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" data-rapid_p="115" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="slk:your spare change" href="https://moneywise.com/investing/robo-advisors/how-your-small-change-can-help-build-your-investing-portfolio?utm_source=syn_oath_mon&utm_medium=B&utm_campaign=18698&utm_content=oath_mon_18698_your+spare+change" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; color: #188fff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">your spare change</a>.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0.8em 0px;">1. Rio Tinto (RIO)</h2><div><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Rio Tinto, despite its stock being down almost 30% since the end of July, may be the most intriguing option out there. As one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore, Rio’s shares may be the ones most likely to benefit from an eventual rebound.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">In addition to the 16 mines Rio operates in Australia, it also has projects in Serbia, Canada, Mongolia, Guinea and the U.S.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Rio Tinto is not solely an iron play. The company produces a variety of products — copper, diamonds, titanium, aluminum — that the world needs a continual supply of.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Its extensive reach has led to some serious profits: Earnings over the first half of 2021 were $12.2 billion, leading to an interim dividend of $5.61 per share.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Rio Tinto currently trades at just under $70 per share. But you can get a piece of Rio Tinto using a <a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" data-rapid_p="116" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="slk:popular stock trading app" href="https://moneywise.com/investing/stocks/if-youve-got-some-extra-cash-heres-how-to-invest-it-for-free?utm_source=syn_oath_mon&utm_medium=B&utm_campaign=18698&utm_content=oath_mon_18698_popular+stock+trading+app" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; color: #188fff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">popular stock trading app</a> that allows you to buy fractions of shares with as much money as you’re willing to spend.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0.8em 0px;">2. Vale SA (VALE)</h2><div><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Shares in Brazil’s Vale SA have lost about 13% of their value in the last month, but a massive first six months of 2021 led the company to announce $7.6 billion in first-half dividends.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">That’s the largest payout to investors since 2019.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Vale says it is the world’s largest producer of iron ore and iron pellets. Its biggest operation is its iron ore mine in Carajas, Brazil, one of the richest iron deposits in the world, but it also runs a plant in Oman and has various stakes in joint ventures in China.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">In the most recent quarter, Vale posted earnings of $7.6 billion, up more than 600% year-over-year. To be sure, those results were helped by higher iron ore prices at the time.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">But with the company on track to hit 2021 guidance of between 315 and 335 million tons of ore production, Vale remains a potent bet on the steelmaking metal.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0.8em 0px;">3. BHP Group (BHP)</h2><div><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Australia’s BHP Group has fared even worse than its competitors over the last two months, with its stock losing more than 40% of its value since July 29.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">Like Rio Tinto, BHP is involved in more than just iron ore mining. It also has its fingers in petroleum, coal and copper, which makes it a somewhat diversified play.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">BHP has been receiving lukewarm assessments from analysts. Zacks, Berenberg Bank and Deutsche Bank all recently rated the company a “hold”, while Liberium Capital downgraded BHG from “hold” to “sell” in July.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">The company reported profits of $25.9 billion for the financial year ending June 30. And with BHP having generated $19.3 billion in free cash flow over the past 12 months, it should have some cushion to weather the current storm afflicting iron ore.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">If you're still cautious about buying into BHP, some investing apps will give you a <a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" data-rapid_p="118" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="slk:free share of BHP" href="https://moneywise.com/investing/stocks/if-youve-got-some-extra-cash-heres-how-to-invest-it-for-free?utm_source=syn_oath_mon&utm_medium=B&utm_campaign=18698&utm_content=oath_mon_18698_free+share+of+BHP" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; color: #188fff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">free share of BHP</a> just for signing up.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0.8em 0px;">4. VanEck Vectors Steel ETF (SLX)</h2><div><div class="caas-body-section" style="flex: 1 1 75%; min-width: 0px; padding-right: 20px;"><div class="caas-content wafer-sticky wafer-loader-success" data-wf-sticky-boundary="caas-body-section" data-wf-sticky-offset="165px 10px" data-wf-sticky-target=".caas-share-buttons" style="display: flex;"><div class="caas-content-wrapper" style="flex: 1 1 80%; min-width: 400px;"><div class="caas-body" style="padding-right: 75.6875px;"><p style="font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">The VanEck Vectors Steel ETF was riding high from May to August, as rising iron ore prices lifted the fund to its highest value since July of 2011.</p><p style="font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">The last month has seen the price of SLX shares shrink by about 11%, but compared to the individual companies featured here, that’s not so bad.</p><p style="font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">SLX tracks the performance of some of the world’s biggest ore producers, including Rio Tinto and Vale, but it also holds large steelmakers including Arcelormittal, Nucor, and U.S. Steel. This bit of diversification should help spread some of your risks around in the event iron ore hits the skids once again.</p><p style="font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">As of Sept. 21, shares in SLX were selling for around $54.53. The most recent dividend paid out was $0.83 a share in December of 2020.</p><h2 style="font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0.8em 0px;">A quieter commodity play</h2><p style="font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">If the volatility in iron ore markets has you questioning your future as an iron/steel investor, there’s another asset that also provides exposure to rising commodity prices: <a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" data-rapid_p="119" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="slk:U.S. farmland" href="https://moneywise.com/investing/real-estate/grow-your-money-with-shares-of-farmland?utm_source=syn_oath_mon&utm_medium=B&utm_campaign=18698&utm_content=oath_mon_18698_U.S.+farmland" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color: #188fff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">U.S. farmland</a>.</p><p style="font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">An investment in farmland allows you to profit from both rising food prices, which should only keep increasing as the global demand for food intensifies, and a rapidly decreasing amount of arable land.</p><p style="font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">An investment in farmland can also be considered an investment in sustainability.</p><p style="font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;">It’s become <a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" data-rapid_p="120" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="slk:a hot topic among ESG investors" href="https://moneywise.com/investing/investing-basics/esg-investing-why-progress-and-profits-arent-mutually-exclusive?utm_source=syn_oath_mon&utm_medium=B&utm_campaign=18698&utm_content=oath_mon_18698_a+hot+topic+among+ESG+investors" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color: #188fff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">a hot topic among ESG investors</a>, and will only continue to grow in prominence now that it’s <a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" data-rapid_p="121" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="slk:so easy to invest in" href="https://moneywise.com/investing/real-estate/does-your-post-pandemic-portfolio-include-farmland-it-should?utm_source=syn_oath_mon&utm_medium=B&utm_campaign=18698&utm_content=oath_mon_18698_so+easy+to+invest+in" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color: #188fff; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">so easy to invest in</a>.</p><p style="font-size: 1.385em; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em;"><em>This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.</em></p></div></div></div></div><aside class="caas-aside-section" style="-webkit-box-direction: normal; -webkit-box-orient: vertical; display: flex; flex-direction: column; max-width: 300px; min-width: 300px;"><div class="caas-non-sticky-sda"><div class="caas-sda" id="sda-MON" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px !important;"><div id="sda-MON-iframe"></div></div></div></aside></div><figure class="caas-figure" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><div class="caas-figure-with-pb" style="max-height: 400px; overflow-y: hidden;"><div></div></div></figure></div><figure class="caas-figure" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><div class="caas-figure-with-pb" style="max-height: 400px; overflow-y: hidden;"><div></div></div></figure></div><figure class="caas-figure" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><div class="caas-figure-with-pb" style="max-height: 400px; overflow-y: hidden;"><div></div></div></figure></div><figure class="caas-figure" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Yahoo Sans", YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><div class="caas-figure-with-pb" style="max-height: 400px; overflow-y: hidden;"><div></div></div></figure>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-34986380806605044512021-09-23T07:18:00.006+08:002021-09-23T07:20:28.575+08:00Mongolia's economy to grow 4.6 pct in 2021: ADB<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #2e3233; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 20px;">ULAN BATOR, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's GDP is expected to grow 4.6 percent in 2021 on the back of continued economic rebound, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Wednesday.</span></p><div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-12 col-md-8 col-lg-8" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2e3233; float: left; font-family: "Roboto Slab", serif; font-size: 20px; min-height: 1px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; position: relative; width: 780px;"><article class="story" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="article-blah" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 20px; width: 675px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0em 0px 1.4em;">The latest growth projection is slightly lower than the 4.8 percent forecast by the ADB in April.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0em 0px 1.4em;">Major drivers of the country's economic growth include robust export demand, increased private outlays as well as strong economic recovery of its neighbor China, the ADB said in its Asian Development Outlook 2021 Update.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0em 0px 1.4em;">"Despite over 65 percent of the country's total population becoming fully vaccinated, public health concerns and economic uncertainty remain high, and Mongolia has faced a significant challenge to mitigate COVID-19 risks to ensure sustainable economic recovery," said Pavit Ramachandran, ADB country director for Mongolia.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0em 0px 1.4em;">"Continuing health responses, maintaining macroeconomic stability, ensuring accommodative policies, targeting social protection, and fostering investment climate reforms are top priorities for this economic recovery puzzle," he said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0em 0px 1.4em;">The country's GDP growth is expected to accelerate to 6 percent in 2022 as COVID-19 concerns ease, benefits from the vaccination program materialize, transportation and logistics issues affecting exports are resolved, and domestic demand rises, according to the bank.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0em 0px 1.4em;">The bank noted that downside risks of the outlook include new COVID-19 variants and persistent border restrictions which disrupt exports, undermine industrial output and keep inflation high.</p><div><br /></div></div></article></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-64221196296025066912021-09-23T07:16:00.004+08:002021-09-23T07:18:11.934+08:00The Mongol Empire Versus China: The Way of War<p> <strong>The Mongol Empire's way of war proved powerful enough to conquer the whole of China, under the guidance of Kublai Khan and Sun Tzu.</strong></p><p>Kublai Khan completed the decades-long Mongolian conquest of China in 1279, becoming the first ruler of the Yuan dynasty. Despite a fierce protracted conflict not well-suited for the Mongolian way of war, Kublai Khan still managed to absorb the Song dynasty into his empire, marking the first time in history that the whole of China was conquered and ruled by a foreigner. Perhaps most ironically, the Mongol Empire’s defeat of China was assisted by its acceptance of ideas put forth by China’s most famous military strategist, <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.thecollector.com/sun-tzu-carl-clausewitz-greatest-strategists/" href="https://www.thecollector.com/sun-tzu-carl-clausewitz-greatest-strategists/">Sun Tzu</a>.</p><strong>The Mongol Empire’s China Problem</strong><p>The <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mongol-empire" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mongol-empire" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mongol Empire</a> was established in 1206 by the infamous <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Genghis-Khan" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Genghis-Khan" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Genghis Khan</a> in the Steppe of Central Asia. At the height of its power, it constituted the largest contiguous land empire in history, covering over 9 million square miles. The conquest of China was the Mongol Empire’s most challenging campaign, spanning decades and several khans. Southern China proved unsuitable for the Mongols’ traditional cavalry warfare because of the prevalence of its mountains and rice fields. To make things more challenging, the Chinese were adept at siege defense and had the advantage of gunpowder.</p><p>Put almost entirely on the defensive, <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.thecollector.com/how-rich-was-imperial-china/" href="https://www.thecollector.com/how-rich-was-imperial-china/">China </a>focused on surviving a protracted war in mountain strongholds supported by agricultural areas and adjacent rivers. This also maximized the impact of China’s infantry, which would be at a severe disadvantage against Mongolian cavalry in open battle. Additionally fortuitous, these strongholds were close enough geographically to avoid the danger of being isolated and annihilated one by one. China further divided its infantry into small units suited to guerilla warfare and stationed its navy in rivers to defend its fortresses.