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Friday, January 9, 2015
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MIBG: Aspire Announces Positive Results
January 8 (MIBG) Aspire Mining Ltd has announced that it has received an independent Coal Market Report delivering supportive results for the marketability of a blended metallurgical coal product from its Ovoot project in Northern Mongolia.
The product involves a blend of between 25 – 50% of Aspire's metallurgical coal from their Ovoot Project with the remaining content being sourced from other Mongolian thermal and non-metallurgical coal sources. The report that was commissioned aimed at assessing the marketability and the possible pricing of the blend. This information will then be used to complete a scoping study to support the development of a regional blending facility at the Sainshand Industrial Park.
The resulting classification for the blended coal is "JM," which is the Chinese coal classification for a primary metallurgical coal. This claims that the coal is considered "similar or even better than those primary coking coals imported into the China market from countries like Australia, the US and Canada" thanks to its medium ash content, low sulfur content and high G values.
The importance of these findings extend beyond Aspire's Ovoot Project as the resulting blend has the ability to upgrade a wide variety of Mongolian coals. This suggests that other projects that were previously considered uneconomic may be given a new lease on life through blending their products with Ovoot's metallurgical coal.
The independent consultant also suggested that increasing demand from the Chinese steel industry was likely and would result in further imports of coking coal products from Mongolia to China. The catalyst for this is an estimated supply gap of 83Mt by 2020, a difference of nearly 30Mt from the supply gap in 2013.
In order to realize the full benefits of the report's finding, and to serve the needs of China's growing supply gap, Aspire will need to establish a blending operation. The company's press releases have suggested that such an operation will be established at the Sainshand Industrial Park and will accommodate a range of Mongolian thermal and low metallurgical coals that are produced from projects around the country.
Aspire Mining (ASX:AKM) - 12 Month Stock Chart
MSE News for January 8: Top 20 +0.06% to 14,633.70, Turnover ₮13.9 Million
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) At the Stock Exchange trades on Thursday, a total of 78 thousand and 696 units of 18 JSCs were traded costing MNT 13 million 936 thousand and 968.
"Hermes center" /46 thousand units/, "Khokh gan" /25 thousand and 396 units/, "Genco tour bureau" /5,236 units/, "Merex" /1,500 units/ and "Tavantolgoi" /308 units/ were the most actively traded in terms of trading volume, in terms of trading value were "Hermes center" (MNT seven million 360 thousand and 200), "Khokh gan" (MNT two million 514 thousand and 204), "Tavantolgoi" (MNT one million 283 thousand and 600), "UBBUK" (MNT one million and 260 thousand) and "Genco tour bureau" (MNT 471 thousand and 004).
The total market capitalization was set at MNT one trillion 411 billion 815 million 895 thousand and 646. The Index of Top-20 JSCs was 14,633.70, increasing 8.74 units or 0.06% against the previous day.
MSE Offers ₮62.45 Billion 12-Week Treasuries at 3.27% Discount, 14.69% Yield
January 7 (MSE) --
1. The issuer's name: Mongolian Ministry of Finance
2. The purpose of the issuance of bond: Fund management of State treasure
3. Offering scope of securities: Offering to the public
4. Type of securities: Government securities
5. Face value: 100,000 MNT
6. Discounted price: 96,730 MNT
7. Total amounts issued: 624.461.0 Units
8. Securities performance:
*Coupon of Government Securities will be determined within 365 days.
9. Rate of interest: interest rate of the Government Securities, which will be issued weekly, will be based on auction results of Central Bank basis State Government Securities weighted average interest rate. If the Central Bank's weekly trading cancelled, the interest rate will be set based on the previous trading of Government Securities weighted average interest rate.
10. Order deadline: The Mongolian Stock Exchange will take orders 6 days and the trading will close on the 6th day at 14.00 PM and information on total orders will be delivered to the securities issuer.
11. Trading period: Total registered orders distribution of MSE trading system will be determined based on the Ministry of Finance votes.
Early morning bank rates: Khan (Buy ₮1,910 Sell ₮1,930), TDB (Buy ₮1,904 Sell ₮1,928), Golomt (Buy ₮1,903 Sell ₮1,920), XacBank (Buy ₮1,908 Sell ₮1,928), State Bank (Buy ₮1,904 Sell ₮1,928)
BoM MNT Rates: Thursday, January 8 Close
| | 1/8 | 1/7 | 1/6 | 1/5 | 12/31 | 12/30 | 12/26 | 12/25 |
| USD | 1,924.90 | 1,909.47 | 1,902.52 | 1,892.91 | 1,888.44 | 1,885.60 | 1,884.33 | 1,881.02 |
| EUR | 2,275.42 | 2,270.26 | 2,271.99 | 2,263.35 | 2,295.40 | 2,293.36 | 2,300.11 | 2,299.83 |
| CNY | 309.69 | 307.38 | 306.25 | 304.46 | 304.59 | 303.57 | 303.57 | 303.55 |
| GBP | 2,901.02 | 2,891.41 | 2,897.73 | 2,895.02 | 2,938.98 | 2,927.58 | 2,932.02 | 2,924.70 |
| RUB | 31.10 | 29.92 | 30.96 | 32.11 | 33.97 | 33.25 | 36.19 | 35.73 |
January MNT vs USD, CNY Chart:
BoM FX auction: US$66m sold at ₮1,917, CNY123.9m at ₮307.45, accepts $5m swap bid, $15m ask offers
January 8 (Bank of Mongolia) On the Foreign Exchange Auction held on January 08th, 2015 the BOM has received bid offer of 76.2 million USD and 123.9 million CNY from local commercial banks. The BOM has sold 66.0 million USD as closing rate of MNT 1917.00 and 123.9 million CNY as closing rate of MNT 307.45.
