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Thursday, August 27, 2015
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Tian Poh Completes Acquisition of Nuurst Thermal Coal Project from Modun Resources
August 27 -- Tian Poh Resources Limited is pleased to announce that its acquisition of the Nuurst Thermal Coal Project (Project) has been completed.
Modun Completes Acquisition of LiveTiles, Finalising Sale of Mongolia Assets
August 26 -- Further to the announcement made by Modun Resources Limited (ACN 066 139 991) (Company) on 12 August 2015, the Company is pleased to advise that the acquisition of LiveTiles Holdings Pty Ltd (LiveTiles) was completed yesterday.
Accordingly, the Company has now issued and allotted all securities in connection with the acquisition. Holding statements will be issued to the new shareholders shortly.
The Board warmly welcomes the new shareholders to the Company.
New Board and Management
The Board of the Company wishes to advise that as part of the acquisition, Mr Philip Kapp (Non-Executive Director) has resigned from the Board. Mr Hugh Warner (Executive Director) will remain on the Board until the end of today, in order to assist with the finalisation of the sale of the shares in Modun Resources LLC, as previously announced by the Company on 11 August 2015. Thereafter, Mr Warner will resign from the Board. The Board would like to thank Messrs Kapp and Warner for their contributions to the Company.
Messrs Mike Hill and Andrew Gray will remain on the Board as Non-Executive Chairman and as a Non-Executive Director respectively.
The Board welcomes three new Directors who will continue to manage the LiveTiles business. Mr Karl Redenbach (Co-Founder of LiveTiles) has joined the Board as Chief Executive Officer and as an Executive Director. Mr Matthew Brown (CFO of LiveTiles) has joined the Board as Chief Financial Officer and as an Executive Director. And finally, Mr Peter Nguyen-Brown (Co-Founder of LiveTiles) has joined as the Board as a Non-Executive Director.
Change of Name and Ticker Code
As announced by the Company on 30 July 2015, shareholders of the Company passed all Resolutions in the Notice of General Meeting dated 29 June 2015 (NOM) at the 2015 General Meeting held on 30 July 2015.
Pursuant to Resolution 16 of the NOM and following the completion of the acquisition, the Company wishes to advise that it has changed its name to "LiveTiles Limited".
This change of name is being processed by the ASX and will be reflected on the platform shortly. Furthermore, to reflect this name change, the Company will be changing its ASX ticker code to "LVT".
Date for reinstatement to the Official List of the ASX
The Company is now finalising the outstanding re-instatement conditions with ASX and expects to make an announcement regarding the date for re-instatement of the Company's securities on ASX shortly.
TRQ closed -1.72% Wednesday to US$2.86, -2.07% to C$3.79
Turquoise Hill Resources Short Interest Falls 11.2% to 1% of Float
August 26 (Money Flow Index) Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (NYSE:TRQ) has witnessed a drop of 11.2% or 1,218,911 shares in its short figure. The short interest diminution took it from 10,846,466 on July 31,2015 to 9,627,555 on August 14,2015. In terms of floated shares, the short interest was calculated to be 1%. The days to cover are 3 given that the daily volume averaged 3,179,086 shares. The short interest information was released by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc (FINRA) on August 25th.
The company shares have dropped 15.5% in the past 52 Weeks. On May 19, 2015 The shares registered one year high of $4.74 and one year low was seen on January 14, 2015 at $2.65. The 50-day moving average is $3.37 and the 200 day moving average is recorded at $3.63. S&P 500 has rallied 5.34% during the last 52-weeks.
Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (NYSE:TRQ) rose 0.69% or 0.02 points on Tuesday and made its way into the gainers of the day. After trading began at $2.92 the stock was seen hitting $3.01 as a peak level and $2.89 as the lowest level. The stock ended up at $2.91. The daily volume was measured at 3,697,507 shares. The 52-week high of the share price is $4.74 and the 52-week low is $2.65. The company has a market cap of $5,856 million.
Research firm Zacks has rated Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (NYSE:TRQ) and has ranked it at 3, indicating that for the short term the shares are a hold. 2 Wall Street analysts have given the company an average rating of 3. The shares have received a hold rating based on the suggestion from 2 analysts in latest recommendations.
MSE News for August 26: Top 20 -0.89%, Turnover ₮1.8 Million Stocks
Ulaanbaatar, August 26 (MONTSAME) At the Stock Exchange trades on Wednesday, a total of 169 units of 5 JSCs were traded costing MNT one million 843 thousand and 757.80.
"Talkh Chikher" /70 units/, "Gobi" /55 units/, "Remikon" /32 units/, "Sharyn Gol" /10 units/ and "UB-BUK" /two units/ were the most actively traded in terms of trading volume, in terms of trading value were "Talkh Chikher" (MNT one million and 260), "Gobi" (MNT 468 thousand and 50), "UB-BUK" (MNT 60 thousand), "Sharyn Gol" (MNT 53 thousand and 500), and "Remikon" (MNT 2,208).