</p><p>In China, Kublai Khan’s forces faced challenges that directly countered their preferred style of warfare. The terrain was unforgiving to cavalry and forced the army to take circuitous routes. Chinese strongholds were heavily defended and supported by the navy. Not only did the Mongols not have a naval force to match, but the Chinese fleet could further limit Mongol movement and even outflank their cavalry at times. Let’s take a look at the Mongol way of war and how it aligned with <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.thecollector.com/sun-tzu-chinese-warfare/" href="https://www.thecollector.com/sun-tzu-chinese-warfare/">Sun Tzu</a>‘s teachings as a prerequisite for how the Mongols overcame the China problem.</p> <strong>The Nomad: Mounted Archers</strong><p>Due to their nomadic lifestyle, Mongol warriors were traditionally elite horsemen and deadly archers, learning how to ride a horse and shoot a bow as toddlers. As part of the army, they engaged in archery training and various unit drills to solidify their maneuverability and discipline as a group. They preferred projectile weapons to hand-to-hand combat. The average Mongol archer could easily outshoot his opponent with his long-range composite bow, which had an accurate range of 300m. To demonstrate the advantage this bow offered, the crossbow used by Western European armies at the time had an accurate range of only 75m, while the famous English longbow of several centuries later reached 220m. To supplement their bows, Mongol warriors also carried lances, spears, or swords for close combat, and often wore light <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/bible/bible-general/armour" href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/bible/bible-general/armour" rel="noopener" target="_blank">lamellar armor</a>.</p><p>The cavalry often adopted maneuvers similar to that of the mass hunt. Horsemen would fan out and form a ring several miles across, then slowly contract until all targets are trapped inside with no escape. The discipline, coordination, and communication required for this hunting maneuver easily translated to the battlefield, making for a highly disciplined and devastatingly mobile force. While cavalry was very much traditional to the Mongolian fighting style, it also happened to couple well with Sun Tzu’s emphasis on swift and decisive movement. This hunting maneuver exemplifies and indicates the depth to which the Mongols understood the crucial importance of mobility.</p><p>Despite the looser rigidity of its nomadic army, the Mongol Empire nevertheless infused the crucial element of discipline to ensure that warriors would adhere with absolute obedience to their commanders and work as a unit rather than as individuals. As can be imagined, Mongol cavalry worked best on open ground reminiscent of their homeland and was very difficult to defeat under such conditions. However, China’s mountainous terrain proved the first major obstacle to the Mongol conquest of the <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Song-dynasty" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Song-dynasty" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Song dynasty</a>.</p> <strong>Espionage and Illusory Tactics</strong><p>Another tactic frequently used by the Mongols to shattering effect was that of espionage. Here, many similarities can be seen between the Mongol practice and Sun Tzu’s teachings, especially that of deception and knowing one’s enemy. For example, each Mongol campaign began by gathering intelligence on the enemy from merchants, spies, scouts, or expeditionary reports. Understanding the importance of up-to-date information, imperial messengers were allowed to requisition horses to get news back to the Khan in mere days from anywhere in the empire. Armed with this intelligence, the Mongol Empire planned its detailed campaign strategy before even departing.</p><p>As for deception, Mongol tactics included a wide range of surprise attacks and ambushes. Thanks to the mobility granted by their horses, Mongol mounted archers were masters at hit-and-run, flanking, and envelopment maneuvers. They often feigned retreat to coax the enemy into chasing them before wheeling around and obliterating them. They frequently encircled and broke the enemy’s strength with an arrow storm before moving in for the definitive kill. Because of this emphasis on subterfuge, mobility, and projectile weapons, the Mongol Empire didn’t need superior numbers to cripple the enemy on the battlefield. As explained by Sun Tzu, deception is a superb way to upset asymmetrical balances of power while also minimizing one’s losses.</p><p>Sometimes, the Mongols even avoided combat altogether in search of a more ideal battlefield. While doing so, they divided their forces into disparate targets until opportunity allowed for a quick regroup and surprise attack. These <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fabian-tactics" href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fabian-tactics" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Fabian tactics</a> are particularly useful in wearing down a defensive enemy before even engaging in battle. And once again, it is decidedly reminiscent of Sun Tzu’s mandate to only engage in battle when one holds a clear advantage.</p><p>Well aware of psychological warfare, the Mongol Empire is infamous for regularly massacring conquered towns to discourage further resistance. It also widely used propaganda to exaggerate the size of its forces. When the Mongols invaded Szechuan in 1258, the khan spread rumors that his 40,000 force actually numbered 100,000. They regularly used subterfuge to confuse the enemy and were quick to take advantage of any internal dissension among enemy ranks.</p> <strong>The Mongol Army</strong><p>With its cavalry and careful planning, the Mongol Empire created a vast empire. But as the Mongol Empire expanded and evolved, so did its military character. Genghis Khan first began the process of military transformation by consolidating the loose Mongolian confederation into an army. He organized his forces along decimal lines of ten, 100, 1,000, and 10,000 and made a soldier’s military unit his new social “tribe.” The army was deployed in three flexible corps: right flank, center, and left flank. After conquering a territory, the Mongol Empire left a <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3107652" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3107652" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>tamma</em></a> military force to secure the area and expand Mongolian influence.</p><p>Kublai Khan’s diverse forces required considerably more organization than Genghis Khan’s light cavalry troops half a century before. Men from conquered peoples were absorbed as infantry to support the Mongolian cavalry and as engineers to bolster the Empire’s ability to conduct sieges and construct roads to ease its logistics. The Mongol Empire integrated the different skill sets possessed by various peoples, allowing each to fight in their traditional way. Due to this practice, the army expanded to include heavy cavalry, shock troops, regular infantry, engineer corps, and other forms of non-nomadic forces. Fortunately for his China problem, this practice also gave Kublai Khan the keys to success in a campaign most unsuitable to the Mongols’ traditional way of nomadic warfare.</p> <strong>Kublai Khan and the Leadership’s Winning Strategy</strong><p>While the Mongol Empire is famous for its nomadic cavalry, its strategic capacity should not be underemphasized. Its army was highly developed, disciplined, and wielded its traditional structures alongside adopted ways of war to overwhelming effect. Far from being a disorganized mob of marauders, the Mongol Empire intelligently planned and organized each campaign and maintained the strict balance between obedient yet autonomous generals.</p><p>Mongolian strategy typically unfolded as follows: After gathering intelligence and organizing its troops, the Mongol Empire declared war, often giving the enemy an ultimatum and options for surrender. It determined its campaign strategy in a war council and thereafter expected its commanders to adhere to the timetable agreed upon. As long as they coordinated according to the timetable, commanders were allowed a high degree of independence. Due to their cavalry, Mongol strategy clearly had a central component of maintaining and utilizing mobility. As such, they often adopted a three-pronged invasion. This gave good opportunities for destroying the enemy’s army and smaller fortresses, saving the larger strongholds for last. Once the field army was destroyed, the Mongols could besiege cities at their leisure. Throughout, the Mongols targeted enemy leaders. Killing leaders not only left troops in disarray but also eliminated the possibility of the enemy easily regrouping.</p><p>But since cavalry was ineffective in the terrain of southern China, how did the Mongol Empire defeat the Song dynasty? Kublai Khan simply but brilliantly circumvented his army’s shortfalls by relying on those more familiar with Chinese warfare. Namely, Chinese deserters and Korean fighters. This shifted the army’s structure to promote infantry commanders in the Song campaign. Additionally, Kublai Khan incorporated a number of innovative technologies to combat Chinese strongholds. Firstly, “<a data-cke-saved-href="https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Thunder_crash_bomb" href="https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Thunder_crash_bomb" rel="noopener" target="_blank">thunder crash bombs</a>” were launched over the walls with traction <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/catapult-military-weaponry#ref43559" href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/catapult-military-weaponry#ref43559" rel="noopener" target="_blank">trebuchets</a>. At the siege of Xiangyang in 1273, the counterweight trebuchet proved effective enough to crush city walls. Secondly, the Mongols built a navy to be commanded by Chinese and Korean officials. With this fleet, the Mongols outmaneuvered and blockaded the Chinese navy. With these two adaptations alone, the Mongols neutralized China’s main advantages.</p> <strong>The Irony of Sun Tzu in the Mongol Empire’s Success</strong><article><p>The war lasted decades because of the fierce Chinese defense. However, in the end, the Mongol Empire prevailed. Throughout this bitter, protracted war, the Mongols demonstrated multiple examples of Sun Tzu’s teachings in action. In addition to the espionage and deception already expounded upon, their sheer flexibility and willingness to adapt were, at the core, completely in line with Sun Tzu. As <a data-cke-saved-href="https://fas.org/man/artofwar.htm" href="https://fas.org/man/artofwar.htm" rel="noopener" target="_blank">he writes</a>, “Just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare, there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent, and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.” The Mongols’ willingness to adopt new techniques and tactics as circumstances required them, made their way of warfare that much more powerful. In the end, it was the key to Kublai Khan’s success in conquering the whole of <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.thecollector.com/ancient-chinese-inventions/" href="https://www.thecollector.com/ancient-chinese-inventions/">China</a>.</p></article> <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.thecollector.com/mongol-empire-vs-china-way-of-war/" href="https://www.thecollector.com/mongol-empire-vs-china-way-of-war/" target="_blank"></a>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-25094814350257088242021-09-22T07:28:00.003+08:002021-09-22T07:28:32.805+08:00Ancient glass beads dug up in Fukuoka came from Silk Road<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Researchers have concluded that glass beads excavated from the tomb of a king in Fukuoka Prefecture were likely brought to Japan through the ancient Silk Road trade route network.</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">A group of researchers, led by Tomomi Tamura of the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, reported the finding at an academic conference held online on Sept. 18.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">The group analyzed an artifact made of two-layer blue glass beads, discovered from the Hirabaru ruins in Itoshima, Fukuoka Prefecture, in the 1960s.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">The ruins are believed to be the former tomb of a king of Itokoku, a nation appearing in a Chinese history book known as “Gishiwajinden.”</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">Tamura said the beads found in Itoshima were “likely brought to East Asia through a trade route known as the ‘Steppe Route’ that connects Eurasia’s east and west and passes through Central Asia and the Mongolian plateau.”</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">During a research trip to Mongolia, Tamura noted a similarity in terms of colors and shapes between the beads and an artifact excavated from a tomb of the equestrian nomadic people known as the Kyodo.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">The tribe flourished in the same period as the Yayoi Pottery Culture Period (1000 B.C.-A.D. 250).</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">While working on a joint project between the institute and the national museum of Kazakhstan, Tamura learned that the same glass beads had been excavated from ruins in Kazakhstan.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">With help from the Itokoku History Museum in the city of Itoshima, which stores artifacts from the Hirabaru ruins, as well as research institutions in Mongolia and Kazakhstan, the researchers led by Tamura studied and X-rayed the glass beads.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">They found that the beads were made of soda glass containing natron. They also contained antimony and manganese.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">The researchers concluded they were likely all made in the same place.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">Various glasses containing natron are believed to originate from the Mediterranean coast area, which would have been under the domain of the Roman Empire.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0a0a03; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">“Exchanges between the Han Dynasty in the East and the Roman Empire in the West were active in Eurasia in the same period as the Yayoi Period,” said Tadashi Nishitani, a professor emeritus at Kyushu University who specializes in archeology in East Asia. “Itokoku was one such center of international exchange and various products from abroad were likely brought there via the Korean Peninsula.”</p><div><br /></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-12760928950114245912021-09-22T07:26:00.004+08:002021-09-22T07:26:42.133+08:00Jalmari Helander’s ‘Immortal’ Begins Shoot; Sony-EbonyLife Writer Program; Sky Germany Slate; Daniel Bruhl Zurich Jury; Genghis Khan Feature — Global Briefs<p> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Balto, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700;">WWII Action Film Begins In Helsinki</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; margin-top: 1rem;">Principal photography has begun on <em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a data-tag="immortal" href="https://deadline.com/tag/immortal/" id="auto-tag_immortal" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(215, 121, 121); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Immortal</a></em>, the World War II action film from <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Rare Exports</em> director Jalmari Helander, in which a man goes to war against the Nazi army in the Finnish wilderness. Starring are Jorma Tommila (<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale</em>), Aksel Hennie (<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Martian</em>), Jack Doolan (<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Hatton Garden Job</em>) and Onni Tommila (<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Big Game</em>). Filming will take place in Lapland and Helsinki, Finland. Petri Jokiranta and Subzero Film Entertainment produce. Executive producers are Mike Goodridge, Gregory Ouanhon and Antonio Salas. As previously announced, Stage 6 Films acquired worldwide rights, excluding the Nordics, which will be handled by Nordisk Film. Pic is backed by the Finnish Film Foundation, Business Finland – Audiovisual Production Incentive and MTV Cmore.