On January 08th, 2015, The BOM has received USD Swap agreement bid offer of 5.0 million USD and ask offer of 15.0 million USD from local commercial banks and accepted the offer.
See also:
MIBG: Rating Agencies Set the Mood for Mongolia's 2015 Prospects
January 8 (MIBG) After 3 years of declining performance Mongolia has fallen far from the spotlight that it had garnered in the run up to 2011. The nation's troubles have been closely documented by sovereign ratings agencies over the past few years. This has included pessimistic commentary, largely focused on the financial health of the economy and resulting further down grades. The country's current status remains unchanged since April of this year when Standard and Poor's (S&P) released their latest downgrade to BB-.
This article will look back at the past year and discuss the outlooks from the three main rating agencies. In addition to sovereign ratings we will also review the outlook for Mongolian banks and the banking sector as a whole.
While the move by Standard and Poor's in April saw the outlook for Mongolia change from stable to negative Moody's also adjusted their outlook to negative for three Mongolian banks. The reason for this is that many of Mongolia's largest banks have increased exposure to the construction and mining sectors over the past few years. This has resulted in a high sectoral concentration of borrowing, which negatively impacts their baseline credit assessment.
The three Mongolian banks that were downgraded by Moody's include Khan Bank, Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia, and XacBank. Also contributing to this downgrade was the increase in bad loans and slow economic growth. Moody's reaffirmed their view by suggesting that the banks will "remain vulnerable to deterioration in asset quality and high borrower concentration against the back drop of intensifying adverse developments in the operating environment."
Not to be forgotten, Fitch has maintained a B+ rating for its Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency IDRs but has set a negative outlook for Mongolia's banks. According to Fitch, there is little exposure to the mining sector among the largest domestic lenders, which would otherwise increase the risks of the current situation. Fitch suggests that this is because they don't have access to the large pools of capital required to advance loans to the mining sector.
Mongolian Banks are facing weaker profits, resulting in higher borrowing costs and an increase in loans. With also the prices of key commodities coal and copper being very weak, it is unlikely that there is a positive alteration in the near future for Mongolia's credit outlook. With the recent downgrades Mongolia has faced, it has created more pressure on the three agencies to watch over the banks.
UNDP Rep Speaks on Development in Mongolia
By B. Enkhtsetseg
January 8 (Mongolian Economy) Sezin Sinanoglu, UN Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), has lived and worked in Ulaanbaatar since 2010. During her time here, she has witnessed Mongolia battle a financial crisis and achieve a 17 percent growth rate. Though the economy is slowing down once again, she believes that the government and people must be committed to inclusive and sustainable policies, to bring consistent growth back to Mongolia.
Sezin, a Turkish national, holds a Bachelor's Degree in City and Regional Planning from the Middle East Technical University, as well as a Master's Degree in City Planning. She's been with the UN for almost 20 years, in countries such as Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iraq, and Turkey. Prior to working at the UN, she held positions in Turkey and the US as a city planner.
Regarding the UNDP's contributions to Mongolia's development, what are your focus programme areas at the local level and at a policy level?
The UNDP has been in Mongolia for quite some time and its programme has evolved over the years. Currently, we are implementing a programme that runs from the year 2012 until the year 2016. In that programme we have three main areas. One of them is governance and human rights. The second one is human development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The third one is environment and disaster reduction. In these three areas, we have been working with partners, mainly the government, but also civil society in the past few years.
Currently, I believe we have about 11 programmes in these areas to address different emerging needs. But we constantly have an eye for what emerging challenges there are in the country—what are new areas of interest? For example, through both discussions with the United Nations Country Team and other agencies as well as our other national counterparts, we've identified that urbanisation is something that we should be looking into. Urbanisation was not a topic during our discussions of formulating a plan, but it has emerged and we have recently started discussing it. We have something called the development dialogues. Every year, we try to hold four or five of these. We choose topical issues and we try to bring in key people from all walks of life. Recently we had a dialogue on urbanisation, and we had the Minister of Construction, the mayor of the city, the regional developer of the UNDP, and a representative of the private sector.
Have you received much participation from citizens in the dialogues? How do you get them involved?
We try to reach out to all people, whether it's citizens or civil society organisations, depending on who is the most accessible and the most knowledgeable about the topic. For example, we've worked with NGOs. Depending on the topic, we always bring people including academia to be a part of these dialogues. We have the three main areas that we talked about, but we don't limit ourselves to those. We are always watching for emerging topics and to see if there is anything we can bring to the table as a discussion forum to forward thinking.
What is happening in the UNDP globally?
The UNDP, as with any other global body, is evolving and changing. There are so many changes globally. The UNDP launched its new strategic plan and that plan will guide operations of all UNDP offices around the world, and this puts at the core of its work a few key concepts. The first one is to completely eliminate and abolish poverty at all levels. Along with that comes how to address exclusion and inequalities—how to bring about social justice. That is the common thread across all programmes. The second element is sustainable development which at its foundation is environmental stability. It is to make sure that climate change is stopped and to make sure that people are less affected, especially the poor who are more affected. The third one is how to build resilience—economies, communities, people, cities. This is another very important thread. These programmes can only be achieved if we have governance structures that give a voice to people, that abide by the rule of law, and that follow basic human rights. These are the four key areas that the new strategic plan is focusing on. We are working on a national human development report on youth and we are very excited about that. Hopefully it will be released before the end of the year. We have been having lots of discussions on social media to hear voices around key subtopics such as youth employment.
"If we do not choose a sustainable and green path now, tomorrow it will be too late. No country is rich enough to pollute now and clean later."
How does the Human Development Index factor into Mongolia's development?
