Mongolia's new model

Mongolia's new model
http://www.canada.com/business/fp/Mo...354/story.html

http://www.canada.com/business/fp/3576362.bin
Sukhbaatar Batbold, Mongolia’s Prime Minister, looks to Canada as an inspiration and potential partner
Photograph by: NELSON CHING / BLOOMBERG News files, NELSON CHING / BLOOMBERG News files
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia -- Outside Mongolia’s Government Palace, a massive statue of Genghis Khan looms over the city’s central square. It is a symbol of the days in the 13th and 14th centuries when the Mongol Empire conquered its neighbours and became one of the most powerful in the history of the world.

Inside the palace today, Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold is dealing with a much more modest but equally imposing challenge: raising the standard of living for his tiny population of three million people.

Unlike many of his predecessors, he is turning to the capital markets, and partners that include Canada, to do it.

In a wide-ranging interview in his office, Mr. Batbold talked about the need to introduce more tools of a market economy to his country, including a truly international stock exchange. He also sees Canada, which is the second-biggest investor in Mongolia after China, as a crucial player in the country’s development.

“I think Canada is a good example, and could even be a model for Mongolia. There are a lot of natural similarities between our two countries,” he said, pointing out that both are cold, sparsely populated and have extremely powerful neighbours on their borders.

Mr. Batbold, 47, is heading to Canada on Monday for his first official visit to the country, and the first by a Mongolian leader since 2004. He will meet with Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, and other government officials to try to build more co-operation between the two countries. That will include a push for further trade liberalization. He goes to Ottawa after a visit this week to New York, where he addressed the United Nations and reportedly met with Wall Street investors.

Mongolia has done almost everything possible to open its doors to outside investment in recent years, but Mr. Batbold is aware that a lot more needs to be done.

The country is only 20 years removed from the days of Soviet control, and is still finding its feet as an established democracy. Relics of the Soviet era can be found everywhere, including a surreal statue of Lenin in front of Ulaanbaatar’s most famous hotel.

As Canadian mining companies in Mongolia know well, breaking free of that legacy has been a challenge, with rapid progress but occasional missteps along the way.

Like many developing nations, Mongolia is massively rich in natural resources, but does not have enough to show for it. Its unemployment rate has remained well above 30% for years, and has remained high despite the rapid development of its resources in recent years.

Mr. Batbold, an entrepreneur with a successful business background who became prime minister last year, believes that something as simple as a functioning stock market would allow Mongolians to benefit from the billions of dollars of investments being made in the country.

Mongolia has had a stock exchange since 1991, and while it lists many domestic companies, liquidity is extremely poor.

The stock exchange is open for less than two hours a day and it does not have the standards needed to attract any international companies.

“It doesn’t really operate as a capital market,” Mr. Batbold said.

By the end of the year, he hopes to open a proper international exchange managed by a leading global player. (While the choice has not been made, the London Stock Exchange Group PLC is the frontrunner.)

To help kickstart the exchange into relevancy, Mongolia is planning an initial public offering of Tavan Tolgoi, a large government-owned coal mine, as well as other state assets that should be attractive to domestic and foreign investors.

Mr. Batbold wants foreign players with Mongolian business interests to list as well, but that could be tougher: They remain wary of the lack of international standards and the general lack of demand from the Mongolian market.

But as least one Canadian company is eager to take the plunge.

SouthGobi Resources Ltd., the coal-mining spinoff of Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., hopes to be the first international company with a Mongolian listing. It has already hired an armada of lawyers to help the government deal with the impediments to foreign listings, from the proper defining of a security to putting in limitations on directors’ liabilities.

“The government says it wants [foreign companies] to list on the Mongolian stock exchange. Everyone else says ‘that’s stupid, there’s no rules for foreign companies, blah blah blah,’ ” said Alex Molyneux, SouthGobi’s chief executive.

“But we want to list there because we want the Mongolian public to participate in this creation of value. And it’s much easier for them if they have a market at home for the stock.”

While it may seem far-fetched to investors today, Mr. Molyneux envisions a day when Mongolia is a source of capital along the lines of Dubai, with a powerful sovereign wealth fund and massive resource-related revenue as it realizes the wealth from its mineral deposits.

He wants to get in early.

“Maybe we can only do US$10-million [on the Mongolian exchange] at first. So what? In Kazakhstan, the stock market increased 1,000% in size in the space of about six years. It’s going to happen in Mongolia,” he said.

Of course, Mongolia’s biggest source of wealth in coming years will be Oyu Tolgoi, the massive copper-gold deposit being developed in the Gobi Desert by Ivanhoe Mines and its partner Rio Tinto Ltd. (They continue to co-operate despite an ongoing spat at the corporate level.)

After years of tense negotiations, an investment agreement on the project was reached between the government and Ivanhoe last year. Mine construction is now moving quickly, with about 4,500 people at the site. By the time full production is reached, expected by 2018, Oyu Tolgoi should make up an astonishing 30% of Mongolia’s gross domestic product on its own.

Mr. Batbold visited the site with his Cabinet last month and was amazed at what he saw. “It’s something really astonishing,” Mr. Batbold said. “I have never seen such a sophisticated underground operation. Probably this is even unique on a world scale.”

He views Oyu Tolgoi as just one example of what can happen when companies from Canada and elsewhere invest in Mongolia, and he hopes it is a catalyst for more Canadian investment in the country, and closer links between the two nations across a number of sectors.

“We see that Canada has made great success in many areas, and we think it’s interesting to learn from the Canadian experience. Free trade, technology transfer, mining, agriculture and infrastructure, are all very important,” he said.

“We need to make a more sophisticated institutionalized society here, so we need to learn from your experience.”

Financial Post

[email protected]

MONGOLIAN SNAPSHOT

Population: three million

GDP: 2010 - 8%; 2011 - 7.1%

Deficit: Fiscal deficit is expected to fall to 2% of GDP, well below the government’s original target

AN ASSESSMENT

Canada is the largest investor in the mineral sector in Mongolia and the second-largest investor in Mongolia after China. Canadian direct investment in Mongolia is US$252-million, 97.5% of which is solely registered in the mining sector.

Mongolia ranks 60th out of 183 economies in terms of ease of doing business, according to The World Bank report “Doing Business 2010.”