</p><div><div class="a-content pmc-u-line-height-copy pmc-u-font-family-georgia pmc-u-font-size-16 pmc-u-font-size-18@desktop" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.5;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Balto, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 700;"><a data-tag="sony" href="https://deadline.com/tag/sony/" id="auto-tag_sony" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(215, 121, 121); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Sony</a> Pictures & <a data-tag="ebonylife" href="https://deadline.com/tag/ebonylife/" id="auto-tag_ebonylife" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(215, 121, 121); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">EbonyLife</a> Writers Initiative</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem;">EbonyLife and Sony Pictures Television are launching Alo, a program for writers of African heritage. The word ‘Alo’ is from the Yoruba language and translates as ‘once upon a time’. The Alo website will open for fixed periods beginning this Friday when writers can submit their TV scripts and story documents, which will then be reviewed and shortlisted by the Alo team which is comprised of creative executives from both EbonyLife and SPT. The free initiative is open to professionals, freelancers as well as up-and-coming writers. Submissions “must pay homage to Africa’s unique cultures, diversity, heritage and people”. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to enter into a series pilot development agreement with SPT and EbonyLife. Entrants can reside outside Africa but must be of African heritage, born in any of the continent’s fifty-four countries or have proven citizenship as a native of the country, or be first generation children. The initiative it is open to submissions from the U.S., Canada, the UK and EU, Australia and New Zealand, and Africa. Further regions may be added at a later date.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Balto, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 700;">Sky Deutschland Originals Slate</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem;">Sky Deutschland has unveiled a trio of new original series: Crime series <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Autobahn</em> (10 x 45) comes from producer Action Concept in association with Sky Studios. The lead writers are Sven Frauenhoff and Andreas Brune. Even as kids, brothers Ali and Leo loved fast cars and motorsport, today, as police officers, they know how to keep their cool while chasing suspects at 150mph; <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tender Hearts</em> (8 x 30) is produced by Odeon Film in association with Sky Studios with Eva Lia Reinegger set to pen the series, with Pola Beck as director. Set in the year 2036, the show follows Mila, who is frustrated with her dating and sex life and decides to order a humanoid love robot; <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Chameleon</em> (8 x 45) comes from Isarstraßen Film in association with Sky Studios, and is penned by lead writer Christian Jeltsch. Set in the murky and mysterious world of corporate lobbying, it follows Max ‘The Chameleon’ a calculated and smooth operator who begins to question himself after he meets Vallery, a new, mysterious lobbyist.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem;"></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem;"></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Balto, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 700;">Zurich Jury President</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem;">German actor Daniel Bruhl will preside over this year’s Zurich Film Festival Feature Film Competition jury. The <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Rush </em>stars will be joined by director Stéphanie Chuat, producer Andrea Cornwell, and former Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick. “The Zurich Film Festival, taking place now for the 17th time, presents the most beautiful discoveries every autumn, as well as the most anticipated films of the year. It is a great honour for me to judge the competition entries this year as Jury President together with other colleagues, and I thank Christian Jungen and Elke Mayer for their trust. I am looking forward to ten exciting days of cinema,” said Daniel Brühl.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Balto, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 700;">U.S. Producer Eyes Genghis Khan Epic In Mongolia</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1rem;">Los Angeles-based producer Wendy Kram says she is planning to collaborate with Mongolian producers on a new Genghis Khan epic feature, following the enactment of Mongolia’s new film incentive legislation. Jay Liotta is writing the project, which is set in the 13<sup style="box-sizing: border-box;">th</sup> Century, chronicling a story of geopolitical conflict where unlikely partnerships bridge cultural, ideological and personal differences. The team are eyeing pre-production in the spring and production in fall next year. “The timing for Godsend is excellent, as Mongolia’s Parliament last month passed a globally competitive 45% film incentive for films made in Mongolia,” said Liotta. “The script conveys a side of Mongolian culture that has never been told by Hollywood and questions historical perceptions and prejudices. When taking on a period piece it must have contemporary relevance, and this script does,” added Kram.</p><div><br /></div></div></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; margin-top: 1rem;"></p><article class=" related-story u-border-l-8 u-border-color-brand-red pmc-u-margin-l-2 pmc-u-margin-t-2 pmc-u-margin-b-2 pmc-u-padding-l-1" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(146, 2, 0); border-left: 8px solid rgb(146, 2, 0); border-right-color: rgb(146, 2, 0); border-top-color: rgb(146, 2, 0); box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 2rem; margin-left: 2rem; margin-top: 2rem; padding-left: 1rem;"></article>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-29415060166769687512021-09-22T07:23:00.004+08:002021-09-22T07:23:37.248+08:00The Hu discuss returning to America for 'The Hun Tour,' upcoming second album<p> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px;">Three words that come together in what may seem like an alien concept to American audiences: Mongolian. Folk. Metal.</span></p><div class="asset-content subscriber-premium" itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="subscriber-preview" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">But those three words are the defining traits of The Hu Band. Comprised of musicians playing traditional Mongolian instruments along side electric guitars and drums, the band burst onto the music scene in 2018 with their YouTube videos for songs "Yuve Yuve Yu" and "Wolf Totem." Those two videos now have a total of nearly 145 million views combined. "Wolf Totem" reached number one on Billboard's Hard Rock Digital Song sales, becoming the first Mongolian act to top any Billboard chart.</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">They're first album, "The Gereg," arrived in September of 2019, with an expanded deluxe version arriving in July 2020. The band has re-recorded several of their songs as duets with American artists such as Jacoby Shaddix from Papa Roach, From Ashes to New's Danny Case, and Halestorm vocalist Lzzy Hale.</p></div><div class="tncms-region hidden-print" id="tncms-region-article_instory_top" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">After being locked down in Australia for months when the COVID-19 pandemic began, and then staying home in Mongolia for nearly a year, The Hu Band hit American shores again on September 1 for The Hun Tour North America 2021, playing major festivals and headlining their own shows.</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">Last week, Nyamjantsan "Jaya" Galsanjamts and Galbadrakh "Gala" Tsendbaatar took some time out from their tour schedule to speak with me about the return to the road and the imminent release of their sophomore effort. The band's manager, Tuga Namgur, took on the job of translator, since (to the best of my knowledge) I don't speak Mongolian.</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">Mike Sorensen: The Hu is finally back on tour, playing at festivals, opening for bands like Halestorm, as well as headlining shows. Is there a preference as far as playing to larger crowds, but with a shorter set, versus a full set for a smaller audience?</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">Gala: There's not really a preference. We're okay with anything, because in our case, we want to share our music with as many people as possible. But the smaller, more intimate venues, those shows are amazing, too.</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">MS: I was at the show in Missouri a few weeks ago, and I know a few of the songs in the set haven't been released yet. Are there plans already for a second album to arrive soon?</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">Jaya: Because of the pandemic, we were locked down at home, in Mongolia. So during that time, we did a lot of recording for our second album. And right before we left for this tour, we finished the recording on those songs. So the second album is coming, soon.</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">MS: That's excellent to hear. I love the first album, and I love the deluxe version of that. The deluxe version had some of the re-recorded songs you've done with English-speaking artists, and you've also recently done a couple of Metallica covers, with "Sad But True" and "Through the Never" from the Blacklist project. You've even done a track for Star Wars, just a lot of things outside of your own albums. Are there other side-projects like that on the horizon?</p></div><div class="tncms-region hidden-print" id="tncms-region-article_instory_middle" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">Gala: We wanted to share our music with the entire world, and that includes working with these other great artists. Right now, there's nothing we can specifically say, but there are some things we already have in mind, that we've just started thinking about.</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">MS: That's a perfect tease. I didn't think I'd really get any scoops, but I have to try. I just watched the new video you put out with the tour recap so far. The Hu has done a great job, branching out with projects like this and your "Hu's in the Kitchen" videos as a way to connect with your fans and let them know who you are outside of the music as well. Is there a plan to expand that sort of thing, or just continue as you have been on YouTube?</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">Jaya: We'll keep doing these kinds of YouTube projects, like "Hu's in the Kitchen." People know us on the stage, but we're ordinary human beings, just like our fans, and we want to share our personal lives off-stage, too. We want our fans to know who we are.</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">MS: It seems like you guys are just always having fun, no matter what you're doing.</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">Both: Thank you!</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">MS: I think that's really all I had to ask. Is there anything you'd like to share, either with fans, or with people that may just be starting to discover The Hu, or just anything you want to put out to the world?</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">Gala: We'd like to tell our fans that we are planning to tour the entire world. We're all together, and we're going to overcome these obstacles, and we'll do that together, too. We just want to make and listen to good music. We just want everyone out there to be careful so we can do all of it together.</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">Tuga: Thank you so much for having us today.</p></div><div class="subscriber-only" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px;">The Hu Band continues their North American tour through Halloween before embarking on a run of dates all across Europe in early 2022. For all the details of the tour, or to find the band's music, visit <a href="http://thehuofficial.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">thehuofficial.com</a>.</p><div><br /></div></div><div class="tncms-region hidden-print" id="tncms-region-article_instory_bottom" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div class="tncms-region hidden-print" id="tncms-region-article_bottom_content" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="share-container content-below" data-subscription-required-remove="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;"><ul class="social-share-links hidden-print list-inline icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: initial;"><li class="social-share-link fb" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; opacity: 0.8; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s; width: auto;"><a class="tnt-share-link fb" data-new-window-height="300" data-new-window-width="500" data-tncms-track-dmp="Social Media Share" data-tncms-track-event="{"app":"editorial","metric":"social_share","uuid":"88262e6e-1827-11ec-9d70-4ff9fd8d403b"}" data-toggle="new-window" data-track="{"network":"Facebook","socialAction":"post","url":"/arts-and-entertainment/the-hu-discuss-returning-to-america-for-the-hun-tour-upcoming-second-album/article_88262e6e-1827-11ec-9d70-4ff9fd8d403b.html"}" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whig.com%2Farts-and-entertainment%2Fthe-hu-discuss-returning-to-america-for-the-hun-tour-upcoming-second-album%2Farticle_88262e6e-1827-11ec-9d70-4ff9fd8d403b.html%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_campaign%3Duser-share" rel="noopener nofollow" style="border-left: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin-left: 1px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: nowrap;" target="_blank" title="Share on Facebook"><span class="tnt-stack" style="background-color: white; border-left: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: 2em; position: relative; width: 2em;"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="tnt-svg tnt-facebook-f tnt-w-9 tnt-stack-1x" data-fa-i2svg="" data-icon="facebook-f" data-prefix="fab" role="presentation" viewbox="0 0 264 512" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M76.7 512V283H0v-91h76.7v-71.7C76.7 42.4 124.3 0 193.8 0c33.3 0 61.9 2.5 70.2 3.6V85h-48.2c-37.8 0-45.1 18-45.1 44.3V192H256l-11.7 91h-73.6v229" fill="currentColor"></path></svg></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></span></a></li></ul></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-41956487496490473852021-09-21T06:42:00.001+08:002021-09-21T06:42:01.648+08:00Iron Ore And Metallurgical Coal Are Counterintuitively Moving In Wildly Diverging Directions<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 15px;">In one of the most surprising steel-related commodities markets ever, the price of one key ingredient in the steel-making process, iron ore, is collapsing, while the price of another key element, metallurgical coal, is hitting record levels. In rough terms, about 1.2 tonnes of iron ore and 0.5 tonnes of metallurgical coal are needed to produce one tonne of crude steel.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">China’s government has targeted the steel industry, which is one of the biggest polluters in the country, reportedly accounting for 10-20% of carbon emissions in China, to reduce overall carbon emissions. Remarkably, the government now wants steel production in the country to be flat to down for the full year 2021, after rising around 12% in the first half of 2021. This of course requires a marked reduction in steelmaking in 2H 2021. (It has the side “benefit” of slowing China’s economy — a goal of the county’s leadership after strong government stimulus-fueled growth put in place to combat COVID-19.)</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In turn, China steel production dropped in July 2021 and August 2021 by 8% and 12%, respectively, versus the corresponding 2020 months. Nevertheless, 2021 steel production through the first eight months is still up 5% versus the first eight months of 2020.