The index says that you cannot measure progress by GDP alone. Life expectancy is a basic indicator. A second one is education—do people have access to education? Is the education good-quality? Human development tries to examine whether people have opportunities and whether they can access and use those opportunities. We have identified youth as an important vulnerable group that needs further attention. The global reports have a separate assessment called the gender inequality index. When half of the population is not able to get the access that it deserves, then you begin to question the development of that country.
What have been the UNDP's successes and failures?
I think we have quite a few successes. The UNDP helped establish a micro-credit project that transformed itself into Xac Bank. The seeds of this bank are from a UNDP project that's growing and has projects overseas. That's a good example. Just recently, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the National Emergency Management Agency. That agency was established with the help of the UNDP. After 2004, when it was clear that the country needed different management agencies, the UNDP launched a program with the government.
Another success is called the legal aid centers and the concept started through an NGO. It provides free legal aid for poor people. We established it and helped push it up and give it the capacity it needs, and now the government has taken over. It is fully financed and implemented throughout the country. These are just three of many programmes that we have implemented here that I am truly proud of. Of course, there are some programmes that fall short because we simply did not have the money so that they can mature to sustainable levels. Some of the work we have done with SMEs needed more support. We brought communities together, especially women, who needed skills. We needed to go one more step to support them strongly to create sustainable businesses. We have identified these weaknesses and are looking at developing markets to solve these weaknesses. In almost all of our programs, we have independent evaluations and build them into new programming progress.
What is the global and regional progress in achieving the Millenium Development Goals? How does Mongolia compare?
There is mixed progress. Globally, wealth has increased. When you look at countries like Nigeria, they are becoming powerhouses in their own right. In that sense, wealth has increased globally—but how has that translated into reducing poverty, exclusion, and vulnerability? That's where we have differences. One of the things we must realise is that the MDGs are finishing next year. Some countries have achieved the most important goals such as reducing poverty, HIV, etc. There has been progress. But just because you have cut poverty, you still have millions living under poverty. Can you stop it? Is there a place to stop? That is the main discussion in the post-2015 discussions. The MDGs are ending next year, so this is something we are talking about. In 2015, if Mongolia reaches 18% poverty, then what can be done? The second question is social justice. It's all about having opportunities. A third thing is the environment. If we do not choose a sustainable and green path now, tomorrow it will be too late.
No country is rich enough to pollute now and clean later. There are a new set of goals called the Sustainable Development Goals that are being negotiated around the world. Currently there are 17. In Mongolia, I would like to give credit for a few key things. Mongolia has recognised the importance of the
Cabinet to submit bill on one-time tax amnesty in efforts to boost economy
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) The cabinet at its meeting on January 7 discussed a draft law on promoting the economic transparency and resolved to present it to parliament. The Ministers consider that this regulation will be the mechanism by which all hidden properties will be disclosed.
It means that the entities will be given one chance to fix intentionally distorted/hidden information given in financial and taxation reports and income statements.
As known, the state declared amnesty in 2007-2008 by freeing entities from some taxes and social insurance payment. This time, it offers one-time exemption from administrative fines in cases of false reporting of income statements, registrations, financial accounting reports, specifically in cases of failure to pay social insurances, register as legal entity of immovable property, reflect the properties in income declaration, of the commitments to reflect reduced value of properties in statements. The effective date for the voluntarily disclose will be six months after the adoption of the law, no fines will be imposed.
In regard to this, a draft law on tax amnesty will be presented next week to parliament.
If adopted, the new amnesty will greatly help collect adequate quantitative data to determine the country's economy.
Similar:
Government of Mongolia to Grant One-Time Tax Amnesty, Which Will Be Effective for 6 Months – InfoMongolia, January 8
President's Advisor L.Erkhembayar Appointed Acting Secretary General of DP
Ulaanbaatar, Jan 8 (GoGo Mongolia) Executive Council of DP met today morning to appoint acting Secretary General, as Ts.Oyundari resigned in view of the new appointment as CEO of MNB, State Owned Media company.
Lombiin Erkhembayar was appointed as an Acting Secretary General of DP. He is the Advisor to the President on Environment and Green Development Policy.
Previous Secretary General Ts.Oyundari congratulated L.Erkhembayar on the new appointment and handed over the stamp.
Acting Secretary General L.Ekhembayar is to be appointed as DP Secretary General by the next Executive Council meeting.
MPP's Ayursaikhan Appointed Head of Fair Competition Agency
January 8 (news.mn) The government appointed a new head of the Authority for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection during Wednesday's regular cabinet meeting.
Former head of the Authority for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection O.Magnai resigned from the position. With the authority to appoint a new head, PM Ch.Saikhanbileg proposed and approved the nomination of T.Ayursaikhan, from the Committee for Reform movement in the MPP, as new head of the Authority for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection.
Wednesday's cabinet meeting also resulted in the appointment of T.Badrakh as Chief of the National Emergency Management Agency.
Deputy T.Badral promoted to Head of Emergency Management Agency
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) In regards of renewed structure and composition of the Government, the cabinet of Ministers resolved to withdraw several draft laws and amendments that have been presented to parliament. The cabinet also freed heads of the General Emergency Department and the Authority for Fair Competition and Customers' Rights, T.Dulamdorj and O.Magnai.
The withdrawn drafts are laws on Investigation Office, on Legal Status of Law Enforcement Officer, on Crimes, on Offence, against Family Violence, on State Amnesty and on Fire Arms, and draft amendments to laws on Police Offices and on Takhar (Marshall's) Service.
- Former director of Reform Committee of MPP T.Ayursaikhan was appointed the head of the Authority for Fair Competition and Customers' Rights, the Colonel T.Badral was promoted to be a head of the General Emergency Department.