The Mongolian government declared 2010 as a “business renovation year” with the aim of improving businesses and legal environment and regulations with public participation.

Mongolia’s national development strategy, approved in 2008, defines mining and heavy industrial sectors as priority sectors.

Mongolia ranks second globally by its rare earth elements, according to the U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin. Mongolia has 16.77%, or a 31 million tonne deposit, of rare element resources.

“The outlook for Mongolia’s economy is extremely favourable. The signing of a landmark investment agreement in late 2009 to develop the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia’s South Gobi Desert — referred to by some as the biggest undeveloped copper-gold project in the world — has been a cornerstone for the development of Mongolia’s substantial mineral resources.

The development of other major projects, like the massive Tavan Tolgoi coal deposits in southern Mongolia, is also underway. The economy is growing strongly and this ongoing development of the mineral sector points to a bright future.” — International Monetary Fund, Sept. 13 report

Sources: The World Bank, “Doing Business 2010”; International Monetary Fund, CIA World Factbook

GE and Newcom Sign MOU for Strategic Cooperation in Mongolia
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ge-...k=MW_news_stmp

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sto...26&imageID=201

NEW YORK, Sep 24, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- General Electric Company (GE) and Newcom Group (Newcom) announced to jointly explore business opportunities in Mongolia, one of the fastest growing and resource-rich markets in Asia. Newcom is a leading privately owned investment company in Mongolia with interests in telecommunications and information technology, real estate, clean energy and aviation. GE will be the largest multi-national company to operate in the Mongolian market.

Mr. Boldbaatar Tserenpuntsag, Chairman of Newcom Group and Mr. Mark Norbom, the President and CEO of GE Greater China signed today a memorandum of understanding in New York in presence of H.E. Mr. Batbold Sukhbaatar, Prime Minister of Mongolia and Mr. John G. Rice, Vice Chairman of GE and President and CEO of GE Technology Infrastructure.



The two companies agreed on the principles and basis to explore a sustained partnership in key sectors of the economy, including power, civil aviation, healthcare, railways, water, mining, lighting and financial services.

"GE is very excited to explore growth opportunities in Mongolia with a strong partner like Newcom. Each company brings strengths that are well-aligned with Mongolia's growth needs -- GE brings technologies and expertise in infrastructure and financial services and Newcom brings established relationships and operations in the market," said Mr. Norbom.

"Newcom is happy to be GE's partner of choice in Mongolia. Indeed, we are a perfect match -- it is imagination and innovation that drives our two companies. As GE has stood at the forefront of imagination and progress in the world for over a century, Newcom has been a pioneer in new and innovative technologies in democratic Mongolia. Together we are set to team for growth and take on big development challenges in emerging Mongolia," said Mr. Bold Baatar, the CEO of Newcom Group.

Mongolia is rich in energy and mining resources and is strategically located next to growing and resource hungry markets. It is home to some of the world's largest coal and copper deposits, and vast wind energy potential. Mongolia's GDP is expected to expand six times in the coming ten years, driven by dynamic growth in mining and infrastructure.

Newcom Group, founded in 1993, is a long term investor committed to bringing global expertise and innovation to Mongolia. Newcom Group (www.newcom.mn) employs about 1,700 people and has a successful track record and portfolio of investments across telecommunications, information technology, airline, financial services, real estate and clean energy industries. The company's headquarters are in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

GE (GE 16.66, +0.52, +3.22%) is a diversified infrastructure, finance and media company taking on the world's toughest challenges. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, health care solutions and television programming, GE (www.ge.com) operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/...442413&lang=en

SOURCE: GE

Miners in Mongolian land rush
Robin Bromby, Pure Speculation From: The Australian September 27, 2010 12:00AM
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/busi...-1225929699360

KELL Nielsen has looked at between 80 and 100 mineral projects in the past eight weeks. That's how it is in Mongolia these days.

Nielsen, who heads Voyager Resources (VOR), knows the race is on between mining companies to lock up ground in Mongolia, which might be best described as the Next Big Thing in the resources world.

Voyager is not a stock that has commanded all that much interest -- or support, for that matter, with its last sale at just 1.4c.

But its first pass drilling at the Daltiin Ovor project turned up some interesting intersections, including 3m at 50.59 grams/tonne gold, 4 per cent copper and 31.3g/t silver, starting just 6m below surface. Nielsen is planning to do more testing of the high-grade areas, but using a diamond drill rather than a reverse circulation one. The latter is fine for resource statements under ASX rules, but the Mongolians require diamond drilling results when applications are made for licences.



But back to those 80-plus projects. Voyager is casting its net widely, excluding only ferrous metals and coal. Its focus so far has been copper-gold, but it is looking at base metals projects, too. And especially tin, with that metal now coming on to many investor radar screens.

Last year, Nielsen thought he would have a two-year window for picking up projects in Mongolia, but the land rush has just picked up significantly in recent months. He'll be looking to bed down deals as soon as possible.

And we hear there's mounting excitement at Aspire Mining (AKM) regarding the present drilling at its Ovoot coking coal project as the company gets near its initial JORC resource statement. It has to be big, mainly to justify building a railway line of about 500km to the remote location -- although the economics of that would be helped if other large deposits en route, including magnetite and phosphate, were also to be developed.

By the way, for those who still think of Mongolia as a basket case, the International Monetary Fund reported this month that the country had witnessed a dramatic turnaround in the past 18 months. In early 2009, growth had been stalling, international reserves were rapidly being depleted, there was insufficient financing to meet the spending needs of the government, and the banking system was under pressure. The economy was on the verge of collapse.

But look at Mongolia now, with growth for 2010 expected to come in at 8 per cent and, as the IMF summed it up, "international reserves are at an all-time high, public finances are on a sound footing, and the banking system has been strengthened".

Magnetic attraction

IT was a diamond of a week for George Sakalidis, a Perth exploration enthusiast who we have followed for some time -- generally in a benign mode, but occasionally making George hot under the collar.