The total market capitalization was set at MNT one trillion 289 billion 343 million 898 thousand and 193. The Index of Top-20 JSCs was 13,147.05, decreasing 0.89% and the all index of MSE was 959.81, decreasing 0.52% against the previous day.
₮10 Billion 12-Week Discounted T-Bills on Offer at MSE at 14%
August 26 (MSE) --
1. The issuer's name: Mongolian Ministry of Finance
2. The purpose of the issuance of bond: State treasury cash management
3. Offering scope of securities: Offering to the public
4. Type of securities: Government securities
5. Face value: MNT 100,000
6. Discounted price: MNT 96,879.00
7. Total amounts issued: 100,000 Units
8. Short-term securities performance:
Government Securities name | Amount /units/ | Value /billion MNT/ | Maturity /week/ | Form of Interest payment | Interest rate (percent) | Starting date of the order | Closing date of the trading |
ЗГХБ-Б-12-326 | 100,000 | 10.0 | 12 | Discounted | 14.000% | 2015.08.26 | 2015.09.01 |
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BoM MNT Rates: Wednesday, August 26 Close
| | 8/26 | 8/25 | 8/24 | 8/21 | 8/20 | 8/19 | 8/18 | 8/17 | 8/14 | 8/13 | 8/12 | 8/11 | 8/10 | 8/7 | 8/6 |
| USD | 1,992.65 | 1,990.56 | 1,989.59 | 1,992.69 | 1,991.89 | 1,993.22 | 1,991.57 | 1,992.93 | 1,992.16 | 1,991.18 | 1,990.59 | 1,989.00 | 1,988.42 | 1,987.92 | 1,987.84 |
| EUR | 2,290.55 | 2,302.28 | 2,281.36 | 2,248.05 | 2,218.27 | 2,205.60 | 2,205.76 | 2,211.75 | 2,223.45 | 2,213.59 | 2,204.78 | 2,181.04 | 2,179.61 | 2,170.21 | 2,168.53 |
| CNY | 310.70 | 310.32 | 311.11 | 311.63 | 311.44 | 311.48 | 311.16 | 311.65 | 311.28 | 310.30 | 308.71 | 314.39 | 320.21 | 320.14 | 320.11 |
| GBP | 3,126.97 | 3,139.31 | 3,110.72 | 3,131.01 | 3,123.48 | 3,124.27 | 3,101.07 | 3,122.62 | 3,109.46 | 3,109.82 | 3,100.84 | 3,094.69 | 3,080.76 | 3,082.27 | 3,098.18 |
| RUB | 29.08 | 28.05 | 28.44 | 29.26 | 29.74 | 30.19 | 30.27 | 30.49 | 30.67 | 31.18 | 30.77 | 31.33 | 30.86 | 31.08 | 31.35 |
Bank rates at time of sending: TDB (Buy ₮1,987 Sell ₮1,997), Khan (Buy ₮1,984 Sell ₮1,994), Golomt (Buy ₮1,984 Sell ₮1,994), XacBank (Buy ₮1,983 Sell ₮1,993), State Bank (Buy ₮1,984 Sell ₮1,994)
MNT vs USD (blue), CNY (red) in last 1 year:
BoM issues ₮283.8 billion 1-week bills at 13%, total outstanding +2.1% to ₮479 billion
August 26 (BoM) BoM issues 1 week bills worth MNT 283.8 billion at a weighted interest rate of 13.0 percent per annum /For previous auctions click here/
67% of unemployed are young people
August 26 (news.mn) According to the research conducted by the "Young People's Labor Market", 67% of all unemployed people in Mongolia are young people. Currently, there are a total of 150,000 unemployed people. Of whom, 100,000 are between 18-39 years of age. The director of the "Young People's Labor Market" B.Belgutei said that: "The research demonstrates that unemployment has been increasing over the last few years; also the age of the unemployed is getting steadily younger. There are many reasons for this, for example: entrepreneurs are ever more choosing their staff on the basis of their working experience. Many people are seeking part time jobs via the "Young People's Labor Market". There are some difficulties, for example, 90 percent of the young people work on a contract basis, but only a mere 7 percent of them work full-time. This is explained by misunderstandings regarding salary".
RAND Report: Improving the Mongolian Labor Market and Enhancing Opportunities for Youth
by Howard J. Shatz, Louay Constant, Francisco Perez-Arce, Eric Robinson, Robin Beckman, Haijing Huang, Peter Glick, Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar
August 24 (RAND Corporation)
Abstract
Despite a recent slowdown, Mongolia has experienced dramatic economic growth in the 2000s, exceeding global trends. Foreign direct investment, mining, infrastructure spending, and, more recently, strong fiscal and monetary stimulus measures have driven much of this growth. The country now faces challenges in terms of creating jobs without overly relying on public spending fueled by natural resource exploitation. In 2014, the Mongolian government commissioned RAND to collaborate on a study of the labor market with the Institute for Labour Studies (ILS) of the Mongolian Ministry of Labour. Using a supply-demand framework, this study analyzed the Mongolian labor market to identify where it is performing well, where it is underperforming, and whether there are constraints to improvement. RAND and ILS especially focused on youth labor and education issues, using a new survey developed by the two organizations. The ILS and RAND teams chose this focus because of the importance of youth labor-market success to the economic future of the country and because analysis of Mongolian labor data showed relatively high rates of youth not in school or the labor market compared with a variety of other economies, including other similar transition economies. The Mongolian Ministry of Population Development and Social Welfare has recognized this importance by announcing 2015 as the year of youth development. The ILS-RAND Mongolian Youth Survey is a nationwide survey that provides new insights into the challenges faced by youth, as well as their achievements and aspirations, to inform the development of policy to address these concerns.