Mongolia govt seeks to restructure border and customs authorities into one agency
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) Due to the cabinet's decision made at previous meeting, the Law on Border Ports needs to be amended, considered the Ministers on January 7.
The General Authority of Customs will be reorganized to be a Secretariat for Customs and Border Port Affairs, a government regulatory agency.
In accordance with the Law on Border Port adopted in 2013, the General Administration of Border Ports and its subsidiaries--a total of 26 port administrations--were established. However, the Ministers resolved to dismiss all of them in pursuit of a direction, given by parliament in order to eliminate duplication of responsibilities and to reduce a consumption of state budget. In this regard, the cabinet approved this Wednesday a concept of amendments to the Law on Border Ports.
The General Authority of Customs will give up its name and a status of implementing agency. The institution is considered to serve greatly in improving the customs and borders' cooperation of Mongolia with its main trade partners.
State Emergency Commission Holds First Meeting with New Chairman (Deputy PM)
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) The State Emergency Commission (SEC) held Wednesday its first this year meeting.
The SEC chairman and the Deputy Premier U.Khurelsukh gave cards to new members of the SEC which includes ten Ministers, one Vice Minister, two State Secretaries, and heads of agencies in charge of ensuring the national security.
In conjunction with changes in the SEC composition, its secretary-general Colonel M.Enkh-Amar presented the rule of the Commission and its works done. He said the SEC met 59 times, its working groups 21 times in 2009-2014 to issue 17 official orders, 17 orders of the SEC head and nine resolutions. Related to the national emergency matters were discussed at 75 cabinet meetings. Some 62.5 billion Togrog was allotted from the governmental reserve fund to save people and animals' lives and properties from damages, to eliminate aftermath of natural disasters, and to run reconstruction works.
A report on weather forecast of this year's winter and spring was given by D.Tsogt-Ochir, a head of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. By him, the weather will be warmer by0.5-1 C in most of the territories in January and in March, much snow is expected in a western half of the country in February.
There was no snow in western and Gobi regions at the beginning of this month, and the temperature reached a plus at daytime in several territories, leading to conditions of drought. He warned that fires might occur and that rivers and lakes have not frozen completely.
U.Khurelsukh gave some obligations to SEC members and told them to increase responsibilities, to submit to the cabinet necessary capital issues, to focus on ensuring preparedness for preventing Ebola virus infection, and to give relevant reports.
Mongolia to Submit 2nd Report on Implementation of Convention Against Torture, Cruel Punishment
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) The cabinet at its meeting January 7 obligated the Justice and Foreign Affairs Ministers to present Mongolia's Second Report on Implementation of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to the UN Human Rights Council.
The report has been prepared jointly by the Ministry of Justice, the Office of Prosecutor-General, the General Authority for Implementing Court Decisions, the State Supreme Court, the General Police Department, the National Human Rights Commission, and the Corruption Combating Agency.
The Government ratified in 2002 this Convention that creates a mechanism to ensure human rights during the criminal procedures, directs countries to adopt related regulations and to conduct monitoring and researches on international levels. Our First Report on the Convention's implementation was presented in 2010. The Second Report has observed all recommendations given in 2010 by the UN Committee against Torture, and has presented implementation status of all 16 chapters of the Convention.
10,000 teachers and doctors to demonstrate tomorrow over budget cuts
January 8 (GoGo Mongolia) Mongolian Trade Union is holding trilateral negotiations with the Government for Solution on salary, wages, allowances and downsizing, which started earlier this week. During the agreement, Ministry of Labour who played role of the Government expressed that pension and benefits cannot be increased and the state employees will be downsized. Thus, Mongolian Trade Union has rejected the proposal and announced to demonstrate at Chinggis Square tomorrow.
10,000 workers including teachers, doctors and representatives from cultural organizations will participate in the demonstration. Workers union representatives of medical, education and cultural fields met yesterday and established temporary headquarters, which is to strike jointly further. If trilateral agreement won`t be approved unions will start joint strikes as well.
If the voting age started at age of 0 …
Artist: B.Bayasgalan, January 8 (GoGo Mongolia) --
Students offer to cut their stipends to help the economy
Ulaanbaatar, Jan 7 (GoGo Mongolia) Mongolian Student Federation and student representatives have called for a press conference earlier today.
In 2014-2015 academic year MNT 91.3 billion was budgeted for the scholarships for 121,224 students in total. In other words, total of over MNT 300 billion was dedicated into scholarship programs since 2012.
Student representatives have agreed that these subsidies do indeed hit hard on the economy of the country, which is currently is facing recession. Therefore, Mongolian Student Federation proposes following to help the economy:
1. Student stipends to base on merit system and the qualifying GPA to be increased to 3.0 from current 2.0. This will save MNT 32 billion decreasing the budgets to MNT 48.8 billion for 61,780 students.
2. Cut on the student stipends directed at post-graduate students. Savings come up to MNT 4,8 billion.
3. Improve the regulations for the Higher Education organizations.
4. Scholarship requirements needs improvements and be more directed at students who are socially active or from poor households.
Polls on 'How do you spend your student stipend?' organized by Mongolian Students Federation the following was revealed:
1. Use it for tuition by Joint Agreement with the University – about 60%
2. Use for payment for dormitory, buy necessary items – about 20%
3. Use for payments for lease (laptops and etc) – 10%.
Also students wanted the Government to direct the saved funds towards the development of the necessary infrastructure to support higher education and student life.
President Elbegdorj Meets with Mongolian Business Representatives
January 8 (infomongolia.com) On January 07, 2015, President of Mongolia Ts.Elbegdorj held a meeting with representatives of Mongolian business entrepreneurs and manufacturers at the Soyombo Hall of Best Western Premier Tuushin Hotel in Ulaanbaatar.