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Steel mills have turned to dumping their contracted iron ore cargoes at fire sale prices. The price of benchmark 62% iron-content iron ore delivered to China has been cut in half in a period of just six weeks. Slowing construction activity in the property development sector, due in no small part to the potential collapse of the giant, heavily indebted property developer China Evergrande Group, has also impacted iron ore prices.</p><div class="wp-block-image" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><figure class="aligncenter size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: table; margin: 0px auto; text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-150363" sizes="(max-width: 989px) 100vw, 989px" src="https://mk0thedeepdivecyqqey.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-1056.png" srcset="https://mk0thedeepdivecyqqey.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-1056.png 989w, https://mk0thedeepdivecyqqey.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-1056-300x183.png 300w, https://mk0thedeepdivecyqqey.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-1056-150x91.png 150w, https://mk0thedeepdivecyqqey.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-1056-768x468.png 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: top;" /></figure></div><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Meanwhile and counterintuitively, metallurgical, or coking, coal prices are soaring. The reason: China has imposed tough environmental and safety restrictions on local coal mines, and COVID-19 curbs are hampering shipments to China from Mongolia.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Perhaps most importantly, China has effectively banned imports of Australian metallurgical coal for some time. In the spring of 2020, Australia’s prime minister called for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, and China bristled at this call. In response, China imposed economic restrictions on Australia, including a reported order to stop accepting Australian coal imports in October 2020 and possibly before. For many years, Australia had supplied substantial quantities of coking coal to China’s steel mills.</p><div class="wp-block-image" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><figure class="aligncenter size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: table; margin: 0px auto; text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-150365" sizes="(max-width: 641px) 100vw, 641px" src="https://mk0thedeepdivecyqqey.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-1054.png" srcset="https://mk0thedeepdivecyqqey.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-1054.png 641w, https://mk0thedeepdivecyqqey.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-1054-300x138.png 300w, https://mk0thedeepdivecyqqey.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-1054-150x69.png 150w" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: top;" /></figure></div><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Two possible ways to play the strong met coal price trend are <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE: AMR)</em></strong> and <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Colonial Coal International Corp. (TSXV: CAD)</em></strong>. Alpha expects to ship 14.3-15.8 million tons of metallurgical coal in 2021 and has 560 million tons of metallurgical coal reserves in West Virginia and Virginia.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Colonial Coal, a smaller, more speculative coal company, is a motivated seller of its British Columbia-based metallurgical coal properties. The company is led by an experienced CEO with a significant financial stake in the company and a shareholder-friendly track record. </p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. last traded at US$45.78 on the NYSE. Colonial Coal International Corp. last traded at $1.04 on the TSX Venture Exchange.</p>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-70194383710917284932021-09-21T06:35:00.002+08:002021-09-21T06:35:10.922+08:00China seen short 50 mil mt met coal in 2021 even as coking capacity rises: sources<p> September 21 (Hellenic Shipping News) China is seen falling short of 50 million mt of metallurgical coal in 2021 amid rising domestic coking output capacity, sources said Sept. 15.</p><p>Met coal is a key raw component used in producing steel.</p><p>In 2021, the country is seen retiring 28.92 million mt of old coking output capacity, and adding 58.575 million mt of new coking production capacity, which translates to a net 29.655 million mt increase in coking capacity this year, latest data by China Securities International, or CSI, showed.</p><p><strong>Widening deficit</strong><br />China is expected to see a wide deficit for met coal supply in 2021, according to Shenzhen-based brokerage Guotai Junan Securities.</p><p>This comes at a time when China is vigorously putting effort at dual control of energy consumption and energy intensity, capping production of its high energy consuming domestic steel sector.</p><p>China has been requesting steel mills to curb their annual production in 2021 either at par, or below, 2020 levels; a move that fits into the country’s plan to achieve lofty carbon goals in the coming years.</p><p>Steel mills in provinces like Jiangsu and Shandong are gradually widening their output cuts, which are expected to accelerate in the coming weeks, S&P Global Platts reported earlier.</p><p>Meanwhile, China’s met coal sector has been facing its own set of issues, with domestic prices shooting up in recent weeks.</p><p>Domestic prices were at Yuan 4,035/mt ($626/mt) Sept. 8 for premium low-vol hard coking coal in the Shanxi province, rising by as much as 45% from Aug. 11, Platts data showed.</p><p><strong>Output issues</strong><br />The domestic met coal sector is finding it difficult to release back output capacity that are on hold due to environmental controls, while import restrictions play a role in propping up met coal prices, according to Guotai Junan.</p><p>China’s met coal supply has been impacted by ongoing strict safety checks, the government’s policy of assuring sufficient supply and price stability for thermal coal, and imported coal volume, according to CSI.</p><p>CSI said it sees limited room for domestic met coal output to rise in 2021 due to state rules capping production, while coal mine accidents in the past few months have also squeezed ore supply.</p><p>Back in August, China’s National Development and Reform Commission, in a circular, agreed to let 15 coal mines in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Xinjiang areas to extend joint trial production for one more year, on condition that they can only boost output by meeting safety rules.</p><p>The 15 coal mines, with a combined 43.5 million mt/year output, are expected to supply 150,000 mt/d of ore, the NDRC data showed.</p><p>Despite this, CSI sees the addition of domestic mined coal output limited in the near term, but expects coal output to rise in the medium to long run, on the back of government policy assuring supply of materials that are in shortage.</p><p>On the import side, recent COVID-19 cases have often led to the shutdown of Ganqimaodu port in Inner Mongolia, which has restricted the inflow of Mongolian met coal imports, the CSI said.</p><p>Since August, some coal truck drivers were tested positive for COVID-19 at Ganqimaodu, disrupting truck movements at customs clearance.</p><p>Ganqimaodu, a land border port, is the largest channel for importing coal from Mongolia.</p><p>Other industry sources said coal imports from North America are likely to take a long time to reach China’s shores, and were expensive, which has led to limited met coal imports from the US and Canada.<br /></p><br data-cke-eol="1" />Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-71580878592850091942021-09-21T06:20:00.003+08:002021-09-21T06:20:19.082+08:00Mongolia’s Melting Ice Reveals Fragile Prehistoric Artifacts<p> <strong>Researchers scramble to find and study everyday items preserved for millennia and now at risk.</strong></p><p><em>This story was originally published on <a data-cke-saved-href="https://theconversation.com/melting-mongolian-ice-reveals-fragile-artifacts-that-provide-clues-about-how-past-people-lived-164657" href="https://theconversation.com/melting-mongolian-ice-reveals-fragile-artifacts-that-provide-clues-about-how-past-people-lived-164657">The Conversation</a> and appears here under a Creative Commons license.</em></p><p>SEPTEMBER 20 (Atlas Obscura) IN THE WORLD’S HIGH MOUNTAIN regions, life needs ice. From the Rockies to the Himalayas, glaciers and other accumulations of snow and ice persist throughout the year. Often found on shaded slopes protected from the sun, these ice patches transform barren peaks into biological hot spots.</p><p><a data-cke-saved-href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mlo_aD8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra" href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mlo_aD8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">As an archaeologist</a>, I value these snow and ice patches for the rare peek they can provide back in time through the fog of alpine prehistory. When people lose objects in the ice, ice patches act as natural deep-freezers. For thousands of years, they can store snapshots of the culture, daily life, technology, and behavior of the people who created these artifacts.</p><strong></strong><p>Frozen heritage is melting from mountain ice <a data-cke-saved-href="https://secretsoftheice.com/findings/globally/" href="https://secretsoftheice.com/findings/globally/">in every hemisphere</a>. As it does so, small groups of archaeologists are scrambling to cobble together the funding and staffing needed to identify, recover, and study these objects before they are gone.</p><p>Alongside a group of scholars from the University of Colorado, the National Museum of Mongolia, and partners from around the world, I’m working to identify, analyze, and preserve ancient materials emerging from the ice in the grassy steppes of Mongolia, where such discoveries have a tremendous impact on how scientists understand the past.<br /></p><p>During the warm summer months, unique plants thrive at the well-watered margins of ice patches. Large animals such as caribou, elk, sheep, and <a data-cke-saved-href="https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4191" href="https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4191">even bison seek the ice</a> to cool off or escape from insects.</p><p>Because ice patches are predictable sources of these plants and animals, as well as fresh water, they are important to the subsistence of nearby people nearly everywhere they’re found. In the dry steppes of Mongolia, meltwater from mountain ice feeds summer pastures, and <a data-cke-saved-href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224741" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224741">domestic reindeer seek out the ice</a> in much the same way as their wild counterparts. Climate warming aside, ice margins act as magnets for people—and repositories of the materials they leave behind.</p><p>It’s not just their biological and cultural significance that makes ice patches important tools for understanding the past. The tangible objects made and used by early hunters or herders in many mountainous regions were constructed from soft, organic materials. These fragile objects rarely survive erosion, weather, and exposure to the severe elements that are common in alpine areas. If discarded or lost in the ice, though, items that would otherwise degrade can be preserved for centuries in deep-freeze conditions.<br /></p><p>But high mountains experience extreme weather and are often far from urban centers where modern researchers are concentrated. For these reasons, significant contributions by mountain residents to the human story are sometimes left out of the archaeological record.</p><p>For example, in Mongolia, the high mountains of the Altai hosted the region’s oldest pastoral societies. But these cultures are known only through a small <a data-cke-saved-href="http://archsib.ru/articles/A501.pdf" href="http://archsib.ru/articles/A501.pdf">handful of burials</a> and the ruins of a few <a data-cke-saved-href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-57735-y" href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-57735-y">windswept stone buildings</a>.</p><p>One of our discoveries was a finely woven piece of animal hair rope from a melting mountaintop ice patch in western Mongolia. On survey, we spotted it lying among the rocks exposed at the edge of the retreating ice. The artifact, which may have been part of a bridle or harness, appeared as though it might have been dropped in the ice the just day before—our guides even recognized the technique of traditional manufacture. However, scientific radiocarbon dating revealed that the artifact is <a data-cke-saved-href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93765-w" href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93765-w">actually more than 1,500 years old</a>.</p><p>Objects like these provide rare clues about daily life among the ancient herders of western Mongolia. Their excellent preservation allows us to perform advanced analyses back in the lab to reconstruct the materials and choices of the early herding cultures that <a data-cke-saved-href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015">eventually gave rise to pan-Eurasian empires</a> like the Xiongnu and the Great Mongol Empire.</p><p>For example, scanning electron microscopy allowed to us to pinpoint that camel hair was chosen as a fiber for making this rope bridle, while collagen preserved within ancient sinew revealed that deer tissue was used to haft a Bronze Age arrowhead to its shaft.<br /></p><p>Sometimes, the objects that emerge end up overturning some of archaeologists’ most basic assumptions about the past. People in the region have long been classified as herding societies, but my colleagues and I found that Mongolian glaciers and ice patches also contained hunting artifacts, like spears and arrows, and skeletal remains of big game animals like argali sheep <a data-cke-saved-href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93765-w" href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93765-w">spanning a period of more than three millennia</a>. These finds demonstrate that big game hunting on mountain ice has been an essential part of pastoral subsistence and culture in the Altai Mountains for thousands of years.</p><p>But the clock is ticking. The summer of 2021 is shaping up to be one of the hottest ever recorded, as <a data-cke-saved-href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-heat-waves-in-a-warming-world-dont-just-break-records-they-shatter-them-164919" href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-heat-waves-in-a-warming-world-dont-just-break-records-they-shatter-them-164919">scorching summer temperatures</a> fry the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest and <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/17/world/europe/siberia-fires.html" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/17/world/europe/siberia-fires.html">wildfires ravage the Siberian Arctic</a>. The impact of escalating temperatures is particularly severe <a data-cke-saved-href="https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/arctic-meteorology/climate_change.html" href="https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/arctic-meteorology/climate_change.html">in the world’s cold regions</a>.</p><p>In the area my colleagues and I study in western Mongolia, satellite photos show that more than <a data-cke-saved-href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93765-w" href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93765-w">40 percent of the surface cover of ice has been lost</a> over the past three decades. After each artifact is exposed by the melting ice, it may have only a limited window of time for recovery by scientists before it is damaged, degraded, or lost because of the combination of freezing, thawing, weather, and glacial activity that can affect previously frozen artifacts.