Key Findings
Formal Employment Is Rising, but It Is Still Less Than Informal Employment and Animal Husbandry Combined
· Formal jobs have generally better working conditions, require fewer hours per week and days per month, and pay more than informal jobs or animal husbandry.
The Productivity of Employment Is the Main Problem of the Mongolian Labor Market
· Unemployment in Mongolia is not high by international standards; however, a large share of employment is in low-productivity sectors and jobs.
· The trends in educational attainment and enrollment in Mongolia are positive, and education pays off strongly. An increasingly large number of young people are seeking four-year degrees, potentially at the expense of attaining technical and vocational skills.
Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Institutions Provide a Special Challenge
· Some people who complete a TVET education earn relatively high salaries, but there is great variability.
· Shortages in occupations that TVET institutions prepare people for suggest they are not meeting demand for skills.
· Mongolia has embarked on major reforms of its TVET institutions, including improving the curriculum, improving equipment, and upgrading the skills of instructors.
Mongolia Has a High Rate of Youth Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET)
· Compared with similar economies, Mongolia's NEET rate is high, particularly among males, and particularly in aimag centers and Ulaanbaatar.
· Of particular concern is the category of NEET youth labeled idle. These youth are not contributing to the economy, not building skills, and not helping at home. They represent lost future potential to themselves and the country, and their welfare is especially at risk.
Recommendations
· Ensure access to education, especially for rural and NEET youth.
· Incorporate "soft skills" and critical thinking into education programs and curricula.
· Provide career guidance throughout a student's time in school.
· Strengthen and formalize internships between employers and education institutions to provide practical training.
· Move toward international standards in the new TVET qualifications framework.
· Increase cooperation and consultation with the private sector to continue to improve TVET and align it with labor-market needs.
· In the long term, consider the consolidation of TVET institutions.
· Enhance short-term training in TVET institutions.
· Enhance coordination between the ministries of Labour and Education, Culture, and Science to better direct efforts to improve education and labor-market outcomes.
· Use the school system to identify and intervene early with youth at risk of NEET.
· Provide more guidance and counseling when problems are present among NEET youth.
· Improve the investment climate in aimag centers.
· Conduct evaluations of government employment services' accessibility and quality, particularly awareness, access, and utilization among youth and recent migrants from the countryside who might be looking for work.
· Conduct outreach in schools and youth-serving organizations.
· Introduce competition by allowing private employment offices to charge fees.
· Continue social welfare reforms, considering labor-market effects and using conditional cash transfers.
· Continue pension reforms, considering labor-market effects.
· Improve transportation links to facilitate labor flow.
· Repeat the ILS-RAND Mongolian Youth Survey.
· Launch a longitudinal survey of youth.
· Conduct a labor-market needs assessment (employer survey).
· Investigate job-market motivations and barriers for women.
· Investigate job-market motivations and barriers for the disabled.
· Investigate job-market motivations and barriers for older people.
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Mogi: the veto blocks pardoning of N.Enkhbayar
Justice Coalition Opposes President's Partial Veto of Amnesty Law
August 26 (news.mn) Yesterday, the Chief of the "Justice Union", N.Battsereg, and Deputy Chief, Z.Bayanselenge, provided the following information: "The "Justice Union" does not agree with the Presidential Veto on the "Amnesty Law". Also, we did not cause any obstacles to the appointment of the new ministers; it is not in our interest to stop work of government by wasting time. We assume that the Democratic Party has some difficulty about the appointments."
Cabinet Approves DBM to Issue Bonds to Raise Funds for ASEM Summit
Ulaanbaatar, August 26 (MONTSAME) At the regular meeting, held on Monday, the Cabinet gave permission to the Board of directors of the Development Bank of Mongolia to issue government securities with six-year maturity and four percent average yield, in order to implement the Government resolution on Preparation measures for the 11th ASEM Summit.
Then, the ministers discussed the draft amendments to the law on Income Tax for Entities and for Individuals, which had been prepared by S.Byambatsogt and other MPs. They decided to present the recommendations given by the ministers to the law initiators.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs L.Purevsuren presented a review of the 164 recommendations given by other countries on the Second National Report on the Status of Human Rights. The cabinet assigned the FM L.Purevsuren to submit to the UN Human Rights Council the Mongolia Government's position to accept 151 recommendations and reject 13.