In the scope of one of the goals of the President's Policy and Action Plans, which states, "To replace the import products and support domestic production, service and exports of value-added processed goods", a draft law on Supporting the Domestic Production and Manufacturers was initiated. At the meeting, President Ts.Elbegdorj discussed and exchanged views on the draft law with the representatives of the domestic manufacturers.
At the meeting, Minister of Industry D.Erdenebat, Minister of Food and Agriculture R.Burmaa, Minister of Construction and Urban Development D.Tsogtbaatar, and officials from the Ministry of Finance, Customs General Administration, General Department of Taxation, National Statistical Office and other authorities of the relevant organizations were present.
Also, delegates from the private sectors and industries such as wool, cashmere, leather, textile products, logging, printing, packaging, cement, concrete, steel, iron, construction materials, livestock farming, agriculture, milk, and associations of dairy products, as well as Erdenet Mining Corporation, Darkhan Metallurgical Plant, "Suu" LLC, "Darkhan Nekhii", "Mon-Milk" LLC, "Mongol Chevron" LLC (Mogi: Chevro, not Chevron, "Gobi" Corporation, "Goyo" LLC, "Gatsuurt" LLC, "Gazar Shim" LLC, MCS Group, Teso Corporation and other domestic manufacturers attended the meeting.
After, attendees exchanged and expressed their views, and President Ts.Elbegdorj and Minister of Industry D.Erdenebat delivered closing remarks. They expressed their positions on implementing the proposals and suggestions of the participants.
Related:
President Meets Domestic Manufacturers and Businessmen - Montsame, January 8
President meets with the nation's business leaders – news.mn, January 8
Mongolia Seeks to Streamline Registration of Internationally-Recognized Medical Drugs
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) The Minister of Health and Sports G.Shiilegdamba presented his proposal on revising the Drug Registration and Listing System, at the cabinet meeting Wednesday. The proposal offers changes that will ease the registration process.
Mr Shiilegdamba wants to register drugs and medicinal products in three types of procedures--direct, accelerated and simple. The direct one will list the proposed medicines in the system within 30 days. Registering will consider a fact that the drug was approved by authorized institution with strict regulations and is included in the World Health Organization (WHO)'s medical directives, taking into account the information provided about the drug by the official website of the WHO. Direct registering will exclude vaccines.
The accelerated registering will complete in 60 days, for the drugs that were approved by authorized institution of any member state of the International Drug Control Cooperation and included in the WHO medical directives, thus taking into account the information provided by the official website.
Registration for other drugs and medicines will be declared or denied within six months after being proposed.
The Minister concluded that the problems faced by healthcare organizations will be reduced through alleviating the registration processes, thus delivering the drugs due time to patients in need.
Mongolian Journalists Name Its Best of 2014: Best News Site – GoGo, iKon
January 8 (GoGo Mongolia) Mongolian Journalists Union has named its Bests of 2014 in Media Sector.
The Best Journalists of 2014:
· Grand Prix: Kh.Batbileg, anchor and journalist of "Mongol Comment", TV9 television
· The Best Newspaper Journalist: Sh.Solongo, journalist of "Zuunii medee" newspaper, Kh.Bolormaa, journalist of "Unuudur" newspaper
· The Best Magazine Journalist: J.Tegshjargal, journalist of "Gereg" journal, N.Baatarkhuu, journalist of "Sodon" journal
· The Best Radio and FM Journalist: N.Munkhsaikhan, journalist of "Shine Mongol" radio, N.Bolorzul, journalist of "98.9" fm
· The Best TV Journalist: G.Zoljargal, journalist of MNBTV, Sh.Khishigsuren, journalist of "Soyon Gegeeruulegch", N.Tsend, journalist of MNBTV
· The Best Website Journalist: G.Odgarav, journalist of "www.gogo.mn", L.Narantugs, journalist of "www.news.mn"
· The Best Local Newspaper Journalist: B.Tegshdelger, journalist of "BBS" TV in Darkhan-Uul aimag, B.Gantuya, journalist of "Khuvsgul" TV
· The Best Photography Journalist: Odbayar, photography journalist of "Ardchilal" newspaper, N.Myagmarsuren, photography journalist of "Udriin Sonin" newspaper
The Best Media Agencies of 2014:
· Grand Prix: "News" agency
· The Best Newspaper: "Undesnii shuudan", "Zuunii medee"
· The Best Magazine: "Forbes Mongolia", "Gereg"
· The Best Radio, FM: "Voice of Mongolia" 4th channel of MNBTV, Family radio 104.5
· The Best Television: "Channel 25th", "MN2" channel
· The Best Website: "Gogo.mn", "Ikon.mn"
· The Best Newspaper of The Sector: "Ganzam" newspaper of Railway, "Soyombo" newspaper of Defense Sector
· The Best Local Television: "Eco" TV of Khovd aimag, "MVTV" HD TV of Orkhon aimag
· The Best Local Newspaper: "Erh Chuluu" newspaper, Khuvsgul aimag, "Mongol Gobi" newspaper, Umnugobi aimag
Related:
BEST WEBSITE OF 2014: GOGO.MN – GoGo News, January 8
G.Odgarav named Best Journalist 2014 – GoGo News, January 8
Gogglebox format taken to Korea and Mongolia
January 7 (Broadcast) Gogglebox is to be remade in Korea and Mongolia as the Studio Lambert format reaches more than 25 territories.
The show, in which families are filmed as they react to the week's television highlights, will launch in Korea this week with a Mongolian series due to air later in the year.
Korea's version, titled Determined to Watch the Premier, will feature a lower income family, a pastor and their mother-in-law, a retired old couple, foreign exchange students from Brazil and Bangladesh and a young professional couple. A Korean celebrity is also likely to star alongside the families. The show will air on KBS in a weekly slot.