<br /></p><p>Because of the scale of modern climate change, it’s difficult to quantify how much material is being lost. Many of the high mountains of Central and South Asia have never been systematically surveyed for melting artifacts. In addition, many international projects have been unable to proceed since summer 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic—which has also prompted reductions, pay cuts, and even <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2021/07/outrage-as-sheffield-university-confirms-closure-of-archaeology-department/" href="https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2021/07/outrage-as-sheffield-university-confirms-closure-of-archaeology-department/">complete closures of archaeology departments</a> at leading universities.</p><p>Ice patch artifacts are irreplaceable scientific datasets that can also help researchers characterize ancient responses to climate change and understand how modern warming may affect today’s world.</p><p>In addition to human-made artifacts left behind in the snow, ice patches also preserve “ecofacts”—natural materials that trace important ecological changes, like shifting tree lines or changing animal habitats. By collecting and interpreting these datasets along with artifacts from the ice, scientists can gather insights into how people adapted to significant ecological changes in the past, and maybe expand the toolkit for facing the 21st-century climate crisis.<br /></p><section id="article-body"><p>Meanwhile, the plant, animal, and human communities that depend on dwindling ice patches are also imperiled. In northern Mongolia, my work shows that summer ice loss is <a data-cke-saved-href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224741" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224741">harming the health of domestic reindeer</a>. Local herders worry about the impact of ice loss on pasture viability. Melting ice also converges with other environmental changes: In western Mongolia, animal populations have <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.biotaxa.org/mjbs/article/view/26803" href="https://www.biotaxa.org/mjbs/article/view/26803">dramatically dwindled</a> because of poaching and poorly regulated tourism hunting.</p><p>As soaring heat exposes artifacts that provide insights into ancient climate resilience and other important scientific data, the ice loss itself is reducing humanity’s resilience for the years ahead.</p><p><em>William Taylor is an assistant professor and curator of archaeology at the University of Colorado Boulder.</em></p></section>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-69193336410120938272021-09-19T10:22:00.001+08:002021-09-19T10:22:05.093+08:00China-Mongolia border port sees robust growth in freight transport<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #313030; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", pf_dintext_proregular, "Microsoft Yahei", "Hiragino Sans GB", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem;">The import and export values of goods transported via the border port of Erenhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region posted a yearly increase of 38.2 percent to reach 22.04 billion yuan (about 3.42 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year, local customs said Friday.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #313030; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", pf_dintext_proregular, "Microsoft Yahei", "Hiragino Sans GB", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; word-break: break-word;">The import volume registered 15.34 billion yuan during the period, increasing by 41.9 percent year on year, while that of the exports totaled 6.7 billion yuan, up 30.4 percent year on year, said the customs of Erenhot.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #313030; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", pf_dintext_proregular, "Microsoft Yahei", "Hiragino Sans GB", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; word-break: break-word;">The rapid import growth shows China's steady economic recovery since the beginning of this year. Meanwhile, the rising trend of the global market price for bulk commodities is another factor driving the growth.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #313030; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", pf_dintext_proregular, "Microsoft Yahei", "Hiragino Sans GB", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; word-break: break-word;">In terms of exports, the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on Mongolia's domestic production capacity, making it more dependent on imports from China. In the first eight months of this year, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products to Mongolia increased by 57.5 percent as a result of Mongolia's increasing demand for mine equipment.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #313030; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", pf_dintext_proregular, "Microsoft Yahei", "Hiragino Sans GB", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; word-break: break-word;">Erenhot Port, the only railway port between China and Mongolia and a substantial channel for international cargo, has around 50 China-Europe freight train routes passing through it.</p><div><br /></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-4822174571424030062021-09-19T10:18:00.004+08:002021-09-19T10:18:20.013+08:00Chinese companies to help build hydropower plant in W. Mongolia<p><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Arial;">ULAN BATOR, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia signed an agreement on Friday to build a hydropower plant in the western part of the country with Chinese companies, according to Mongolia's energy ministry.</span></p><div class="content" style="border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-family: Arial; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 30px 0px 10px;"><p style="color: #404040; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px auto; padding: 15px 0px; width: 900px;">The Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina), along with PowerChina Chengdu Engineering Corp Ltd, will build the Erdeneburen hydropower plant on Khovd River in the Erdeneburen soum (administrative subdivision) of Khovd province in the coming five years, with a soft loan from the Chinese government, the Ministry of Energy said in a statement.</p><p style="color: #404040; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px auto; padding: 15px 0px; width: 900px;">The 90-megawatt hydropower plant is considered crucial to ensuring long-term energy supplies to western Mongolia and laying the foundation for the development of renewable energy in the region.</p></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-28071379746519217762021-09-19T10:17:00.002+08:002021-09-19T10:17:13.678+08:00World’s Best Stock Market of 2021 is Mongolia With 130% Returns<ul class="abstract-v2" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top-style: dotted; border-width: 1px 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li class="abstract-v2__item" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.67; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="abstract-v2__item-text" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mongolia’s MSE Top 20 Index is up by almost 130% this year</div></li><li class="abstract-v2__item" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.67; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="abstract-v2__item-text" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Performance driven by booming consumption, exports to China</div></li></ul><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: BWHaasGrotesk-55Roman-Web, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 22px;">September 16 (</span><span style="font-family: BWHaasGrotesk-55Roman-Web, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 22px;">Bloomberg</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: BWHaasGrotesk-55Roman-Web, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 22px;">) </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px;">The world’s hottest stock market is in the coldest of its capitals. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In a year when a seemingly unstoppable rally has pushed equities from the U.S. to Europe into successive record highs, Mongolia’s minuscule bourse has emerged as the undisputed champion. </p><p class="paywall" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The MSE Top 20 Index, which tracks the biggest companies in the planet’s most sparsely populated country, has gained almost 130% in 2021, by far the best performance among the primary equity indexes tracked by Bloomberg. While a losing streak this week has some traders asking if the party is coming to an end, optimists see room for further gains.</p><p class="paywall" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The Mongolian equities market has a blue sky potential, because it is growing from a very small base,” said Bilguun Ankhbayar, vice president of business development at <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/ERD:CN" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Company Overview">Erdene Resource Development Corp.</a>, a Canadian company that’s exploring for gold and copper in the nation.</p><div><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The gains are reminiscent of the outsized returns seen from meme stocks and cryptocurrencies during the investment craze of the pandemic. Optimists could argue that the foundations of the Mongolian rally may be solid. </p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The economy posted a <a class="terminal-news-story" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/QXZ5DXDWLU68" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Mongolia 1H 2021 GDP Grows 6.3% Y/y: Statistics Office">6.3% growth rate</a> in the first half of the year, amid an export surge of commodities including coal and copper, the bulk of which is shipped to China. The giant neighbor’s insatiable hunger for raw materials has been the main driver of the rebound in the resource-rich Mongolian economy. </p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thomas Hugger, chief executive officer at Asia Frontier Capital Ltd., says Hong-Kong listed Mongolian Mining Corp. is the best-performing Mongolian stock in his <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/LEASFAA:KY" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Company Overview">fund</a>. The shares are up 225% this year.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Still, this is not a miners-only party. </p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Take Apu Company Ltd., which produces vodka, beer and other beverages, and is up almost 130% this year. Returns of such magnitude may be a sign of confidence that consumption will continue to thrive among Mongolia’s growing middle class, or a warning of a bubble. The company is the biggest listed on the Mongolian Stock Exchange, with a market value of $517 million.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ulsiin Ikh Delguur JSC, which operates a 100-year-old Soviet-era shopping mall in the capital Ulaanbaatar, was up by 613% this year as of last week, when MSE Top 20 reached a record high. It has shed some of these gains in the losing streak this week, though it’s still up an eye-watering 315% year to date. </p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is not the first time Mongolia’s stocks have performed so well. The benchmark rose 400% in 2007 and then another 138% in 2010. It also posted five straight losing years from 2012 to 2016.</p><aside class="left-rail-newsletter" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 9px 20px 1em -210px; max-width: 170px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 270px;"></aside><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As the global economy grapples with an unstable and uneven recovery, and with strategists in major investment banks warning about stretched valuations in equity markets worldwide, a repeat of past hard landings can’t be excluded. </p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“We expect the index to move sideways or trend down slightly,” said Hugger, who has 19% of his AFC Asia Frontier Fund invested in Mongolia, the portfolio’s biggest country weighting. “However, we think that undervalued stocks which have not yet participated in the rally will gain ground over the next couple of months.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/angaragby/?originalSubdomain=mn" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Link">Angarag Byambajav</a>, a broker at Mongolia International Capital Corp., says the market rally is likely fueled by a surplus of cash by locals, following government stimulus to cushion the blow from the pandemic, and thus may not last. </p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The market is bound to correct itself. In fact we think it’s already under way,” she said.</p></div><figure class="figure-expandable paywall" data-align="center" data-id="378207014" data-image-size="full" data-image-type="chart" data-type="image" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: PublicoText-Roman-Web, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 1200px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;"><div aria-label="Open image in viewer" class="image figure-expandable-image__ce13d6cb" role="button" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" tabindex="0"><div class="lazy-img" id="lazy-img-378207014" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div></figure>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-15258979623296064202021-09-15T12:46:00.006+08:002021-09-15T12:46:59.628+08:00"We are aiming for gold in the PUBG Mobile Asian Games 2022 event": pikA<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px;">The PUBG Mobile gaming community were in for a surprise when popular esports organization,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px;"> </span><a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/news-stalwarts-esports-signs-pubg-mobile-sa-champions-astra-academy-s-roster" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0277bd; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Stalwart Esports acquired the Mongolian team, Astra Academy, </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px;">earlier this month. The team won the PMPL (PUBG Mobile Premier League) South Asia Championship in June this year.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">UnuBold "pikA" Erkhembayar, the leader of the team, played an integral part in securing the top position in the Championship. In a conversation with Sportskeeda Esports’ Debolina Banerjee, “pikA” talks about his team and reveals his hopes for cinching the 2022 Asian Games gold for PUBG Mobile.</p><hr style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; width: 620px;" /><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Q. Being a professional PUBG Mobile player comes with its challenges and you are one of the very few who have established his name in this field. Tell us how your career took off and how your journey has been in the Esports world.</h3><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">I played PUBG Mobile for fun from Season 4 to 7. I realized that I was talented and took it up as a career. I have played as a professional player since Season 8 .</p><hr style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; width: 620px;" /><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Q. If you were not a PUBG Mobile player, what would you be? What were you pursuing before becoming a professional gamer?</h3><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Before playing PUBG Mobile professionally, I was a student in China. If I was not a PUBG Mobile player, I would still be pursuing my studies in China.</p><hr style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; width: 620px;" /><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Q. Your in-game name, “pikA”, is quite creative. What is the story behind such a unique moniker?</h3><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">The idea of my in-game name came from the movie Detective Pikachu. I become "pikA" when I play PUBG Mobile.</p><hr style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; width: 620px;" /><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Q. You have recently won the PUBG Mobile Pro League – S1 2021: South Asia Championship. What went into preparing for the tournament? Who did you consider to be the toughest competitor?