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Mongolia Closes Rep Office in Tianjin, Approves Mongolian Railways to Form JV in FTZ
Ulaanbaatar, August 26 (MONTSAME) ---
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After this, the Cabinet decided to dissolve the "Ulaanbaatar Representative Office" state-funded entity, established in Tianjin of China, from September 1, 2015, and permitted the "Mongolian Railways" state-owned company to implement the transportation and logistics project at the free trade zone through opening a joint company with a Chinese partner.
Experts divided on benefits of economic amnesty law
August 26 (gogo.mn) Law on Supporting Economic Transparency comes into effect.
The law has been discussed through the recent special session of the State Great Khural and provisions the inclusion of the business entities in economic pardoning, revealing of the hidden assets and therefore waiving the legal responsibilities that might have imposed without the law.
The law provisions one time pardoning of the citizens and entities from the taxes evaded and legal responsibilities to those who voluntarily will report the hidden revenues or assets registered under another name both movable and immovable at the taxation, customs and other registration authorities. The implementation of this law is viewed differently as whether it will benefit the economy or not.
B.Lkhagvajav, President of the Mongolian Chamber of Trade and Commerce:
He sees the implementation of the law will benefit in cutting the corruption. According to him in 2008 after the approval of the Taxation Pardoning law the total sum of USD 4 billion was revealed, which in turn led to the increase of the revenues of pardoned entities by 3-5 times. Moreover, the attempt of opposing the currently approved pardoning law is the mere attempt of the monopolies to keep their place by restricting the new entrants to the market.
Implementation of the new law will benefit in introducing the new accounting sheets for over 95 thousand entities bringing the transparency to the market and cutting the corruption. Moreover, he sees that the law will help boost the economy as the hidden assets will emerge.
Kh.Batsuuri, Economist and Engineer /Editor of the Analyst economic magazine, worked at World Bank and Tetra Tech/
According to him, the implementation of the new law will have no significant benefit for the economy.
He further explains his stance with the lack of the proper analysis, facts and research of the previously implemented Taxation pardoning law back in 2008 and he also says that there are only few numbers, which cannot be reasoned at all. If the law have revealed the existence of the USD 4.5 billion, the economy should have expanded accordingly, because the amount was the same with the then GDP of the country. At that time the statistics showed the declined taxation revenues, while the taxation revenue in 2007 was at MNT 253 billion, the number dropped to MNT 205 billion in 2008.
Moreover, if an entity will be pardoned every seven years, it might have negative effects as well. This is most destructive to those entities, which were paying its taxes according to the current laws. It also creates the negative impacts ethics wise. It gives the wrong message for the businesses that tax evasion is an option.
Like above there are differing stances and views about the newly approved law on Supporting of the Economic Transparency. It will be only evident if the law carries good or bad impacts afterwards.
Important point here is the inclarity of the previous Taxation pardoning law implementation impacts on the economy. The only wish is to have clear and transparent reporting of the implementation.
Mongolian nationals living abroad will be able to pay Social Security online
August 26 (gogo.mn) Social Welfare Authority started the initiative to enable Mongolian nationals living abroad in countries with no agreement to cooperate with Mongolian Social Welfare to have voluntary social welfare coverage and make the proper payments and arrangements online.
The initiative is being implemented with assistance of State Bank and the software development is on its final stages.
Mongolian nationals living abroad are hugely interested in voluntary social welfare programs as it becomes the basis for building up the history, but due to the current restrictions they had to make payments through their representing bodies, which is very inconvenient for them as it could create late payments and no payments in some instances.
With the initiative it is expected that the online registration and application for the voluntary social welfare program will automate the process and ease the payments as well and in turn increase the number of the customers. Moreover, the Social Welfare Authority pays attention to introduce the flexible payment periods.
Children Are Our Future: How Is Mongolia Preparing This Future
By Ts.Elbegsaikhan
August 26 (Mongolian Economy) In the past, teaching children mathematics and reading was emphasised. But now the old way of coercing young learners to enter various competitions alongside their study is becoming obsolete. Not everyone can be a mathematician, so people have started to emphasise developing the child's cultural education to make them a proper Mongolian person. In other words, preparing well-civilised students who know and respect culture and tradition has become more important.
In order to teach people how to be a proper and civilised Mongolian citizen, teachers need the right teaching methods; therefore, the City Education Department is focusing on teacher training. Methodology is not a thing that can be reformed overnight. The staple of the newer teaching method emphasises developing each child. The main flaw in the old system was that it did not give consideration to differences in the learning styles of children. However, the new policy will allow children to open themselves up and hone their own methods of studying during primary school instead of trying to learn academic studies. In order to instill the methodology of countries experienced in child development in our teachers, regular training sessions are being organised. A total of 52 instances of consultancy services were provided in the report. Also, teachers have started to proactively assemble to discuss and solve the issues they face in developing each child.
Researchers believe that results of changes to an education sector are seen in the long term; however, some positives effects are already being felt. "Most importantly, our teachers are starting to enjoy their jobs and becoming more attentive. Even the parents are happy to see their children developing," said Ts.Otgonbagana, Head of the City Education Department.