The deal expands the brand's international presence which spans Germany, the USA, Australia, Ireland, France, Spain, Canada, Italy and Holland. Recent deals have also being signed in Latvia, Norway, Belgium, Poland, Finland and Lithuania.
Gogglebox is distributed via All3media International.
The UK version of the format has continued to perform well for Channel 4. Its fourth series entertained a consolidated series average of 4.2m (16.1%) from September.
All3Media International senior vice-president international formats Sabrina Duguet said the company was "confident" of brokering a deal for the show in Latin America this year.
She added: "There is a real momentum now with the international roll-out of Gogglebox. The production consultancy, featuring the nuances of how to approach local customising is working very well."
Ulaanbaatar to build industrial park in Nalaikh for construction materials
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) As resolved by the Citizens' Representative Khural of Ulaanbaatar city, an industrial-technological park for construction materials will be erected in the city's Nalaikh district, and related activities have already launched.
The park will introduce the latest progressive scientific achievements and to boost an import substitution industrialization (ISI) in the construction materials sphere. It is projected that the construction material industry will increase 1.78 times, and the industrial power of Nalaikh district will rise 32 times in five years to come, creating some 1,500 jobs.
As planned, factories will open starting from 2016, and goals have been set up to ensure a preparation for the construction.
UB city approves 2013-2016 action plan for green development
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) The administration of Ulaanbaatar city has approved a plan of works for the 2015 in the ecological and green developmental sphere within a 2013-2016 action plan and the 2015 social-economic goals.
In frames of the "Made in Ulaanbaatar-2015" project/programme, some 14 kinds of works are expected to introduce an information cluster and intensify its activities, to run meetings with professional organizations, consultations in concrete areas, and a meeting of producers of tourism souvenirs.
An international fair will be mounted in Shiliin Gol province of China's Inner Mongolia, a "Forum-2015" for the Mongolia-Russia-China economic and trade cooperation and the "Canton Five" exhibitions will be mounted, and a "Made in Ulaanbaatar-2015" exhibition will be shown as well.Asupport will be given to small- and middle-sized industries, a construction will start of a center for small and middle enterprises (SME), some 1,220 people and entities will be trained, and 2,800 SMEs will receive consulting services, moreover, the city intends to collaborate with 3,500 producers.
The National Park, the city-owned institution, will erect an eco hall and a children library in 2015, a Square of Police will be furnished, and children playground will be created named after Seoul city.
Ulaanbaatar turns to beavers in effort to save Tuul River
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) Ulaanbaatar city's administration intends this year to start an acclimatization of beavers in some rivers and to let them create healthy families.
In 2011, 16 heads of beaver were acclimatized at the Zaan river. It has been also planned to acclimatize the animal at the Tuul and Terelj rivers, so the city will monitor every year a research into mammals that populate banks of these rivers.
Mongolian President's gift to supreme leader of North Korea: 130 heads of cattle
January 8 (GoGo Mongolia) During meeting in North Korea, Ts.Elbegdorj, President of Mongolia has promised to give 130 head of cattle as a gift to Supreme Leader of North Korea.
End of December 2014, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Food and Agriculture joint working group had bought 130 head of cattle from Dashbalbar soum, Dornod aimag. Officials of Veterinary Agency run analysis on the cattle.
The plane that loaded President's gift took off to the Pyongyang from Choibalsan International Airport of Dornod aimag in 29th of Dec.
Following Czech Visit, President of Mongolia to Attend Davos
January 8 (infomongolia.com) Upon invitation of the President of the Czech Republic, Mr. Milos Zeman, the President of Mongolia Mr. Tsakhia ELBEGDORJ will be conducting a state visit to the country on January 18-19, 2015.
The visit is aimed to broaden bilateral cooperation and partnership and during the visit, President Ts.Elbegdorj will be meeting with Mongolians residing in the country on January 19, 2015.
Moreover, following the state visit to the Czech Republic, Mongolian delegates led by the President Ts.Elbegdorj will be attending in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting themed "The New Global Context" to take place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland on January 21-24, 2015.
The Annual Meeting 2015, which is organized for the consecutive 45th year, will be gathering about 250 top political leaders to discuss with the heads of international organizations and with business leaders how global governance can be improved through public-private cooperation. These discussions will be prepared in close collaboration with the respective international organizations, aimed at providing substantial, yet informal, input into major global processes.
Parliament Approval Final Step in Mongolia Joining Antarctic Treaty
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) The cabinet at its meeting January 7 decided to present a draft on ratifying the Antarctic Treaty. Ratification of this international document is of high importance in terms of improving our future competence for receiving own shares from the wealth of humanity.
The issue was approved by the meeting of the Ministers on February 7 last year and developed under the consultation with the Parliamentary Standing committee on securityand foreign policy.
Since a first participation of Mongolian scholars in the Antarctic researches that took place in 1972-1974, our scholars have been always included in other countries' teams.
Through ratifying the document, Mongolia will send its own team and locate its own science station in Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty has 50 countries so far.
UK Ambassador Extends Foreign Secretary's Congratulations to Mongolia's New Foreign Minister
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) The Minister of Foreign Affairs L.Purevsuren met the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the UK to Mongolia Mr Christopher Stuart on Wednesday.
The dignitaries discussed the bilateral relations and cooperation, after which Mr Stuart gave the Minister a congratulatory note from the UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Phillip Hammond on being appointed the FM. The Minister gave the Ambassador the information on the objectives of the new cabinet and renewed structure of his Ministry, and expressed his opinion on the opportunities of deepening and strengthening the ties between the two countries.