First, Breakaway Research put a target price of 70c on his Magnetic Resources (MAU) against Friday's close of 38c. MAU has 6300sq km of ground in Western Australia -- most of it close to existing railways -- which are prospect for iron ore. Breakaway is enthusiastic about two projects in particular: Wubin, just 80km south of the operating Sinosteel iron ore mine and with similar types of ore on surface, and Jubuk near Corrigin.

Magnetic is targeting up to 1 billion tonnes at Wubin, with at least 50 million tonnes of direct-ship ore; the target at Jubuk is 100-200 million tonnes.

The other bit of news concerned another of Sakalidis's four companies, Image Resources (IMA). As expected, it has signed up for the first stage of a co-operation deal with Diatreme Resources (DRX) in respect of the Cyclone heavy minerals deposit in WA which covers ground owned by each company. DRX is already in bed with a Chinese company and this deal with IMA is a logical progression to raising the finance for what could be a world-class zircon operation -- especially with zircon prices soaring.

Manganese rises

ANOTHER mineral that is doing all right is manganese.

Its price went stratospheric before the GFC, reaching $US20 a dry metric ton unit. Then, post-GFC, it dipped to $US2/dmtu, but now it's back to $US8, which one explorer told us was "a great price".

It needs about 10kg of manganese alloy for every tonne of steel, so the metal is very dependent on the steel industry. It's the fourth most used metal after iron, aluminium and copper. But there aren't all that many high-grade deposits.

So keep an eye on the contenders -- including Shaw River Resources (SRR), Montezuma Mining (MZM), Groote Resources (GOT) and Aurora Minerals (ARM).

During the week we heard from Spitfire Resources (SPI) that it's about to hit the drilling again at its South Woodie Woodie project, 50km south of the operating Woodie Woodie manganese mine, the holes to go into 23 targets.

And Northern Mining (NMI) said sampling at a Northern Territory prospect had returned manganese grading at 45.6 per cent.

Tailenders

lTWO high-priority targets beats one, and that is the situation in which Modena Resources (MDA) finds itself at Padre Island, Texas. The junior announced the Dunn Deep target 10 days ago, and now says its Manzano Deep prospect could contain somewhere between 337 billion and 816 billion cubic feet of gas. These are in addition to the producing gas network bought after the previous owner went bankrupt. MDA last traded at 2.2c.

lDRILLING has begun at the Talga Talga project east of Port Hedland. This kicks off the exploration program by the recently listed Talga Gold (TLG), which had its July IPO over-subscribed. As we have noted previously, gold was first found at Talga Talga in 1894, but no meaningful drilling has ever been done. Two factors make this of interest: one, of course, was the yellow metal price touching $US1300/oz on Friday; the other is that investors seem to be renewing their interest in Australian gold plays after the West African story's big price run.

[email protected]

Shenhua sees larger output in Inner Mongolia coal project
http://www.steelguru.com/raw_materia...ct/167120.html


China Knowledge citing Mr Zhang Wenjiang General Manger Assistant as saying that Shenhua Group, China biggest coal producer and the parent of China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd on September 16th its large-scale coal liquefaction project in Inner Mongolia is likely to produce 500,000 tons of refined oil.

Products from the project which was put into commercial operation in May include petrol, diesel oil and liquefied petroleum gas.

The project is expected to produce 1.08 million tonnes of synthetic fuel a year which is equivalent to 20,000 barrels per day. The figure may reach 3 million tonnes in the future.

United Industrial Corp, one of the leading Russian investment management companies said in July that it was in talks with Shenhua Group on selling stake in its subsidiary EPC which owns a large coal field in Siberia.

(Sourced from China Knowledge)

UPDATE 1-Khan Resources gets Mongolia agency breather, shares up
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE68K0KU20100921


Tue Sep 21, 2010 11:16am EDT
* Says dispute period has now expired

* Says NEA decision not to challenge ruling "encouraging"

* Shares rise 13 pct

Sept 21 (Reuters) - Khan Resources Inc (KRI.TO) on Tuesday said the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) did not challenge a Mongolian court ruling, which invalidated the agency's decision to cancel mining license for one of the company's units, sending Khan's shares up 13 percent.

On Aug. 2, the court had said the NEA decision to invalidate Khan Mongolia's exploration license, covering part of the Dornod uranium property, was illegal and invalid.

The NEA had decided to appeal the court's decision.

"The dispute period for the Aug. 2 decision by the Mongolian Capital City Administrative Court in favor of Khan's subsidiary, Khan Resources LLC, has now expired," the Canadian explorer said.

The company, which owns license to explore uranium at Dornod, has been facing trouble from Mongolian authorities.

The decision by the NEA not to appeal the court ruling was unexpected, but "we are encouraged that they have chosen not to challenge the decision," Chief Executive Grant Edey said in a statement.

The company also said the appeal on the hearing for its Central Asian Uranium Co LLC (CAUC) license is expected to be heard in late September. In April, the Mongolian agency cancelled the mining license of its majority-owned CAUC, citing certain violations. [ID:nSGE63C0HN]

Shares of Toronto, Ontario-based Khan were up 4 Canadian cents at 35 Canadian cents Tuesday morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange. They have lost nearly two-thirds of their value since April 13 when the company said the NEA had cancelled license of CAUC. (Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)

Mongolia Plans to Seek Tavan Tolgoi IPO After Exchange Opens, Keep Control
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-0...p-control.html

Mongolia will seek an initial public offering for its Tavan Tolgoi mining assets after this year’s opening of a national stock exchange, with the government retaining control, Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold said.

The country will sell as much as a 50 percent stake in the coal deposit to the public, Batbold said in a briefing in New York today. Mongolia will pick a contractor for the project in the next month, he said.

China, the world’s biggest steelmaking nation, last year increased imports of coking coal fivefold to a record as the government closed unsafe mines. Mongolian Mining Corp. and Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd., both of which operate in Mongolia, are seeking to raise as much as HK$9.74 billion ($1.3 billion) in Hong Kong initial public offerings to fund expansion, according to term sheets sent to investors.

London Stock Exchange Group Plc is the “frontrunner” to be the partner of Mongolia’s exchange and hold “management rights,” Batbold said today. The country aims to open the exchange this year, he said.

Batbold said he hopes publicly traded companies with “strategic” assets in Mongolia, like Rio Tinto Plc., will seek listings, and the country may seek to require them to do so.