</h3><div><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">It’s our coach, <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/news-we-will-put-best-foot-forward-become-best-pubg-mobile-roster-2022-asian-games-senator-stalwart-esports" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0277bd; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Senator</a>, who coached us before the tournament. We worked hard for it. We had to pull all-nighters to make our way to the finals and ultimately win the championship.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">One team did not dominate over the rest, every team was decently tough.</p><hr style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; width: 620px;" /><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Q. Preparing for competitions might be tedious sometimes. How much time do you dedicate to the Battle Royale title every day? When you are not grinding in the battlefield what else do you like to engage in?</h3></div><div><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">When I am not playing PUBG Mobile, I like spending time with my girlfriend.</p><hr style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; width: 620px;" /><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Q. Stalwart Esports is one of the most successful esports organizations. How does it feel to be an integral part of one of the most famous rosters?</h3><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">I'm glad to be a player on one of the most famous PUBG Mobile rosters. We want to win PUBG Mobile Pro League once again and are preparing for that.</p><hr style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; width: 620px;" /><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Q. What is the team co-ordination like on the PUBG Mobile roster of Stalwart Esports? With whom is your synergy the best?</h3></div><div><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Our team is very well co-ordinated. Everyone gives their best and works hard.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Being the leader, my synergy is great with every player on our roster.</p><hr style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; width: 620px;" /><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Q. Now that PUBG Mobile is one of the Esports Games in the 2022 Asian Games, how are you and your teammates planning to prepare yourselves?</h3><div><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">We are already training hard for the <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/news-pubg-mobile-included-esports-title-asian-games-2022" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0277bd; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Asian Games 2022</a>. We are aiming for the gold medal in the PUBG Mobile Esports event.</p><hr style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; width: 620px;" /><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Q. Aside from the 2022 Asian Games, what are you planning for next? Are there any upcoming tournaments that you are most excited about?</h3><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">I am always excited for all the tournaments, be it big or small. We will participate in as many tournaments as possible and give our best. We will always aim to emerge victorious.</p><hr style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; width: 620px;" /><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">Q. From PUBG Mobile International League Phase 3 to Gameling Domination 2020, you have won four tournaments this year! What message would you like to share so that the budding Battle Royale mobile gamers who are curious to take part in Esports tournaments?</h3><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">These are a few tips and tricks that I would like to share:</p><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">1. You have to be consistent and hardworking.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">2. Work hard and be like a family member with your team.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: white; background-image: initial !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-size: initial !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px !important; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding: 0px 24px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;">3. Have faith in yourself and never give up.</p></div></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-53020640167313802312021-09-15T10:51:00.006+08:002021-09-15T10:55:17.118+08:0090 Seconds With… David Casey, Talon Energy (ASX:TPD)<p> <strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: Lato, "Open Sans", HelveticaNeue-Light, "Helvetica Neue Light", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 19px;">Got 90 seconds? Then listen to Managing Director & CEO, David Casey tell us about their company news.</strong></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: Lato, "Open Sans", HelveticaNeue-Light, "Helvetica Neue Light", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 10px 0px 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a href="https://stockhead.com.au/company/talon-energy-tpd/" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-weight: 600; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s linear 0s;">Talon Energy Ltd. (ASX:TPD)</a> is an ASX-listed oil and gas explorer, poised for near-term exponential growth, and focused on delivering long term shareholder value, via its balanced portfolio of diversified assets in Australia and Mongolia.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: Lato, "Open Sans", HelveticaNeue-Light, "Helvetica Neue Light", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 10px 0px 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Talon’s Mongolian coal seam gas project has recently received a major leg-up after an independent assessment estimated that it hosts a best-case prospective gas resource of 5.96 trillion cubic feet.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: Lato, "Open Sans", HelveticaNeue-Light, "Helvetica Neue Light", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 10px 0px 14px;">We gave David Casey, Managing Director & CEO of Talon Energy, 90 seconds to tell us more about the recent announcement</p><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to video:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">https://stockhead.com.au/stockhead-tv/90-seconds-with/90-seconds-with-david-casey-talon-energy-asxtpd/</span></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-14264535871557961752021-09-15T10:48:00.000+08:002021-09-15T10:48:06.939+08:0023rd OSCE Central Asia Media Conference on Promoting Public Value of the Media in Central Asia concluded in Tashkent<p> <b style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #404040; font-family: opensans, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.16px;">AKIPRESS.COM</b><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #404040; font-family: opensans, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.16px;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #404040; font-family: opensans, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.16px;">- The 23rd annual OSCE Central Asia Media conference, organized by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, ended on 10 September in Uzbekistan, after two days of discussions on public service media, public value of the media and safety of journalists in Central Asia and Mongolia.</span></p><div class="txt" style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #404040; font-family: opensans, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.16px; margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden; width: 700px;"><p>The conference was opened by OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Gayrat Fazilov, Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Public Fund for Support and Development of National Mass Media of Uzbekistan Saida Mirziyoyeva, and Senior Project Officer, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan Hans-Ullrich Ihm.</p><p>Closing the event, Ribeiro stressed that she is fully aware that states are confronted with ever new and emerging challenges and that keeping their people safe is rightly a top priority for any government. “At the same time, however,” the OSCE Media Freedom Representative continued, “we must make sure that this safety does not come at the expense of our fundamental freedoms such as the freedom of expression. More safety does not mean less freedom. In fact, the one is impossible without the other.”</p><p>The hybrid event brought together approximately 120 participants from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, representing government, media, journalists' associations, civil society and academia. Conference materials, including videos of presentations, are available here .</p><p>During her visit to Uzbekistan, the Representative held high-level meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulaziz Kamilov; Chairperson of the Committee on Innovative Development, Information Policy and Information Technologies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Ilkhom Abdullayev; Director of the Agency on Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President Asadjon Khodjaev; Chairperson of the National TV & Radio Company Alisher Khodjaev; and Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Public Fund for Support and Development of National Mass Media of Uzbekistan Komil Allamjonov and Saida Mirziyoyeva, respectively.</p><p>The Representative was briefed about the progress made in the ongoing reforms in Uzbekistan. She also discussed solutions to persisting challenges regarding media freedom in the country and the further engagement of her Office with various Uzbek counterparts.</p></div><div class="notprint socialb" style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #404040; font-family: opensans, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5em; margin: 0px auto; text-align: right; width: 800px;"><a href="https://akipress.com/news:662485:23rd_OSCE_Central_Asia_Media_Conference_on_Promoting_Public_Value_of_the_Media_in_Central_Asia_concluded_in_Tashkent/#" style="color: #404040; display: block; float: right; padding: 8px;" title="Print"><span class="fa-stack fa-2x" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 2em; height: 2em; line-height: 2em; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 2em;"></span></a></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-90413841135007766902021-09-14T11:50:00.004+08:002021-09-14T11:53:15.802+08:00China eyes more coal imports from Mongolia as supply shortage bites<p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><b>At a meeting on Tuesday, China requested more coal from Mongolia to help offset an ongoing supply shortage</b></span></p><div class="info__subHeadline" data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 2.28571rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h2 data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mongolia has replaced Australia as China’s largest source of imported coking coal since the second half of last year<br /><ul class="generic-article__summary--ul content--ul" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 300; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.857143rem 1.28571rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;"><span color="inherit" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">9 Sep (SCMP) </span>Beijing has stepped up efforts to source more coal from neighbouring Mongolia amid an ongoing supply shortage, raising more questions about how long a ban on Australian coal can last.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">China is suffering from a spike in coal prices amid declining supplies, which has also prompted authorities to ban an influential local trading platform from updating coal prices and market news that could fuel speculation.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">Rising coal prices are another worry for China, which is already dealing with high raw material costs that are hurting businesses.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">In a virtual meeting with Mongolian deputy prime minister Amarsaikhan Sainbuyan on Tuesday, Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao broached the topic of buying more mineral and agricultural products from Mongolia, a ministry statement said.</p></div></li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.857143rem 1.28571rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-59caeb6e="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-59caeb6e="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-59caeb6e="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="details__body body" data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 2.28571rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">Since the </p><div class="generic-article__body article-details-type--a content--a" data-entity-bundle="article" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="1b604b10-0c4e-11eb-94e0-02af7fd927c6" data-v-03f77589="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self"><a class="link-text" data-v-03f77589="" href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3105202/chinas-ban-australian-coal-could-be-indefinite-amid?module=inline&pgtype=article" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #001246; display: inline; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="text" data-v-03f77589="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(27, 142, 248); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">ban on Australian coal</span></a></div> last October – which formed part of a broader trade spat between the two countries – data shows China has stepped up purchases of coal from other exporting countries, including Mongolia, to meet domestic demand that has spiked due to bouts of extreme weather.<p></p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;"></p><div class="generic-article__body article-details-type--a content--a" data-entity-bundle="article" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="080c5b3c-2a15-11eb-bf26-f2b76f37a526" data-v-03f77589="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self"><a class="link-text" data-v-03f77589="" href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3110572/china-could-face-mongolia-coal-import-shortage-amid?module=inline&pgtype=article" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #001246; display: inline; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="text" data-v-03f77589="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(27, 142, 248); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Mongolia</span></a></div> has replaced Australia to become China’s largest source of imported coking coal since the second half of last year, but transport between the two countries has been frequently disrupted by Covid-19 outbreaks in the landlocked east Asian nation.<p></p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="generic-article__body article-details-type--outstream-1 content--outstream-1" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="div-outstream-ad-container" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="inner" id="div-outstream-ad-7440ec20-150e-11ec-8a06-139138c4df55" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="details__read-more" data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-59caeb6e="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-59caeb6e="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-59caeb6e="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="details__body body body--next" data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="paywalled-content" data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">Local media reported on August 21 that Ganqimaodu customs in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region had suspended coal imports from Mongolia for two weeks due to pandemic prevention. The port carries about half of China’s coking coal shipments from Mongolia.