Mongolia Brief February 3, 2015 Part II
River-Ice
thickness decreased by 10-40 cm
By D. Tuguldur
February 3
(gogo.mn) Lake and river ice thickness is decreased by 10-40cm comparing to the
same period of last year due to warming in air temperature in Dec, 2014 and Jan,
2015.
In view of
upcoming Tsagaan Sar celebrations, movement to city and countryside is growing.
Thus, professional organizations warn public to transport by safe roads and
bridges and not to pass on rivers and lakes. No road and mountain pass is closed.
Government
Resolves to Submit Law on Casino to Parliament of Mongolia
February 3
(infomongolia.com) The regular Cabinet meeting of the Coalition Government was
held on Monday, February 02 and one of the issues resolved was to submit a bill
on "Law on Casino" to the State Great Khural (Parliament).
Mongolia’s
competitiveness rank in tourism industry stands at the 99th place out of
surveyed 140 economies, nevertheless, at the 19th place out of 25 countries in
Asia and Oceania. In 2013, over 417 thousand tourists visited Mongolia and
revenue from this sector reached 263 million USD that comprised 5.29 percent of
GDP.
The bill
initiators deem, it is necessary to resolve one of the reasons to slow down the
tourism flow into Mongolia and in the scope of increasing the international
competitiveness, the country's 2020 goal is to create about 14 percent of gross
domestic product and therefore by launching casino activity in Mongolia it
would stimulate the tourism development and increase the flow of foreign
currencies.
The draft Law
on Casino was initiated and developed based on international standards and
practices relied on the needs of casino gaming activities adhered to regulate
relations regarding issuing limited casino license, registering and revoking
the license as well as clarify the state control system and mechanisms for
casino activities in the territory of Mongolia.
Back in 1997,
Mongolia enacted the “Law on Casino”, but it ended up with imprisonment of high
profile politicians due to corruption charges and unconditional enactment of
Law on prohibiting Casino activities within Mongolian territory as a result of
social, economic and political situation of that time.
In 2006,
Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs initiated drafting of Law on Gaming, in
order to regulate the casino and gaming activity, but the draft did not get
support from the Cabinet and was rejected. Following failure of this draft,
several more attempts were made with initiative from MP’s, including “Law on
Limited Casino” in 2007 and 2010, but were not supported to date.
In recent mass
media, it was boomed that two Mongolian artists won a jackpot of $355,870 in
the “Wheel of Fortune” during their visit to Hong Kong in January 2015.
Related:
The Government decision to legalise
casino – gogo.mn, February 3
Draft
law on Casino to be submitted to Parliament – Montsame, February 3
“Inspired
by Zaya” – Music Producer B.Naranzun
February 3 (gogo.mn) “INSPIRED BY ZAYA”
TALK SHOW
“Future of
Mongolia is not just mining. Instead I believe our future is dependent on
educated, intelligent and multifaceted youth”. I want to proudly introduce
those talented and educated young professionals to others.
Editor
E.Ariunzaya
We are
delivering the next episode of the Inspired by Zaya talk show hosted entirely
in English language, encouraging and inspiring the future of Mongolia to commit
to learning English language and enhance possibilities in life. This
episode features B.Naranzun, whom can be identified as one of the vivid young
representatives. There are many who would recognize him and many would
determine him as loyal and workaholic. He has good sense of humor and he will
tell how he overcomes the hardships of the illness with his traits and how he started
to value the life. For the full episode please click here.
Mongolia
and Russia Seek Ways to Ease Cross Border Flow at Altanbulag-Kyakhta Border
Ports
February 3
(infomongolia.com) On January 31, 2015, a delegation headed by Minister of
Foreign Affairs L.Purevsuren worked at the Altanbulag - Kyakhta border ports to
acquaint with current activities since Mongolia and the Russian Federation had
agreed to lift a reciprocal visa regime.
The delegation
was comprised of representatives from Authorities of Border Protection, General
Customs, Specialized Inspection, Immigration Office, General Consuls in
Ulan-Ude and Irkutsk cities as well as other officials from Foreign Ministry of
Mongolia.
The border
ports have been operating under 24/7 since July 01, 2014 and compare to
previous working hours, the number of travelers increased by 3.6% and number of
vehicles crossing the borders by 5.9% respectively, say officials.
During the
working visit, delegates have familiarized and met with both authorities of
Altanbulag and Kyakhta (Khiagt) ports and the visit’s purpose was aimed to
resolve and decrease facing problems occurring on cross border procedures by
exchanging views and familiarizing on the site. For instance, since the
abolishing visa requirements, the number of reciprocal visits have been
increased dramatically that cause long lines at the check points and thus,
officials from both sides request to add the number of employees.
Moreover,
Altanbulag border port staff asked to increase its number of control organs
from current four to five by adding the Special Inspection like at the check
points being operated at the Chinggis Khaan International Airport and Zamyn-Uud
Port that monitor on 5 specifics such as phytosanitary, food, animal health,
transportation and hygiene.
Afterwards,
parties agreed to organize a joint workshop in order to realize the discussed
issues in the near future.
Ulaanbaatar
to Implement Project of Applying All Addresses and Advertisements Written in
Traditional Mongolian Script
February 3
(infomongolia.com) Under the Government Resolution No.37 that states “Measures
to Improve Mongolian Language and Education” issued on February 02, 2013 and
Mayor’s Decree No. A/428 to implement the “Smart Ulaanbaatar” Program from May
28, 2014, the General Planning Division of the Capital City has been initiating
and starting to implement a project that aims to apply all addresses and
advertisements of any entities and organizations in Ulaanbaatar to be written
in traditional Mongolian script.
Moreover,
all-level Governors of the Capital City, Aimags and Cities are obliged to order
local public and private organizations to write their addresses in both
Cyrillic and Traditional Mongolian Scripts.
In the scope of
the project, the initiators’ effort is to create an Ulaanbaatar brand or ‘Brand
Book’ that would build a general theme for the capital city featuring its
street signs, building names, state services, designs and logos written in
traditional or Uyghur Mongolian script.
Related:
Entities to have signs in Mongolian
Script – gogo.mn, February 3
Concept
for the Law to support Industrialization approved
By B.
Erdenechimeg
February 3
(gogo.mn) Cabinet session has approved the concept for the law to support
industrialization. Further drafting of the law and discussions are to be done
under Minister of Industry D.Erdenebat.
97 percent of
the domestic products have only initial processing with less technological
content. This is the clear indicator that industrial sector needs technological
advancement and improve the processing capacity. For instance, agricultural
processing of raw materials is only at 10-30 percent and is exported with
minimal value adding.
This implies
the need for support to develop industrialization to add value and increase the
investment benefits. State support for the industrilzation is provisioned in
the law as following:
-ONE TIME of
zero interest rate loan of amount equal to 50 percent of the total investments
for technological advancement of the manufactures that export over 60 percent
of its products.
-One subsidy of
the amount up to 75 percent of the total Research and Development costs for the
manufactures that introduce advanced technology with high economic benefits and
produce substitute products for imports.
Related:
Cabinet
approves discussing draft law on Promoting industrialization – Montsame, February 3
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