Winsway Says IPO Proceeds Expected to Be HK$3.65 Bln
September 26, 2010, 6:14 AM EDT
http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...-3-65-bln.html

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd., the supplier of the steel-making fuel from Mongolia to China, said net proceeds from its initial public offering in Hong Kong may be about HK$3.65 billion ($470 million).

The company will initially offer 990 million shares at between HK$3.25 and HK$4.50 apiece, Winsway said in a statement today. Trading in the stock is expected to start on Oct. 11, it said.

China, the world’s biggest steelmaking nation, last year increased imports of coking coal fivefold to a record as the government closed unsafe mines. Winsway plans to spend about 72 percent of the proceeds of the share sale on rail links and other infrastructure to improve the transport of coking coal from Mongolia to China.

Winsway exported about 3.3 million tons of coal into China last year from Mongolia out of total coal exports of about 6 million tons, according to the company’s share sale prospectus. China imported a total of about 34.4 million tons of coking coal last year, the document said.

Net income will be at least 764 million yuan ($114 million) for the year ending Dec. 31, up from 454 million yuan last year, the company said in the share-sale document.

The coal supplier is looking to buy mining assets in Mongolia as part of its joint venture with the U.S. coal producer Peabody Energy Corp., the prospectus said.

Winsway’s customers include more than 60 of China’s largest steel and coke producers, including Hebei Iron & Steel Co., according to the statement.

Mongolian Mining Corp., another coking coal supplier, is also organizing an IPO in Hong Kong and plans to raise as much as HK$5.28 billion.

--Editors: Stan James, Ben Richardson.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Duce in Hong Kong at [email protected]

Chinalco To Integrate Resources In Inner Mongolia
http://www.capitalvue.com/home/CE-ne...3/post/1218776

September 25 -- Aluminum Corporation of China’s (601600, 2600.HK) parent company, Chinalco, signed cooperation agreements with the Inner Mongolia Government on September 19 to cooperate in the integration of coal, electricity and aluminum resources, reports yicai.com, citing a company filing.

Chinalco is the largest nonferrous metals processing enterprise in China. Its subsidiary, Baotou Aluminum (Group), has a high-purity aluminum production base with capacities of 20,000 tons of high-purity aluminum, 20,000 tons of alloy, 45,000 tons of carbon products, as well as 12,000 tons of silicon.

Inner Mongolia has the largest coal output among all the provinces in China. The province is currently working on the integration of its coal resources.

Erdene Initiates Exploration on New Copper-Gold Discovery
Provides Update on Mongolian Coal and Metals Exploration Programs
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/erd...k=MW_news_stmp
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, Sep 22, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Erdene Resource Development Corp. ("Erdene" or "Company") (CA:ERD 0.48, -0.03, -5.88%) today provided an update on its ongoing exploration programs for coal and metals in Mongolia.

Mongolia: The Saudi Arabia of Central Asia
Meeting the Mongolian PM in NYC
http://www.energyandcapital.com/arti...tral-asia/1278
By Christian A. DeHaemer
Friday, September 24th, 2010
It’s a big week as UN leaders from around the world have descended on the Big Apple for the 65th United Nations General Assembly.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran threw rhetorical bombs at the United States.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke like a beauty pageant contestant — albeit with more geographical knowledge — by talking up peace, security, and an end to poverty.
President Obama and Premier Wen Jiabao of China sat down to discuss the problem of an undervalued Chinese currency.
Former President Clinton hosted an event to bring world leaders and philanthropists together for his Global Initiative. This is an extremely pragmatic organization that seeks to accomplish all the things Ban Ki-moon talked about.
As you would expect, at a time when all the world leaders are in the same place, things happen.
I was lucky enough to attend a small gathering put on by Firebird Management, the largest investor in Mongolia, featuring Mongolian Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold.
The setting was a posh Broadway condo. The food was excellent and the waitresses looked like they'd just stepped off a fashion runway. The architecture was sleek, modern, and understated.
Some of the 75 people or so where bigwigs at places you’ve heard of, like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley; but most of the people I met were private bankers, worked for large foundations, or were hedge fund traders of some sort — commodity, equity, frontier markets.
Without using an interpreter, PM Batbold outlined points I’ve been writing about for a year now...
Mongolia has vast reserves of mineral wealth, including the world's largest gold mine and the fourth largest reserves of coal.
He mentioned the IMF has projected that Mongolia will be the best performing economy in terms of GDP growth over the next five years. He hammered home this point by saying that it won’t be China, India, Brazil, or any of the other countries you often hear about...
PM Batbold pointed out that Mongolia has very few restrictions on the movement of investment into and out of Mongolia. Foreigners can own 100% of a business, and the government does not prescreen; however, foreigners are not allowed to own land.
Strategic mineral and oil resources are subject to a 34% percent equity stake by the government.
The Prime Minister pointed to the October 2009 agreement between Ivanhoe Mines of Canada and Rio Tinto and the government of Mongolia to develop Oyu Tolgoi (OT). (OT is billed as the world’s largest undeveloped gold mine. It’s a copper-gold deposit located in the South Gobi desert.)
Mongolia gets 34% of the deal, which will inject $7 billion into the economy over the next few years. Considering the fact that the Mongolian GDP is somewhere between $6 billion and $9 billion, this single deal is expected to double the economy.
The PM outlined the vast mineral resources of Mongolia in terms of oil, natural gas, coal, uranium, lithium, etc... Along those lines, he pointed to the problems in transporting these natural resources to industrial markets.
His goal is to develop industries that add value to these raw materials in Mongolia, and so advance to a more modern economy.
There is a rule that all companies operating in Mongolia be listed on its exchange as well as on that of the company's home country.
The Mongolian Stock Exchange is seeking a major exchange to act as a partner and take over management. The London Stock Exchange is rumored to be battling NASDAQ. If the MSE is run by a major exchange, it will boost credibility and increase liquidity...
There are 12 suitors among major exchanges seeking this partnership. This is a huge catalyst for future share price appreciation.
The King of Cashmere
PM Batbold was the former Minister of Foreign Affairs. He studied politics in Moscow and business in London, and is rumored to be one of the richest men in Mongolia, with interests in Cashmere trading and mining.
He struck me as a smart, serious, pro-capitalist leader.
As I write this, he is making the rounds in Canada. There are some 30 Canadian companies with plans to develop mines or oil in Mongolia.
As I said, there were a lot of powerful moneymen at the reception. I spoke to the Chairman of Eurasia Capital, Alisher Djumanov, who is the second largest investor in Mongolia, who was recently on CNBC talking about investment opportunities in Mongolia.
Too big to play
One of the biggest complaints from the group was that Mongolia is so small. The MSE has a market cap of less than one billion; big investors can't put their funds to work.
Luckily for us, that’s not a problem... We are small and nimble enough to dance between the legs of the elephants.
Don’t get me wrong; they are coming — and in droves.
But right now, you can buy stocks in Mongolia with an average price to earnings around four. And I’ll tell you how to do it.
One of my recommendations is up more than 905% this year. Another one is up more than 250% in a month.
Don’t miss this bull market. It will only happen once as this little-known country in Central Asia is revalued to first-world prices.
Sincerely,
Christian DeHaemer
Energy & Capital