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></li></ul></h2><h2 data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><ul class="generic-article__summary--ul content--ul" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 300; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.857143rem 1.28571rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-59caeb6e="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-59caeb6e="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-59caeb6e="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="details__body body body--next" data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="paywalled-content" data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Soon after the border closure, prices of Chinese coking coal, as well as coke and thermal coal futures, surged to record daily highs, although the official position of the customs agency was that clearance of coal was “normal”.</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.857143rem 1.28571rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 18px;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">At Tuesday’s meeting, Wang also discussed border congestion with Amarsaikhan.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">“[China] hopes that both sides work together to ensure smooth trade flow of goods at border ports on the basis of effective pandemic prevention,” Wang said.</p></div></span></div></li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.857143rem 1.28571rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">Amarsaikhan in turn proposed an increase in the number of Chinese coal trucks entering the country to transport supplies across the border, a statement from the Mongolian government said. He also suggested more rail transport of coal to China.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="js-reading-50-percent-completion-tracker generic-article__body article-details-type--reading-50-percent-completion-tracker content--reading-50-percent-completion-tracker" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; height: 0.0714286rem; margin: -0.0714286rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">The two parties agreed to increase Covid-19 control measures and to accelerate the implementation of China’s soft loan and grant projects.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">China’s monthly imports of coal fell by 7 per cent to 28.05 million tonnes in August, according to Chinese customs data released on Tuesday.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">Australia’s exports of both thermal and coking coal make up a big percentage of China’s coal imports, and are required to supplement shortages in local production. China does not produce enough coal to meet its demand.</p></div></div></li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.857143rem 1.28571rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">Huang Jianjiang, an analyst at commodity research portal Bestanalyst, said in a note two weeks ago that coal supply from other countries has been unable to make up the supply gap left by Australian coal.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">He also said domestic production was likely to be weaker than China’s official forecast, since many mines that are not monitored by authorities had cut production, while overproduction had been banned.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">Chinese policymakers have said they will not tolerate hoarding and speculation of coal, and will show “zero tolerance” for illegal trading activities.</p></div></div></li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.857143rem 1.28571rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">The price of coking coal exceeded 4,000 yuan (US$620) per tonne in some parts of the coal trading hub Shanxi province last week – a surge of more than 45 per cent since the beginning of August, according to Kaiyuan Securities.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top economic planning agency, this week shut down the pricing indexes and two WeChat accounts of Yulin Coal Trading Centre, saying the company was publishing false information and was not authorised to collect, edit or publish news.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">The firm has promised to “stop releasing false information about the coal market through any channels”, the NDRC said in a statement on Tuesday.</p></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">“All relevant companies, institutions and We-media should … prevent malicious speculation of coal prices, bidding up prices or hoarding.</p></div><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;"></p><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="native-ad" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="generic-article__body article-details-type--native-ads content--native-ads" data-v-7ef8fa74="" data-v-a3fdaea2="" style="border: 0px; 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background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; justify-content: center; line-height: 0; margin: 0px auto; min-height: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><p></p><div data-v-58b67a77="" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><p class="generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p" data-v-58b67a77="" data-v-7ef8fa74="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: inline-block; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 1.28571rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 2.14286rem; margin: 0px 0px 1.42857rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 774px; word-break: break-word;">“The NDRC will continue to strengthen information monitoring, while working with other departments to crack down on illegal activities, ensuring coal supplies and stabilising the price.”</p></div></div></li></ul></h2></div><div class="info__author" data-v-58b67a77="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.42857rem 0px 2.57143rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="article-author article-author--single-author" data-v-0128715a="" data-v-58b67a77="" style="-webkit-box-align: start; -webkit-box-orient: horizontal; -webkit-box-pack: start; align-items: stretch; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-flow: row nowrap; font: inherit; justify-content: flex-start; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-78248255307645571652021-09-14T11:46:00.004+08:002021-09-14T11:52:29.074+08:00The Mongolian Armed Force’s Contribution to Afghanistan<p><span face=""Noto Sans", "Open Sans", sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 28px;">Mongolia has supported both international and bilateral efforts to stabilize and develop Afghanistan.</span></p><div id="td-meta" style="border-top: 2px solid rgb(236, 239, 241); box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">September 11 (The Diplomat) he U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan marked the end of one of the longest wars in modern history. As countries scramble to extract their military forces and civilians safely, it’s a good time to review past contributions to Afghanistan’s peace, security, and development. Mongolia, too, is one of the countries with a long history with Afghanistan and has contributed to stabilizing the war-torn country.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Afghanistan-Mongolia relations date back to the 13th and 14th centuries, when the Mongol Empire <a href="https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2016/10/12/mongol-rule-in-afghanistan-1219-1332/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">ruled</a> Afghanistan from 1219 to 1332. One year before the Mongol invasion of the area we know today as Afghanistan, Chinggis Khan’s army reached the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. In 1219, Mongol forces entered well-protected cities, annihilated their forces, and established dominance in Herat, Balkh, Ghazni, and Bamiyan. Today, we know this period as the Il-Khanate period when the Mongol Empire conquered Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, and part of Pakistan.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">The modern history of Mongolia and Afghanistan, however, involves diplomacy rather than land invasion. During the 1960s, at the height of superpower competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, Mongolia sought ways to enhance its international recognition and expand its foreign policy. Given Mongolia’s geographical limitations, its relations with the Soviet Union served as a gateway to its foreign policy expansion – including establishing ties with Afghanistan. Hence, on February 1, 1962, Mongolia’s then-head of state, Marshall Tsedenbal Yumjaa went to Kabul to <a href="http://ub.life/p/26509" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">establish</a> diplomatic relations with Afghanistan. While this was a sign of Mongolia’s foreign policy expansion, Ulaanbaatar and Kabul did not establish official embassies until the late 1970s.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">In 1978, Shagdarsuren Puntsag was appointed as the first ambassador to Afghanistan. Two years later, in 1980, Afghanistan opened its embassy in Ulaanbaatar, and Asadullah Sarwari was sent as ambassador to Mongolia. After opening the Mongolian embassy in Kabul, then-Afghan Prime Minister Babrak Karmal first visited Mongolia in 1982. According to the <a href="https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft7b69p12h&chunk.id=s1.10.4&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch010&brand=ucpress" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">existing literature</a> on Afghanistan-Mongolia relations, given Afghanistan’s domestic political climate at the time, as Karmal’s political power grew, he banished his opponents. Sarwari was one of his opponents and was sent to Mongolia as part of his “banishment.” With no direct political or economic outcome, the Afghan Embassy in Ulaanbaatar was closed in 1988.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Although Afghanistan-Mongolia relations were never truly politically or economically motivated, the countries share historical and geographical similarities and have learned from one another.</p><div style="color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Sans", "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">As Afghanistan became the epicenter for the U.S.-led Global War on Terrorism, the Mongolians have returned to Afghanistan once again – not as invaders but as peacekeepers.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">After <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/07/22/mongolia-joins-the-fight-in-afghanistan/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">joining</a> the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, between 2009 to 2014, Mongolia <a href="https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/03/18/mongolias-military-diplomacy-and-geopolitical-balance/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">rotated</a> around 4,500 soldiers into Afghanistan, protecting gates and perimeters in Camp Marmal and “<a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_85297.htm" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">providing force protection</a> in Feyzabad and flight line security at Kabul International Airport, as well as supporting the training mission in Afghanistan with infantry, artillery and air mentor trainers.” According to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQhO0wH7Rh8" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">First Lt. Purevdorj,</a> the platoon leader in the 9th rotation, “the Mongolian Armed Forces, although small in numbers, were trusted by the ISAF to secure the entire base.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Even earlier, in 2003, Mongolia and Alaska formalized their partnership under the National Guard State Partnership Program. Since 2004, Alaskan National Guard “personnel have embedded with Mongolian Armed Forces and have <a href="https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/State-Partnership-Program/Article/586900/alaska-national-guard-mongolia-celebrate-their-partnership/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">served</a> alongside them in Iraq and Afghanistan.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">According to Colonel Bolor Ganbold, “between 2017-2021, 30 female soldiers have served” Mongolia’s efforts in Afghanistan.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">These continued efforts illustrate Mongolia’s contribution in stabilizing Afghanistan, despite the absence of political and economic motivations. Moreover, it is important to note that Mongolia’s contribution to Afghanistan was not limited to military and security assistance.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">In 2015, in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation of Europe (OSCE), Mongolia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs successfully <a href="http://mfa.gov.mn/15600" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">organized</a> a two-week training seminar for Afghan diplomats on “Strengthening Afghanistan’s diplomatic service.” In addition, in 2018, the Afghan government ratified an agreement on establishing an International Center for Landlocked Developing Countries. At the time, then-Deputy Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh (now Mongolia’s foreign minister) thanked the Afghan ambassador to Mongolia and <a href="https://montsame.mn/en/read/85562" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">called</a> for further expansion of multilateral cooperation within the center. This was a significant step in establishing Afghanistan-Mongolia intellectual and scholarly relations that would allow Mongolia to access historical documents from the Il-Khanate period.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Mongolia has continued to support both international and bilateral efforts to stabilize and develop Afghanistan. For more than a decade, the Mongolian Armed Forces, as peacekeepers, played a multidisciplinary role in safeguarding and protecting both Afghan civilians and international forces.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">“The Mongolian Armed Forces in Afghanistan made a difference in range of areas,” Colonel Bolor Ganbold told The Diplomat. Mongolian troops “not only helped to train the Afghan National Army but were also involved in implementing the strengthening of its army capabilities… The Mongolian forces, although small in numbers, but our strengths are recognized and respected by the international community and the Afghanistan forces.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Moreover, Afghanistan is <a href="https://www.intellinews.com/hazara-mongols-fearing-extinction-in-afghanistan-dream-of-return-to-ancient-homeland-220042/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">home</a> to 1 million Hazara Mongols – descendants of Chinggis Khan and his forces. After the withdrawal of U.S. and international forces, activists have been warning about the dangers facing Hazara Mongols. Previously the Mongolian government has <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/11/how-afghan-minority-students-found-peace-in-far-away-mongolia/247708/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">received</a> Hazara Mongols as international students on scholarship.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Given Afghanistan’s new domestic challenges, the two countries ought to focus on historical connections, sharing intellectual and scholarly knowledge, and learn from each other on overcoming of the difficulties of their landlocked status. As the U.S. and international forces are now leaving Afghanistan’s future in the hands of the Taliban, however, Mongolia’s contribution to and exchange with Afghanistan may be limited in the future.</p></div><aside class="td-story-meta__img" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: "Noto Sans", "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: -2px; margin-right: 22px;"></aside></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-19795717778849197732021-09-14T11:11:00.002+08:002021-09-14T11:16:38.993+08:00South Korea Becomes Mongolia’s 6th Strategic Partner<p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Sans", "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 28px;">Mongolia’s strategic partnership with South Korea once again shows its foreign policy strength.