The name of the programme aimed towards developing children is "Proper Mongolian Children." Under the programme, sub-programmes such as "Talents" and "Books" were implemented. Within the "Talent" programme, 13,825 types of works were organised with 691,442 students, 424,773 parents and 93,191 teachers participating. Within the "Books" programme, 153,252 children learned reading and journal writing skills.
Skilled educators are necessary to prepare the skilled personnel of the future. A personnel policy to develop such teachers is essential. In particular, special requirements will be demanded from teachers who have the responsibility of educating proper Mongolian children. As such, the thresholds to enter the University of Education have been raised. Starting two years ago, 100 percent of tuition fees have been waived for students majoring in education with high scores on their general entrance exam. Today, around 2,000 students studying in teacher training colleges are benefiting from this waiver. When they graduate and enter the work force, great progress in the education sector will be expected. However, this does not mean that the ability of education sector's current personnel is poor.
The changes are just part of on-going work within the policy reforms. Currently, the supply of qualified teachers in the capital is 99.7 percent. The point of the policy reforms is to develop each child while increasing the efficacy of each teacher. In the end, it is quite remarkable that all these works are being carried out without requiring any money. Ninety percent of the money allocated to education is spent on operational expenses such as building maintenance, heating and electricity, wages and social insurance taxes. Only the remaining 10 percent is spent on training and research. About MNT 50 million is allocated for the City Education Department's planned expenditures, which is not enough for a year. However, the above-mentioned measures are being successfully implemented through schools' own initiative, donations and cooperation of domestic and foreign organisations. For example, an investment of MNT 284.4 million was pooled from UNICEF, World Vision, the Luvsanvandan fund in support of parents and school budgets for the "Talent" program.
Today in the capital, national programmes such as "Mongolian writing," "English," "Education," "Teacher Development" and "Proper Mongolian Children" and sub-programmes such as "Talents" and "Books" are being implemented. The highlight of this work is the implementation of the "Core curriculum of primary education" programme, which consolidates all of the above-mentioned programmes. The say the implementation of the programme across the country has had good results. In the next academic year, the "Core curriculum of basic education" programme will start to be implemented, and a year after that, it will cover secondary education to encompass all grades.
Speaker of Parliament Meets Keidanren Chairman Sakakibara
August 26 (parliament.mn) On August 26, 2015, Chairman of the State Great Hural (Parliament) Mr. Zandaakhuu ENKHBOLD received delegates from Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) headed by its Chairman Mr. Sadayuki SAKAKIBARA.
At the beginning of meeting, Speaker Z.Enkhbold wished the delegates to have a pleasant visit to Mongolia and noted that one of the priorities of Mongolia's foreign policy is to forwarding all appropriate relations and cooperation with Japan as considered Mongolia's third neighbor, besides, our country signifies the current developing ties.
Also, he underlined the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) established with Japan is Mongolia's first agreement in this ranges and the 15th EPA for Japan.
In the scope of establishing the EPA with Japan, an opportunity to join regional economical integration would be opened for Mongolia and it would be a big contribution to secure the "Third neighbor" policy in terms of economic sense.
Moreover, the State Great Hural intends to make amendments to several laws in order to implement the Economic Partnership Agreement and these laws will be discussed and resolved in the near future, emphasized Speaker Z.Enkhbold.
Mr. S.Sakakibara expressed his gratitude for meeting and said the delegation arrived in Mongolia are to take part in the Mongolia-Japan Economic Forum and admitted the Economic Partnership Agreement is under implementation to be commenced quick and prompt.
Furthermore, the Keidanren representatives were inquiring an opportunities of cooperation in investment and thermal power plant project.
At the meeting, Head of Mongolia-Japan parliamentary group at the State Great Hural, MP D.Gankhuyag; member of Mongolia-Japan parliamentary group, MP L.Bold; MP O.Baasankhuu; MP G.Bayarsaikhan; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to Japan S.Khurelbaatar; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Mongolia T.Shimizu and other officials from both sides were present.
PM with Keidanren: Leadership is Essential in Taking Economic Relations of Two Countries to New Levels
August 26 (Mongolian Economy) Today, Prime Minister of Mongolia Ch.Saikhanbileg received the delegation headed by the President of the Japan Economic Federation, Sadayuki Sakakibara.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister noted that developing all bilateral relations and cooperation with Japan is a foreign policy priority. In addition, he stated the Japan Business Federation's /Keidanren/ role and leadership will be important in expanding the two countries' relationship under the principle of strategic partnership and taking the economic relations to a new level by increasing the investments by private entities.
The Government of Japan announced that they will make an investment of USD 110 billion over the next five years to support Asia's infrastructure. In this context, Mongolia is more interested in expanding cooperation with Japan in sectors such as infrastructure, mining and the processing industry. Mongolia has expressed their aim to attract Japanese investment, introduce their know-how, supplymanufactured goods to third countrymarkets and join regional production networks and economic unions depending on the Mongolian-Japanese Economic Partnership Agreement. The Prime Minister expressed an interest in introducing Japan's advanced technologies on projects such as coal gasification, coke, steel, oil and copper smelters by processing coal, iron ore, copper and other mining products.