Buddhism continues to flower in Mongolia
The practice, suppressed for decades by the Communist Party, is being reclaimed by Mongolians as an integral part of their national identity.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,7435265.story

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2010-09/56093089.jpg
A monk leaves Erdene Zuu, Mongolia’s oldest Buddhist monastery, built in 1585 in the ancient capital of Karakorum. At its height, Erdene Zuu was home to 67 temples and 1,500 monks. (Nomi Morris, LOS ANGELES TIMES / July 9, 2010)


Reporting from Shand Khiid, Mongolia — In the crimson-painted interior of a monastery in central Mongolia, boys as young as 6 face one another cross-legged on benches and chant Tibetan Buddhist prayers that they barely understand.

Some fidget and get up every now and then to ladle bowls of fermented horse milk from a large metal vat. Their teachers occasionally call out directions.

The boys are at a three-month religious camp at the monastery, Shand Khiid. The oldest monk in residence is 97. A visiting sage from Tibet relaxes in a back room, watching sports on television.

Get breaking news alerts delivered to your mobile phone. Text BREAKING to 52669.

According to a monk who showed a group of visitors around one recent day, the monastery guarded Genghis Khan's black flag of conquest until it was moved to Mongolia's National Museum of History in 1994. Four years earlier, the collapse of Soviet-bloc communism had led to the ouster of Mongolia's Communist Party.

Today, Buddhism in Mongolia continues to emerge from a decades-long hiatus.

"During the Communist period, you had a devastation of Buddhism in terms of the material culture and the loss of knowledge," said Vesna Wallace, a professor of religious studies at UC Santa Barbara. "Now more people are coming to temples and visiting monasteries. There is also a new interest in meditation among the general public."

Wallace, an expert on Mongolian Buddhism, has spent the last 10 summers there and has seen Buddhist youth groups grow from three or four people to major gatherings. She says Mongolians have reclaimed Buddhism as an integral part of their national identity.

Couples who grew up with no religion are now choosing to be married in temples and by monks. The Gandan monastery in the capital, Ulan Bator, is the largest in the country and busier than it's been in decades.

Mourners across Mongolia are again consulting monks before deciding whether a loved one should be buried, cremated or left outside to the elements for what's known as a "sky burial."

And prayer piles, enormous cairns known as ovoos, have sprung up around the countryside. Truck drivers leave punctured tires to pray for safe travels and shepherds leave livestock skulls in hopes of a healthy herd. Blue scarves flutter in the wind, symbols of the blue sky that Mongols worshiped in the pre-Buddhist period.

Mongolian Buddhism is predominantly the Yellow Hat sect of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and China. But Wallace says it has evolved into its own version, having incorporated the pre-Buddhist religion of tangarism as well as shamanistic influences.

"Tibetans prefer white scarves, Mongolians prefer blue," she said. "Even certain deities that are preferred by Mongolian Buddhism are the blue ones that represent eternity, spaciousness and the comprehensiveness of the sky."

Mongolia, with half of its 2.8 million people living in Ulan Bator, is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world, with vast tracts of open grassland. In 1578, Genghis Khan's descendent Altan Khan made Buddhism the official religion, installing the Tibetan Sonam Gyatso as Dalai Lama and conscripting males to monasteries instead of into the army.

The country's oldest monastery, Erdene Zuu, was built in 1585 in the ancient capital of Karakorum, the ruins of which can still be seen near the town of Kharkhorin. At its height, Erdene Zuu was home to 67 temples and 1,500 monks. Today, 28 monks live on the site and 18 structures still stand. The monks use one temple for study and chanting, while the other buildings are open to the public.

In 1937, the Soviet-allied Mongolian Communist Party banned Buddhism and persecuted its 100,000-strong priestly class. The government executed nearly 20,000 lamas, or Buddhist teachers, and at least 10,000 educated monks. Another 10,000 were sent to Siberian labor camps. Most of the country's 2,000 monasteries were destroyed.

During decades of official atheism, some Buddhists continued to practice their faith privately in their homes. The devout would pretend to play cards but instead discuss Buddhism and pray. Children would act as guards to make sure no officials were coming.

"My mother is a very strong Buddhist. Even in the Communist time, when she had a problem and a child was sick, she would visit a monk's home to ask advice. It was so secret," said Enkhtuya, 40, an elementary school teacher in Ulan Bator. Like many Mongolians, she uses only one name.

Munkhbaatar Batchuluun was 11 when democracy arrived in 1990. Elders in his village southwest of Ulan Bator restored their small yurt-shaped monastery and revived chanting ceremonies.

"It was very new. People were brainwashed against religion. I was very curious and visited," recalled Munkhbaatar, now secretary of foreign relations at the Gandan monastery. "I was so impressed I went home and asked my parents if I could join. At first they weren't happy; people would laugh at monks and tease them as state enemies. But eventually my father agreed."

Much has changed. Most Mongolians now identify themselves as Buddhist. And the Dalai Lama has made seven visits to Mongolia, five of them since 1990.

Still, it has been a struggle to re-educate the public, especially since few sacred texts are translated from Tibetan to Mongolian, and there still aren't enough teachers.