</span></p><div id="td-lead" itemprop="description" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Sans", "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 28px; line-height: 36px; padding: 6px 0px 28px;"><div id="td-meta" style="border-top: 2px solid rgb(236, 239, 241); box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-size: 16px; padding: 16px 0px; position: relative;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">September 13 (The Diplomat) On September 10, Mongolia and South Korea held a high-level online summit. During the meeting between Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa and his counterpart, President Moon Jae-in, South Korea became the sixth strategic partner of Mongolia.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">The two countries established diplomatic relations on March 26, 1990. In 1991, Mongolian President Ochirbat Punsalmaa’s state visit to South Korea made him the first head of state to visit Seoul after Mongolia’s democratization. Over the past 30 years, as Mongolia’s third-neighbor foreign policy expanded, Mongolia-South Korea relations too blossomed rapidly under a multi-pillared approach. For decades, Mongolia was inspired by South Korea’s development, industrialization, culture, and economic policies as one of the economics “tigers” of East Asia.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">In the early 1990s, the fast spread of South Korean pop transformed the Mongolian youth. Old school K-pop bands such as H.O.T and S.E.S were hugely popular in Mongolia. Not only did young Mongolians listen to Korean music, but they also learned the Korean language, imitated Korean styles, and studied and worked abroad in South Korea – the impact was transformative.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Despite these social changes, Mongolia and South Korea’s economic relations and trade remained slow but steady. Between 1994 and 2008, trade between the two countries grew from $23.5 million to $270 million. According <a href="http://keia.org/sites/default/files/publications/koreaseconomy_ch5_korea-mongolia_economic_relations.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">to a report from the Korea Economic Institute of America</a> (KEI), “Until 2015, Korea’s <a href="http://keia.org/sites/default/files/publications/koreaseconomy_ch5_korea-mongolia_economic_relations.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">direct investment</a> to Mongolia consisted of small businesses (55.5 percent), large companies (27.8 percent), and individual or private companies (16.7 percent) based on investment amounts.” Since 2008, South Korean investment in Mongolia has targeted the mineral industry, small manufacturing, construction, and agriculture. South Korean agricultural and pharmaceutical companies have also invested in Mongolia’s natural <a href="https://news.kotra.or.kr/user/globalBbs/kotranews/782/globalBbsDataView.do?setIdx=243&dataIdx=190365" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">medicinal</a> industry in the last couple of years.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">On a more political level, Mongolia, and South Korea, as two of the largest democracies in East Asia, both play different but essential roles in solving complex tasks in the region. Given South Korea’s geographical specificity, Seoul needs to make tough decisions concerning North Korea. Those in the West may not feel the immediacy of North Korea’s nuclear threat, but in East Asia, it is a ticking bomb. North Korea’s repetitive provocations – such as <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/09/in-signal-to-the-us-north-korea-tests-new-long-range-cruise-missiles/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">its cruise missile tests</a> over the weekend – not only threaten regional peace and security but also complicate political and economic solutions to overcome its protracted desolation. While neighboring countries like China, Japan, and South Korea, have sought deterrence in the past, Mongolia continued to push for peaceful dialogue, using its small-state mediation skills. Moreover, <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2016/09/mongolias-small-country-diplomacy-and-north-korea/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">Mongolia’s non-nuclear weapons state status</a> (NNWS) is a powerful boost to its credibility on the topic of denuclearization.</p><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Since 2014, Mongolia has been hosting the <a href="http://mfa.gov.mn/en/documentation/61403/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security</a> to continue international debate and conversation on the security issues of the region. According to the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 2017, the conference upgraded to Track 1.5 level, involving both government delegates and academia.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">During the Mongolia-South Korea high-level summit on September 10, Khurelsukh and Moon noted that over the past 30 years, Mongolia-South Korea relations and cooperation have developed rapidly. Moon congratulated the president of Mongolia on his election victory and said he was pleased to be the first foreign president to hold a summit with Mongolia’s new head of state.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Moon also highlighted the importance of Mongolia in South Korea’s New North Policy. During his speech, he pledged South Korea’s cooperation in Mongolia’s long-term development plan, <a href="https://cabinet.gov.mn/wp-content/uploads/2050_VISION_LONG-TERM-DEVELOPMENT-POLICY.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">Vision 2050</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">The decision to advance Mongolia-South Korea’s relations to a strategic partnership level builds on the “Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations” of 1990 and the joint statements signed between Mongolia and South Korea during their 1991, 1999, 2006, and 2011 summits. The consistent strengthening of the two countries and their people’s relations, under the principles of “complementary cooperation in the 21st century,” has been reflected in the changing status of the relationship: a “good neighborly and friendly cooperation partnership” in 2006, a “comprehensive partnership” in 2011, and now a strategic partnership.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Under the newly established Mongolia-South Korea strategic partnership, the two countries have agreed to play an important role in strengthening regional and international peace and sustainable development under a multi-pillared foreign policy approach.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">The Mongolia-South Korea Strategic Partnership <a href="http://mfa.gov.mn/63590" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">Joint Declaration</a> reaffirms their commitment to strengthening political trust and expands cooperation between the two parliaments as well as stabilizing and enhancing dialogue mechanisms on security, defense, and foreign policy issues. Moreover, Khurelsukh and Moon agreed to deepen mutually beneficial and complementary economic relations using the advantages and development potential of the two countries, such as South Korea’s advanced technology and Mongolia’s rich natural resources.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">The Joint Declaration further stated that South Korea would continue to seek various cooperation projects with Mongolia, supporting Mongolia’s post-epidemic economic recovery through official development assistance. South Korea also seeks cooperation in Vision 2050-based projects and offered to assist in Mongolia’s policy implementation process. The Joint Declaration also touched on education, science and technology, environmental issues, public health, culture, and tourism.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Mongolia’s strategic partnership with South Korea once again shows its foreign policy strength. In July 2021 alone, Mongolia <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/mongolia-seizes-the-diplomatic-moment/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #009688;">held</a> high-level talks with China, Japan, South Korea, the United States. Given the increasing significance of the Asia-Pacific region, Mongolia cannot afford to bandwagon with one regional player. In the past, Mongolia has established strategic partnerships with Russia, China, Japan, India, the United States, and now South Korea.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">This newly established partnership presents new opportunities, a new level of dialogue, and increased collaboration between the two governments and the people of Mongolia and South Korea. It is paramount for both governments to utilize and allocate resources correctly to produce a genuinely fruitful outcome.</p><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 82px 0px 0px; padding: 5px 0px 0px;">Bolor Lkhaajav</h4><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #455a64; margin: 0px 82px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 7px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;">Bolor Lkhaajav is a researcher specializing in Mongolia, China, Russia, Japan, East Asia, and the Americas. She holds an M.A. in Asia-Pacific Studies from the University of San Francisco.</p><div><br /></div></div></div><aside class="td-story-meta__img" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-left: -2px; margin-right: 22px;"></aside></div></div>Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-21211540623498773002016-03-11T10:41:00.000+08:002016-03-11T10:41:00.413+08:00Denison retains Canadian focusDenison Mines will focus on its activities in Canada's Athabasca Basin in 2016, according to the company's end-of-year analysis. <a name='more'></a>The company sold its Mongolian assets in December and hopes to spin out or sell its African portfolio when market conditions permit.<br /><br />The company reiterated its intention to focus on increasing its resource base in the Athabasca Basin and advancing the Wheeler River in a management's discussion and analysis (MD&A) document for the 2015 financial year filed alongside the company's financial statements for the year.<br /><br />In the MD&A document the company confirmed that the sale of its interests in the Gurvan Saihan joint venture (GSJV) in Mongolia to Uranium Industry a.s. of the Czech Republic for a total consideration of up to $13.5 million - $1.25 million in initial payments and up to $12 million in additional proceeds conditional on the achievement of certain milestones associated with the Mongolian projects. The sale was initially announced in June 2015 for a total consideration of $20 million, but the companies entered into an "amended and restated" share purchase agreement in November 25, 2015.<br /><br />On 2 December 2015 - the day after the completion of the sale - Uranium Industry submitted applications for mining licences for all four GSJV projects to the Mongolian government, Denison said.<br /><br />Denison said that it is maintaining its interests in its African uranium projects - Falea in Mali, Dome in Namibia and Mutanga in Zambia - in preparation for a potential spinout or sale "when market conditions permit." The company had budgeted to spend between $750,000 and $1.3 million in Africa this year on activities "designed to keep the company's interests in good standing and continuation of community programs".<br /><br />Last year, Denison recorded a significant increase in estimated mineral resources at its 60%-owned Wheeler River project in Canada, which is now estimated to contain indicated mineral resources of 70.2 million pounds U3O8 (27,000 tU) and inferred resources of 44.1 million pounds (16,960 tU) U3O8. A preliminary economic assessment of Wheeler River's Gryphon and Phoenix deposits is expected to be completed in the first half of 2016, after which the company plans to begin a prefeasibility study and environmental assessment work.<br /><br />Denison CEO and president David Cates said: "In 2015, Denison achieved a key milestone with the completion of a maiden resource estimate for our Gryphon deposit on the Wheeler River property - which was already host to the exceptionally high-grade Phoenix deposit. The addition of the Gryphon deposit represents a significant increase in the estimated mineral resources at Denison's 60% owned Wheeler River property, and establishes the project as one of the largest and highest grade undeveloped uranium projects in the Athabasca Basin region."<br /><br />Denison also holds a 22.5% interest in the McClean Lake joint venture in Saskatchewan, including several uranium deposits and the McClean Lake mill, plus interests in the nearby Midwest and J Zone deposits.Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com129tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8655875933784490515.post-27795652789246133912016-03-11T10:38:00.001+08:002016-03-11T10:38:15.461+08:00Share of European countries in IIB nears 50% as Hungary pays in capital<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The share of European's countries ownership of International Investment Bank (IIB) has almost reached 50% after its newest member Hungary paid in its share capital this month.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />The government of Hungary transferred an additional €10mn to the paid-in capital of the IIB, having fulfilled all the obligations regarding its contribution as the bank's new member country, the bank said in a press release on March 10.<br /><br />"As a result, Hungary increased its share to €40mn (12.78%), surpassing the Czech Republic and becoming IIB's third largest shareholder after the Russian Federation (47.92%) and the Republic of Bulgaria (13.48%)," the press release reads. "At the same time, the combined share of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – IIB's member countries within the European Union – in the Bank's capital reached 48.72%. Meanwhile, Cuba's share is at 1.71% and share of Asian members of the IIB (Vietnam and Mongolia) at 1.65%."<br /><br />Set up in Soviet times to foster cooperation and trans-border investment amongst the Comecon countries, the bank has been remaking itself over the last three years as a modern International Financial Institution (IFI) and the transition programme officially came to an end at the close of 2015.<br /><br />Headquartered in Moscow, five out of the nine shareholders are EU members, sharing majority of the votes in the IIB Council, and the Russian government owns a minority stake. The bank's IFI status means it was exempted from the financial sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU and US in 2014. And its government ownership means it has a triple A rating from the leading international ratings agencies.<br /><br />Hungary's contribution increased the total amount of IIB's paid-in capital, which has doubled from €165mn since the end of 2012 to the current €313mn.<br /><br />Chairman of the IIB Board, Nikolay Kosov, said: "While Russia has kept its status as the largest shareholder of our international development institution, the increase in the share of EU countries in the Bank's capital indicates a new level of partnership with our European colleagues. It is also a testimony to the demand for IIB's financial products and services within the EU and to the prospects for implementation of large-scale projects in the region, including multilateral projects with the participation of all member countries of the Bank."<br /><br />Redistribution of shares in IIB's paid-in capital will continue contributing to its increasing balance and will give an additional boost to the diversification of the Bank's activities. In the past three years, around 50% (over €250mn) of IIB's investments were signed in the EU.<br /><br />Nikolay Kosov also stressed, "The continued capitalisation of the IIB reflects the demand for the further enhancement of its role for the current member states as a modern multilateral development institution, which also remains open for admission of new members."<br /><br />Since it was founded in 1970, IIB has invested in projects benefitting the economies of its member states and fostering economic cooperation between them. It focuses in particular on support for small and medium-sized enterprises, export-import financing and project finance. The Bank has undergone major modernisation since late 2012 and is rated Baa1 (outlook stable) by Moody's, BBB- (outlook stable) by Fitch and A (outlook stable) by Dagong.Economy & Financehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15027440123688759817noreply@blogger.com10