In response, the Ambassador spoke about the British investments in Mongolia and current state of the business cooperation of businesses.
News.mn launches traditional Mongolian script news site
January 8 (news.mn) News Agency launched a traditional Mongolian script version of its news website on its 10th anniversary in December.
The website, uigarjin.news.mn, is now fully functional on several internet browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer.
It is also possible to access uigarjin.news.mn from Android or iOS phones and tablets.
The traditional Mongolian script site, uigarjin.news.mn, welcomes everyone who values the heritage of traditional Mongolian script, and has a desire to promote and distribute information in Mongolian script.
Mongolia cabinet discusses program to preserve reindeer herders and farming
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) The Minister of Population Development and Social Welfare S.Erdene gave status report to the cabinet on January 7 on implementations of program for Restoring Reindeer Farming and Improving Lives of Reindeer Herders.
Among the 32 frameworks conducted in a scope of the program, an intensifying of the realization of Tuvan language program was obligated to the Minister of Education, Culture and Sciences. This program, aimed to ensure the rights of the ethnic minority to study on their mother tongue, is being revised.
He also presented implementation of the Presidential decree No.42 and of Government resolution No.168.
UB hopes to host 2017 Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Team Trials
January 8 (news.mn) The Mongolian Freestyle Wrestling Federation aims to put together a winning team to compete in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
The president of Federation of Freestyle Wrestling of Mongolia, the 68th Great Champion of professional sumo Asashyoryu D.Dagvadorj proposed organizing the Youth Freestyle World Championships in Ulaanbaatar. But the Federation's board of directors has sent a request to United World Wrestling (UWW) to host the 2016 Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Team Trials in Ulaanbaatar.
The board of directors of the Mongolian Freestyle Wrestling Federation and its coaches expect to hear a positive reply from UWW.
Mongolian skiers to take part in 2015 Winter Universiade
Ulaanbaatar, January 8 (MONTSAME) Mongolian ski racers will take part in the 2015 Winter Universiade that will be held for the first time in two countries--Slovakia and Spain from January 24 to February 14.
Spain's Grenada city will host alpine skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, short track speed skating and snowboarding. Four events--biathlon, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping--will run in Strbske Pleso and Osrblie cities of Slovakia.
Mongolia will be represented in the cross-country skiing by four selected from the Institute of Physical Culture, State University of Education, University of Defense and University of Science and Culture. They are led by B.Battulga, a skiing coach of the Mongolian UniversitySports Federation.
University athletes of Mongolia participated in the Winter Universiade for the first time in 1991 in Sapporo of Japan.
High-flying Meir Heath grandad to jet off to Mongolia - to compete in the World Free Flight Championships
January 7 (The Sentinel) HIGH-FLYING grandad John Carter is preparing to jet out to Mongolia as he bids to be crowned the world's best – at throwing a model airplane.
The 61-year-old, of Meir Heath, has been selected to represent Great Britain in the World Free Flight Championships in the summer.
The competition is the culmination of years of flying model aircrafts, starting from childhood.
It will see him launch a plane which, instead of using radio control, soars slowly and silently on thermal currents - with the winner being the last one to return back down to earth.
Each participant launches seven times, before a final 'fly-off' takes place.
The former civil engineer, who now runs a property company, has previously taken part in the world and European championships on 11 occasions – with his highest finish coming in 2010 when he finished third.
Grandfather-of-three John, who started competition flying as a junior in 1969, said: "The sport has taken me around the world – from America, to Norway, Sweden, Argentina, Lithuania, Italy and the Czech Republic – but this will be my first time in Mongolia after they put in a successful bid. It's a challenge I'm looking forward to.
"It should be a good event. It will be the middle of the summer so we should have pretty decent weather. It will also be a bit of adventure as I don't think many people would travel to Mongolia normally."
Father-of-three John used to build his model aircraft but now tends to assemble them from specialised materials such as Kevlar and carbon fibre from Ukraine and Russia.
He hones his techniques at the home of the Staffordshire Gliding Club at Seighford airfield and at Grantham.
John – who has specialised in the free flying class since 1987 – trains there two to three times a week to stay at the top of his game as he prepares to take on his opponents, many of whom are in their 20s.
And he hopes his hours out in all weathers pays off as he joins eight other British men and 40 other nations at the championships which will be held on the Mongolian plains 4,500ft above sea level.
John added: "What we do is similar to Formula One, it's highly technical but you need physical ability too.
"I do fitness and weight training and mountain biking to allow me to carry on. I like the fact that it's physical and there's nothing nicer than watching a model come off a line and climb away."
Wife Dawn Carter said all the family had been involved in one way or another in John's model flying career.
The 61-year-old added: "It's an interest that the family have supported him in, we've gone to various competitions over the years. I often have to explain the ins and outs of it to people as most think they're toys or radio-controlled gliders, but model flying is something that's suitable for everyone. It's certainly been good to us over the years."
Old Colwyn adventurer Ash Dykes up for National Adventure Award for solo trek across Mongolia
January 8 (News North Wales) YOU can now vote for Old Colwyn adventurer Ash Dykes in the National Adventure Award.
Voting has opened for the competition and 24-year-old Ash, who trekked the unforgiving terrain of Mongolia, solo and unsupported in just 78 days, is nominated in the categories of Adventurer of the Year and Physical Endeavour.
Ash said: "This means a huge amount, it's truly appreciated and I'm lucky to have the support by such generous people going to the effort in order to vote for the expedition I under took.
"It was a tough challenge and it didn't go unnoticed, which is fantastic."
The National Adventure Awards are a celebration of the very best of adventure across England, Wales and Scotland and Ash was nominated by friends and family.