In recent years, a new competitor has arisen: Christianity. Many Christian missionaries arrived in Mongolia after the fall of communism, just as they did in Eastern Europe. The largest groups now converting Mongolians are American Mormons and South Korean fundamentalists.

Still, as grandparents show their grandchildren around monasteries explaining the prayer wheels, altars and parchment books, it is clear that Buddhism runs deep in Mongolia.

"The Communists cleaned it from our body and from our speech, but they couldn't remove it from our souls," Munkhbaatar said. "The people may not have a lot of Buddhist education and understanding, but they have Buddhist faith."

MERITUS CONTINUES DRILLING IN MONGOLIA
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mer...k=MW_news_stmp

Sep 17, 2010 (TheNewswire.ca via COMTEX) -- (via Thenewswire.ca)

Vancouver, B.C. Meritus Minerals Ltd. (the "Company") (TSX-V - MER) is pleased to announce that its previously announced drill program at its property at Gutain Davaa, Mongolia continues on schedule. The Company announced initial results on August 12, 2010.

The Company confirms that it has no material changes to report at this time.

Meritus Minerals Ltd (C.MER) is a mineral exploration company committed to building shareholder value through the acquisition of base and precious metal properties. For additional information, contact Richard Schnoor at 604 618-9327.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Meritus Minerals Ltd.

Terence E. Bates - CEO and President

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further Information please visit our website at: www.meritusminerals.com

For the purpose of this release the qualified person is Terence E. Bates, MSc (Geol) the Company's CEO and President. All technical information in this release has been reviewed or compiled by Mr. Bates. Mr. Bates is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101.

Taiwan, Mongolia in charter flight talks: MOFA
http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNe...D=201009210018
http://focustaiwan.tw/WebEngPhotos/C...0092100181.jpg

Taipei, Sept. 21 (CNA) Taiwan and Mongolia are contemplating setting up direct charter flights to promote bilateral tourism and trade relations, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said Tuesday.

"Both sides are keen on developing closer exchanges and boosting tourism. Currently we are in talks on possible charter flights, which would benefit tourists from both sides if the deal goes through, " Lin Jinn-jong, director-general of the MOFA's Department of West Asian Affairs, said at a press briefing.

The direct charters would lower airfares between the two destinations to around US$500 from the current US$1,000, Lin said. At present, visitors must enter Mongolia via third countries, such as South Korea and China.

About 2,000 Taiwanese tourists visit Mongolia annually, Lin said. Charter flights would not only benefit tourists but also 400 Mongolian students in Taiwan.

According to Lin, although bilateral trade volume is small, the US$8.02 million in trade between Taiwan and Mongolia in the first half represented 207 percent growth compared to the first six months of 2009.

As of 2009, Taiwan is Mongolia's 15th largest trade partner and Taiwanese companies had invested US$19.65 million there.

Taiwan does not have official diplomatic ties with Mongolia, which declared independence in 1911, the year that the Qing Dynasty fell.

However, Lin said, the central Asian country is intent on improving its economy through tourism and attracting foreign investment from foreign countries, including Taiwan.

That was why the charter flight issue was raised during the 9th Taiwan-Mongolia Joint Economic Meeting, which was held in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar on Sept. 9, he said.

More than 100 participants from Taiwan's Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association and its counterpart the Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and Industry attended the meeting, which will be held in Taiwan next year. (By Chris Wang)

Where to buy Mongolian currency in UK?
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...readID=1942647

Mineral Rich Mongolia (Video)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1599004402&play=1
Airtime: Fri. Sept. 24 2010 | light e) ET
Mongolia is the best performing global market year-to-date, with H.E. Sükhbaataryn Batbold, Mongolia Prime Minister.

Mongolia may benefit from being late to party
http://blogs.reuters.com/columns/201...late-to-party/

The Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan may have been an ardent proponent of an early form of globalization. But Mongolia has taken its time embracing international capital markets. Now this “Mortar Economy” — the country is wedged between two BRICs, Russia and China — may be set for rapid growth.

Mongolia is on the verge of opening a stock exchange. The market will finally plug the landlocked nation into the grid of global finance, facilitating privatizations, investment, and the flow of capital to would-be entrepreneurs among its 3 million people.

And the money almost certainly will flow. While still small at around $6 billion, Renaissance Capital reckons Mongolia’s GDP will be the world’s fastest growing over the next five years, growing to $23 billion by 2013. Handling that growth will be a big challenge.

Luckily for Mongolia, it doesn’t, for example, have to reinvent the wheel with its bourse. The London Stock Exchange is the frontrunner among four contenders to run an Ulan Bator exchange. In theory, that will allow the nation to vault overnight from markets not so different from the city’s Naran Tuul bazaar right to electronic trading.

That should help the government implement its privatization program. It is committed to handing a tenth of all proceeds to its citizenry, almost a third of which is still nomadic. Developing an exchange means Mongolians can receive tradable securities in state companies with market prices. That should avoid the missteps of Eastern European nations which handed out vouchers without obvious value that were quickly accumulated by today’s oligarchs. There are also plenty of case studies that may help Mongolia manage cash inflows and their potential impact on its currency, the tugrug, and economy.

Perhaps more by luck than judgment, Mongolia’s tardy return to the global scene may also be well timed. It is estimated to have the world’s second-biggest reserves of copper and uranium, and the 11th biggest stock of coal.

Put it all together, and some eight centuries after its last big international venture, Mongolia stands to benefit from the convergence of three booms: in China, in commodities and in the edgiest of emerging markets.

Mongolian Mining Raises Price Range for Hong Kong Initial Public Offering
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-0...-update1-.html

Mongolian Mining Corp., the country’s biggest privately owned coking coal producer, boosted the amount it’s seeking from an initial share sale in Hong Kong as demand for stock rises in a market trading at the highest level in more than eight months.

The company and its shareholders are targeting as much as HK$5.44 billion ($701 million) from the sale of 719.4 million shares at HK$6.48 to HK$7.56 apiece, according to terms for the sale. The amount is 3 percent above the maximum HK$5.28 billion sought under the previous price range.