Today, more than 80 representatives participated in the "Mongolian and Japanese Economic Forum" and discussed topics including Mongolian society, present and future economic trends, investment environment, economy, and cooperation of sectors such as mining and transportation.
Similar:
Prime Minister and Keidanren Chairman Discuss Cooperation – Montsame, August 26
Seoul City-Funded Eco Playground Opens at National Garden Park
August 26 (gogo.mn) National Park always aims to deliver comfortable environment for the residents for their recreation and free time. Mostly the park officials are aiming to create environmentally friendly and green space for the residents to spend their time with their families and friends.
This year is the 20th anniversary of establishing friendly relations with Seoul city and during September 20-22 Seoul City Days are to be celebrated in Ulaanbaatar.
National Park have established eco playground for children of age 2-5 yesterday covering the area of 400 sq.m. with the investments from the Seoul city government. The playground was made of durable wood to withstand the harsh weather conditions.
The opening of the playground was attended by D.Battulga, Chairman of the City Council, Mr. Lee, Director of Green Zone and Parks of Eastern Seoul region and P.Chandmani, Vice Director of National Park with other city government officials and park employees.
Mongolia - National Low Emission Stove Strategy: Completing the Transition to a Sustainable Market for Cleaner Stoves
August 6 (World Bank) --
Foreword
2012 was declared the Year of Sustainable Energy for All by the United Nations and established universal access to modern energy services by 2030 as a key target set for this initiative. By that year, Mongolia already set out to achieve access to cleaner, affordable cooking and heating appliances in peri-urban ger areas of Ulaanbaatar. Despite initial success, a sustainable, clean stove market has not yet been established due to a number of challenges. The heating and cooking conditions in Mongolia are relatively unique in the world, combining a tradition to cook and heat with the same appliance in a climate with extremely low temperatures, poor households living in thinly insulated homes comprising mainly felt "ger" tents and small, cheaply constructed detached houses, and no affordable or securely supplied fuel alternatives to low quality coal. Because stoves are not efficient and clean burning, they cause severe winter air pollution making winter days some of the most polluted in the world in Ulaanbaatar. Some other Aimags have also reported winter air quality problems for the same reasons. Additionally, Mongolia achieved a very high penetration of cleaner, mainly imported, stoves in a very short period of time in its largest market, Ulaanbaatar. This contrasts it with more gradual market development approaches in other cookstove programs globally. With its unique challenges and near term success story, Mongolia's clean stove initiative also has the potential to significantly contribute to the international body of knowledge in development of cleaner cookstoves.
Reducing emissions from heating and cooking are part of the Mongolian Government and Ulaanbaatar Municipality's multi-year, multi-sector strategy to improve air quality in Ulaanbaatar. Lower emission stoves are considered a short term pollution abatement measure. Short term measures can move forward more quickly than More permanent solutions, such as improved housing, which take time to prepare and implement. Penetration of cleaner, low emission models in Ulaanbaatar over the past few years has indeed contributed to better air quality. This success came about with hard efforts from many ministries, central government agencies, the Ulaanbaatar municipality, Mongolian universities, laboratories, donors and international financial institutions.
However, the achievements and investments are at risk for a number of factors discussed in this report. The risks are sufficiently serious that they could even reverse hard-won air quality improvements. Stoves, fuels, users' habits, dwelling characteristics are key factors to determining fuel combustion and emissions. Prices, quality, reliable private sector supply chains, maintenance, standards and regulations are key building blocks for a commercial market. The right combination of these factors, adjusted to local conditions, can build a sustainable low emission stove market. The available technologies and fuels, supply chain capacities, market demand segments, user preferences, incentives and regulations are key features of stove switching programs. Designing a program that considers all these factors is not easy and requires strong coordination across central and local government agencies, reliable private sector participation, stable financing sources, and good program management. Monitoring and evaluation of stove switching programs is critical because technologies, suppliers, and market demand change over time.
Building on six years of technical assistance, policy dialogue and recent stove switching program experience in Ulaanbaatar, this report sets out a proposed national low-emission stove strategy for Mongolia The objective of the strategy is to establish a sustainable market for low emission stoves in Mongolia. The report focuses on clean heating and cooking stoves as well as small water heating boilers used in peri-urban ger areas of Ulaanbaatar and other Aimags and Soum centers.
The strategy is valid for the current clean stove market development situation and may change in the near future. Therefore, results should be monitored and fine-tuned when needed.
This report, it's assumptions, suggestions and recommendations are valid for the clean stove market as of the time of writing this report. Conditions are dynamic and can influence the design of the strategy. Recently, the Australian Government provided funds through the World Bank to sustain this dialogue through the Mongolia Clean Stove Initiative technical assistance project, which financed the development of this report.