Ash added: "A lot has changed since the expedition, I'm writing a book about it and I'm now available to do talks in schools, colleges, universities and corporate events. I'm having my documentary looked at by a production company in London, in the hope to have it broadcast.
"Soon I will be leading an expedition across Northern Mongolia, so if anyone fancies joining me on a nine day trek through extremely untouched regions in Mongolia, then contact me for further details.
"I'm also looking at my next big expedition, it's looking like another possible world first record, but I can't reveal what it is just yet unfortunately."
Ash has been visiting schools to give talks on his expedition, including his former school Ysgol Bryn Elian, and his UK Tour, Ash Dykes - Breaking Mongolia: The Lonely Snow Leopard, begins in March.
You can vote for Ash in Adventurer of the Year and Physical Endeavour by visiting the following link: www.scottishadventureawards.com/national-adventure-awards-2015-public-vote/.
Ash is currently looking for volunteers to join him on his next endeavour, as well as sponsors and partners.
To find out more visit www.ashdykes.com, visit Twitter @Ash_Dykes or Facebook at Ash-Dykes or ashdykes@hotmail.co.uk.
Has Genghis Khan's tomb been spotted from SPACE? Online 'explorers' narrow down the location of the grave using satellite images
· Final resting place of Mongol leader has remained a secret for 800 years
· His tomb is said to be near Burkhan Khaldun mountain in north Mongolia
· Scientists used crowdsourcing to scour 84,000 satellite images of the area
· More than 10,000 volunteers surveyed more than 2,300 square miles
· They identified 55 archaeological sites that could be Genghis Khan's tomb
· Archaeologists believe they are closer than ever to finding his burial site
By RICHARD GRAY FOR MAILONLINE
January 7 (Mail Online) He may have been the ruler of an empire that covered most of Asia, but the final resting place of Genghis Khan remains a mystery.
After dying of a sudden illness in 1227 at the age of 72, the Mongol leader was buried at a secret location that has yet to be uncovered.
Legend says that as his body was carried to its final resting place, anyone encountered along the route was put to the sword before those escorting the body also killed themselves.
But now scientists, aided by a team of amateur archaeologists, believe they are close to finding the final resting place of the first Mongolian emperor.
By scouring more than 84,000 satellite images of the area where he suspected of being buried, more than 10,000 volunteers identified sites that looked like they might be of archaeological signficance.
The crowdsourcing project allowed the researchers to survey an area of 6,000 sq km (2,316 square miles), an area twice the size of Yosemite National Park.
In a paper published in the journal Public Library of Science One, they claim to have identified 55 potential archaeological sites that could be home to the remains of Genghis Khan.
The team were then able to visit some of the sites in Northern Mongolia to carry out ground surveys and use drone aircraft to take pictures from above.
Dr Albert Yu-Min Lin, the researcher who led the project at the Calfiornia Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology at the University of California, in San Diego, and a self-confessed Genghis Khan obsessive, said the work has brought them closer to finally answering the question of where Genghis Khan is buried.
Dr Yu-Min Lin said that using the help of the public through crowdsourcing helped his team plough through enormous quantities of information that would have taken years for a single archaeologist to survey all the satellite photos.
He added: 'Looking at the data size challenge, we have surveyed a historically significant area of roughly 6,000km2.
'A ground survey of this detail for the entire range would have been prohibitive.
'A single archaeologist would have had to scroll through nearly 20,000 screens before covering the whole area.'
Most experts believe Khan was buried somewhere in a valley near the sacred Mongolian mountain of Burkhan Khaldun, near his birthplace in Khentii Aimag, northeastern Mongolia.
Despite building up an empire that stretched from the Kaspian Sea to the Yellow Sea, little more is known about where his remains were buried.
Recent research has shown that one in every 200 men on the planet is genetically related to Genghis Khan, yet his tomb remains a secret.
His direct descendants who followed him as Khan are also thought to have been buried alongside him.
Accounts by traders such as Marco Polo who served with the Khubilai Khaan in the 13 Century describe how the great Mongol Lords were buried.
He described how they were taken to a great mountain called Altai and anyone encountered on the route was killed.
It is said that when Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, died more than 20,000 men were put to the death after encountering his body.
Popular legend also says that the area around the tomb where Genghis Khan was buried was also trampled by horses for month to obliterate signs of the grave.
In an attempt to find this legendary Valley of the Khans, and the tomb of their first great leader, volunteers were asked to tag modern and historic features and structures on satellite images.
Within six months 10,000 people had spent a total of 30,000 hours, or 3.4 years, tagging more than 2.3 million sites as part of the project, that was conducted with National Geographic.
From these the research team were able to narrow down the list to 100 accessible locations, of which 55 appeared to have archaeological significance.
These included circular 'khirigsuur' burial mounds and rectangular burial mounds ranging from the Bronze Age to the Mongol period.
The search also found stone megaliths and ancient city fortifications.
Although the researchers visited the sites identified, digging at these locations is highly controversial and previous attempts to excavate potential tombs in Mongolia have been deeply unpopular with the public.
Instead the researchers may have to use ground penetrating radar and other equipment in an attempt to narrow down their search further.
Dr Yu-Min Lin said: 'In total, a wide variety of archaeological material was identified from the crowd based analytics, ranging from 10 meter diameter rock piles to 200 meter wall structures.'
He added that their project had also shown the power of using crowdsourcing to help scientific and archaeological studies.
He said the recent attempt to locate the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, where 8 million participants surveyed satellite images for signs of the plane showed the power of such techniques.
He said: 'The shear mass of participation in this example provides a glimpse of the potneital of our networked society.
'These crowdsourcing activities help us dive into the unknown and extract the unexpected.'
Similar:
The frustrating hunt for Genghis Khan's long-lost tomb just got a whole lot easier – Washington Post, January 8
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