Mongolian Mining’s IPO will be the biggest on record by a company from the landlocked Asian nation, according to data compiled by Bloomberg going back to 1999. The stock being sold represents about 20 percent of the company, according to initial terms for the transaction, which would give Mongolian Mining an estimated market capitalization of $3.5 billion.

“Receptions should be positive for such stocks as coking coal is scarce compared with thermal coal,” said Lawrence Lau, an analyst of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd. “The market sentiment has improved with people taking on more risk.”

Mongolian Mining is selling shares in Hong Kong where the Hang Seng Index has surged 9.1 percent from a six-week low on Aug. 31 amid rising confidence in the global economy. The gauge gained 1.1 percent as of 2:41 p.m. today, set to close at the highest level since Jan. 11.

Price Forecasts

Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are managing Mongolian Mining’s IPO. The shares are being priced at 11.6 times to 13.6 times the company’s forecast 2011 profit and 7.6 to 8.9 times its estimated 2012 earnings, according to the term sheet obtained today.

Of the proceeds, about 50 percent will be used to improve transport links and infrastructure, Chief Executive Officer Battsengel Gotov told a press briefing in Hong Kong today. About 40 percent will go toward exploration and acquisitions, he said.

Production at the company’s pit at Ukhaa Khudag was 1.8 million metric tons in 2009 and will likely rise to 3.8 million tons this year, Gotov said. The company plans to raise production to 15 million tons a year by 2013 to meet increasing demand for coking coal among China’s steelmakers, he said.

Mongolian Mining is based in the Tavan Tolgoi area, south of Ulaanbaatar and about 240 kilometers (149 miles) from the border with China. Tavan Tolgoi holds about 6 billion metric tons of coal in the deserts of southern Mongolia, making it one of the world’s largest unexploited reserves of the fuel.

Previously, Mongolian Mining and its investors planned to sell shares at HK$6.29 to HK$7.34 apiece, according to last week’s term sheet.

Canada Expands Agricultural Cooperation with Mongolia

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...28-713728.html

WINNIPEG (Dow Jones)--Canada has increased its agriculture cooperation with Mongolia with the signing of an important Agriculture Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said Tuesday in a statement.
Canada's Agriculture Minister, Gerry Ritz, joined the Ambassador of Mongolia to Canada, His Excellency Tundevdorj Zalaa Uul to sign the MOU which will be key to enhancing bilateral relationships between Canada and Mongolia.
The signing was witnessed by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mongolia's Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold. "International trade and cooperation is key to making sure Canadian farmers can make their money from the marketplace," said Ritz.
The MOU will offer a sharing platform between the two countries and give Mongolia and Canada a better understanding of each other's systems, policies and regulations. It will facilitate sharing of best practices as well as strengthen agricultural cooperation and commercial relations between the two countries.
The MOU will help foster alliances between commercial interests, facilitate exchange of technology, expertise and be a catalyst for future trade, according to the statement. For example, Canada has commercial opportunities in agricultural machinery and livestock production in Mongolia. Canada's world class genetics will certainly contribute to further the development of Mongolia's animal industry.

Ivanhoe Mines finds new gold-copper zone at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia
http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/co...olia-8750.html

Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN)(NYSE: IVN)(NASDAQ: IVN) said Tuesday it has discovered a new mineralized gold-copper zone, now to be known as Heruga North, at its Oyu Tolgoi project in southern Mongolia.
The company intercepted almost one kilometre of near-continuous gold and copper mineralization in drill hole OTD1510, making it the longest exploration drill intercept of gold and copper mineralization recorded since Ivanhoe began drilling at the site in 2001.
Over the entire 938-metre intercept, OTD1510 averaged 0.42 g/t gold and 0.46% copper, with a copper equivalent (CuEq) grade of 0.76%, at a down-hole depth of between 1460 and 2398 metres.
Significant intersections of hole OTD1510 included 112 metres grading 1.36g/t gold and 0.34% copper, with CuEq of 1.21% at a down-hole depth of between 2,286 and 2,398 metres.
In addition, individual two-metre samples near the bottom of hole OTD1510 returned gold assays of approximately 10g/t- among the highest gold grades ever drilled at Oyu Tolgoi, the company said.
"To intercept almost one kilometre of copper and gold mineralization in a new drill hole is a remarkable development, considering that we already have drilled more than 1,650 holes totalling almost 900 kilometres at the project during the past 10 years," said chairman of Ivanhoe, Robert Friedland.
Indeed, the company believes that hole OTD1510 confirms its view that the Oyu Tolgoi mineralized system contains significantly more gold and copper than reported to date under NI 43-101 compliant standards, validating the property's expansion potential.
Ivanhoe said that the intercept indicates that Heruga North is part of a 2.5-kilometre, gold-rich mineralized extension of the Heruga Deposit, stretching north from the southern border of the Oyu Tolgoi mining licence to the southern Oyu deposits. The company has drilled 43,500 metres of wide-spaced diamond drilling into the Heruga North zone since 2008.
The company has now begun drilling a daughter hole, OTD1510B, as a way to better understand the extent of the gold-rich mineralization found in hole OTD1510.
"It's possible that Heruga and Heruga North eventually could be developed together as one of the world's largest underground gold mines," Friedland added.
Ivanhoe said that though there has been insufficient drilling to define a mineral resource at Heruga North, based on the current dimensions of the new mineralized zone, the company believes that the target could have similar tonnage and grade to the Heruga deposit, which contains an estimated 10.2 billion pounds of copper and 15 million ounces of gold.
The company currently has two diamond rigs drilling additional holes from surface into Heruga North to further the discovery towards an initial inferred resource estimate.
Construction of Oyu Tolgoi is on schedule to begin initial production in late 2012, Ivanhoe concluded.
Ivanhoe Mines has operations focused in the Asia Pacific region. Its assets include the company's 66% interest in the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine; its 57% interest in Mongolian coal miner SouthGobi Resources (TSX: SGQ; HK: 1878); a 63% interest in Ivanhoe Australia (ASX: IVA), a copper-gold-uranium-molybdenum-rhenium exploration and development company; and a 50% interest in Altynalmas Gold, a private company developing the Kyzyl Gold Project in Kazakhstan.
The company was up 4% in mid-afternoon trading on Tuesday, to $24.81 as of 1:58pm ET on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cle...k=MW_news_stmp