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Monuments and Historic Buildings of Ulaanbaatar #1
August 26 (gogo.mn) How one proves the existence of the civilization? It is mostly only evident with the existence of the tangible creations one can see and feel, not with the songs, dance or tales that is delivered from generation to generation.
For instance, if the remains of the Atlantis was in existence, we would have talked about it as Atlantis city, not as the imaginary thing of Plato. At least a piece of carving or writing would have helped to believe in its existence.
It is evident that without monuments and buildings it is hard to prove the existence of a civilization at all. We are creating and developing the facts today that will serve the purpose of proving of existence of Mongolian culture and civilization may be after 10,000 years.
There are many other tangible assets created by our predecessors. With this we are delivering the monuments and buildings located in nine districts of Ulaanbaatar city in a series of photo report.
/Navigate on picture to see the description/
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Source: Ulaanbaatar city Tourism department
Wine & Canvas at Marshall Art Gallery, September 26, 29
August 26 (gogo.mn) Marshall Art Gallery conducts the Wine & Canvas event on a weekly basis and aims to create a friendly and creative way to spend time with friends and family.
The event organizers believe that going creative under the supervision of the professional artists, while listening to music and enjoying a sip of wine is the best way to relieve the daily stress. Moreover, the event enables the attendees to gather in small groups of family and friends and create a piece of art one could take home and enjoy for the rest of their lives.
Marshall Art Gallery provides the canvas and other painting tools as well as the warm and cozy environment for the attendees to socialize and go creative.
This week the Wine & Canvas event will be held twice. Today at 7PM and Saturday August 29th at 3PM.
For detailed information on the event please visit Marshall Art Gallery Facebook page.
Myanmar Democracy League Delegation in Mongolia to Study Mining Practices
Ulaanbaatar, August 26 (MONTSAME) Chief of Staff of the President's Office P.Tsagaan received August 25 a delegation from the National League for Democracy, a political party of Myanmar. The visiting delegation was led by Soe Nyunt, a leader of the political party.
During the meeting, Mr P.Tsagaan shared Mongolia's experiences of mining sector development, and gave brief information on the achievement of Mongolian democracy of over 20 years, since the adoption of the first democratic constitution.
The delegation from the National League for Democracy of Myanmar is paying a visit to Mongolia, aiming to learn from the mining sector development of Mongolia.
Mongolia to Commemorate 70th Anniversary of WWII Victory
August 26 (infomongolia.com) Mongolian Government has issued resolution to form a working group, headed by Defense Minister, in charge of preparation for 70th Anniversary of the Victory in War of Liberation. It is organizing celebration events to show respect to veterans of war, explain the price of victory, heroic acts of Mongolian soldiers and to promote patriotic ideology among citizens.
In framework of 70th Anniversary celebration, Sukhbaatar Aimag organized the Anniversary events on July 19 and Dornogovi Aimag on August 21. Later, Ulaanbaatar will celebrate on August 28, 2015.
Event program for 70th anniversary of 1945 Liberation War in Ulaanbaatar
11:00-12:00 Wreath-laying ceremonies
Zaisan Memorial, Statue of G.K.Zhukov, Statue of L.Dandar, Statue of J.Lkhagvasuren
14:00-17:00 Memorial concerts and celebration meetings
Central Cultural Palace of Ulaanbaatar
14:00-17:00 Exhibition dedicated to the Victory in Liberation War
Central Cultural Palace of Ulaanbaatar
21:00-22:00 Evening festivity
Chinggis Khaan Square
22:00-22:10 Ceremonial salute
Chinggis Khaan Square
Inspired by Zaya - G.Gankhuu, Rock Singer/Politician
August 26 (gogo.mn) "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
G.Gankhuu can be dubbed as Mongolian Bruce Almighty. He is one of the significant representatives of the modern Mongolian youth who has been active in many fields such as arts, sports, media, business and even in politics. During our interview he has shared with his experiences and talked about how to succeed in today's world for the young and competent ones. He is a true inspiration for many today.
For full interview please click here.
Photo story: children with disabilities in Mongolia
August 19 (UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Blog) Children with disabilities have the same rights as other children – to an education, health care, protection and survival. But they need more support to achieve these rights. UNICEF works with the Mongolian government and other partners to support disabled children and their families.
Batzaya, 12 (centre) with her mother and sister Narangerel, 6. The family lives in Khan-Uul district of the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. Batzaya is a smart girl and understands everything said to her, but her disability prevents her from speaking clearly. She uses hand gestures, like a thumbs up for yes, to help her communicate.
A family in Nalaikh. UNICEF also works with the Government and NGOs to tackle stigma and discrimination. There is no shame in having a child with disabilities. In Mongolia, parents used to hide their disabled children at home, but in recent years attitudes have started to change and people are more accepting of difference.
Narangerel and Batzaya (right) at the Child and Family Development Centre in Khan-Uul. Batzaya currently attends a special school but the local government is working to get children like her into mainstream schools. "I like school," she says. "I have lots of friends. I like playing with my sister. We play teacher and class."
Narangerel and Batzaya (right) play together at the centre. Narangerel enjoys playing with her sister and helps her communicate with others by translating her hand gestures. "Batzaya dances very well," she says. "She lets me ride her like a horse. We look through books together."
A student with disabilities in Khuvsgul. Most children with disabilities can be taught in mainstream schools. This improves their learning outcomes and social skills. It is also more cost effective, and benefits the other children who learn about diversity and inclusion. UNICEF is advocating for this kind of 'inclusive education' throughout Mongolia.
In Nalaikh district, seven-year-old Davhkar joined his local mainstream school last year. "I enjoy going to school. I like to learn things and my favorite subject is maths," he says. "My teacher's name is Byambasuren. I like her because she teaches us a lot and is very kind."
Tsendmaa, 16, also lives in Khan-Uul district. She has completed school up to Grade 9. Like Batzaya, she has physical disabilities but is very smart. She is now learning to make arts and crafts products at the local mainstream school, and has already sold several pieces.
Tsendmaa is clearly proud of her work and has several photos like this on her smartphone. "I like arts and crafts," she says. "I also like running. I plan to run in the marathon this September. I miss being at school with my friends but I chat to them all the time on Facebook. If I can get a place, I would like to go to college."
Ulziit, also in Khan-Uul district, is the horse racing centre of Mongolia. Many children work as child jockeys, sometimes under age, during winter, and without safety equipment. This can be very dangerous and there are many children disabled from horse racing injuries. UNICEF is advocating for a higher age limit for child jockeys and tighter safety rules.
Budgarav, 15, was thrown from a horse during training four years ago and trampled, losing his front teeth and breaking both his legs. "It was very painful when I fell," he says. "Now I stay at home and watch TV. Sometimes I play outside the ger. I would like to go back to school next year if my health improves."
With the right support, children with disabilities can achieve as much as those without. "We want children with disabilities to be part of society," says Mr Ganbaatar from the Child and Family Development Centre in Khan-Uul. "We aim to have one disabled child in every classroom. We already have children who have gone on to work in the local hospital and tax office. They are having good careers."
Mongolian Writer Awarded Residency at University of Iowa Writing Program
2015 Residency
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Byambaa SAKHIYA (screenwriter, filmmaker, producer; Mongolia), a graduate of the State Film School VGIK in Moscow, is a documentary and fiction filmmaker with a long record of collaboration on international film productions. His documentary Passion (2011) won main prizes at film festivals in Asia, the Americas, and Europe; his first feature, Remote Control, was supported by the Hubert Bals Script Development Fund, and received the New Current Award at the 2013 Busan International Film Festival. He is the co-founder of Ulaanbatar-based Guru Media. His residency is made possible by the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbatar.
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About International Writing Program (IWP)
The International Writing Program (IWP) is a unique conduit for the world's literatures, connecting well-established writers from around the globe, bringing international literature into classrooms, introducing American writers to other cultures through reading tours, and serving as a clearinghouse for literary news and a wealth of archival and pedagogical materials. Since 1967, over fourteen hundred writers from more than 140 countries have been in residence at the University of Iowa.
While the IWP conducts classes and tours throughout the year, its principal program is its Fall Residency, which runs from late August to mid-November. The Residency is designed for established and emerging creative writers — poets, fiction writers, dramatists, and non-fiction writers. The minimum requirements are that they have published at least one book, and that they possess sufficient proficiency in English to profit from the Iowa experience.
The Residency provides writers with time, in a setting congenial to their efforts, for the production of literary work. It also introduces them to the social and cultural fabrics of the United States, enables them to take part in American university life, and creates opportunities for them to contribute to literature courses both at the University of Iowa and across the country.
The University of Iowa is the nation's premier center for creative writing. Talks and readings by, and meetings with, well-known and emerging visiting American writers provide the international writers with a broad exposure to currents in American literature. We also strive to give each writer the opportunity to present her or his work in a public forum. Televised and radio interviews with writers are broadcast in the Iowa City and university communities.
Participants of the Fall Residency do not take classes at the University of Iowa, and no degree is given for participation. The program provides various literary activities, outlined here. All the activities offered by the program are optional, and the writers are free to use their time as they wish, to write or to conduct research. The IWP may also facilitate individual visits to other parts of the United States, including schools and community colleges within Iowa and around the nation.
The U.S. Department of State is a major source of support for the program. The IWP also administers the grants of writers who come to the University of Iowa under subsidy from cultural organizations both in the U.S. and abroad.
Mongolian Fencing Association holding auditions for young prospects
August 26 (gogo.mn) Mongolian Fencing Association is holding auditions for young fencing athletes for the year 2015-2016.
This program is aimed at spreading the fencing among the sports enthusiasts and prepare the talented athletes from the early age and develop the coaching in Mongolia. The auditions will be held in three stages and to continue until October 30th.
Parents and children interested in the fencing are all invited to visit the Facebook page of the Mongolian Fencing Association click here and submit the application to the page or an email address fencingmongol@gmail.com.
Application available at: http://share.gogo.mn/8VScCf6eoz73461440477217/FAM_anket.doc
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