Clean Coal Technologies Provides Update on Inner Mongolia Project


http://i.marketwatch.com/MW5/content...Marketwire.gif

CORAL SPRINGS, FL, Sep 28, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Clean Coal Technologies, Inc., CCTI (pinksheets:CCTC), a clean energy technology company, today provided the following update on the progress of their Inner Mongolia Joint Venture.
Doug Hague, Chief Operations Officer, has recently returned from China where he met with various potential clients, in addition to Inner Mongolia government officials and the Company's joint venture partner.
-- The Company has received confirmation that all the necessary permits have been approved, and have been submitted to the Inner Mongolia Provincial government for final validation. This should follow the Chinese National holiday which ends on October 7, 2010. Regional Vice Governor Bu has provided the Company with a letter attesting to the Provincial government's approval schedule.-- The Company has elected to await the final approval prior to proceeding to the next phase.-- Upon official validation, Vice Governor Bu will schedule a ground breaking ceremony on behalf of the local Regional government.-- CCTI will schedule a formal international acceptance event once the first CCTI module has been commissioned and accepted.-- With Inner Mongolia winter ahead, commencement of construction activities would not be scheduled prior to Spring 2011.-- The joint venture has completed the initial excavations for the coal storage areas, plus the barracks to accommodate up to 1,000 workers, and the construction of the first of three concrete manufacturing plants. All primary access roads are now completed, and the internal roads within the industrial park are under construction. Additionally, the Joint Venture has received the permit to commence construction on the rail spur into our location, which is scheduled to commence in early Spring, 2011.

Mongolia Wind Profits

http://www.energyandcapital.com/arti...d-project/1283

What We Just Learned from a Meeting with the Mongolian Prime Minister

By Jeff Siegel
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010
Yesterday morning, General Electric (NYSE: GE) announced it was forming a joint venture with Harbin Power Equipment Company (PK: HBPWF) to manufacture wind turbines for customers in China.
In response to that announcement, I read close to a dozen comments on various message boards where people were actually blasting GE for doing business with the Chinese.
One guy, proudly wearing his Gadsden flag t-shirt in his thumbnail picture, even suggested that GE was somehow being unpatriotic by doing this deal with the Chinese:
“Why is GE going to China? They are an American company. They shouldn't deal with the [expletive] Chinese! Why is it all about money. What ever happened to patriotism? Why are they doing this?”
What a load of crap!
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why GE did this deal. It's pretty simple, actually...
This joint venture will allow the company to get a piece of China's $13 billion wind energy market!
This should not be a hard concept to grasp: You see an opportunity and you act. We do it every single day here at Energy and Capital — and you better believe I'll never apologize for making a buck.
Nor will I ever apologize for passing on this next opportunity to you...
Another way to profit from China
The folks over at GE aren't stupid.
China is the world's largest wind turbine sales territory, and it's expected to grow another 500 percent by 2020 — thanks to China's electricity demands, which are growing at a rate of 12 percent a year, and strong policy support by the Chinese government.
Who wouldn't want a piece of that action?
And by the way, GE isn't new to China... The company has been supplying China with gas, hydro, and wind turbines for years.
And it's not just GE profiting from China. The fact is you'd be hard-pressed to find a single major player in the energy game that isn't doing business with the Chinese.
Spanish wind turbine company Gamesa (PK: GCTAF) recently announced plans to triple its China investments. The company actually forecasts China will account for more than 30 percent of its total sales in 2011, compared to 15 percent last year.
A couple of weeks ago, the company opened its sixth manufacturing center in Inner Mongolia. That factory — which goes online next year — will be used to manufacture nacelles for the company's G8X-2MW turbine.
Tapping the Mongolian money train
It is clear that Mongolia is quickly becoming a hot spot for wind development.
After all, about 20 percent of the electricity in Inner Mongolia today is being generated from wind. Estimates show that Inner Mongolia holds about half of China's overall wind power potential.
That's huge!
Of course, if you're a regular reader of Energy and Capital, you already know about the massive potential in Mongolian energy resources...
Thanks mostly to my colleague Chris DeHaemer, who has spent an extraordinary amount of time on the ground in Mongolia sniffing out new opportunities for his readers.
Just last week, Chris met with Mongolian Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold in New York City. The Prime Minister reminded him that Mongolia is now projected to be the best performing economy in terms of GDP growth over the next five years.
But this isn't news to Chris...
After all, he is one of only a few American analysts who's been able to gain access inside Mongolia's elite inner circle.
Why else do you think Chris was able to tip his readers off to a Mongolian oil play that's already delivered gains of more than 900%?
Of course, the question today is: Where's the next big energy play in Mongolia?
Well, only Chris can answer that one. Click here to see what he's looking at now.
To a new way of life, and a new generation of wealth...

Who has the real power in Mongolia?
http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/index.ph...5571&Itemid=41
http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/template...rintButton.png http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/template...mailButton.png Written by G.Chingis Tuesday, November 30, 2010. This is probably the most difficult question for foreign investors. There are several ways to start to think about investing in Mongolia. Sometimes, you will meet Mongolians in your country; or you might be invited to Mongolia for some reason. Of course, foreigners will think the way he/she thinks due to their national background. Russians, Central Asians will think that the most powerful man in this country is the President of Mongolia. Europeans will think about the parliament. Koreans and other Asians will think about the Mongolian military. In the end, this is also quite a difficult question for Mongolians too.
Let us start with the President of Mongolia. The first President of Mongolia was Mr. P. Ochirbat. He managed to stay in office for two terms: For the first term, Mr. P. Ochirbat was nominated by the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP), and for the second term he managed to be nominated by their rival, the Mongolian Democratic Party (MDP). Therefore, Mr. P. Ochirbat was the first “democratic” President of Mongolia. The concept of presidency was very new for him and for Mongolians as well. Mongolia was suffering from a devastating crisis; Mongolians were receiving food through ration cards. Anyway, Mr. P. Ochirbat was a more entertaining President than a powerful one. People remember him more for the first Mongolian oilfield, and he was famous with his participation of various New Years Parties.
The second President of Mongolia, Mr. N. Bagabandi was very powerful. He killed many people’s dreams in his bid to become Prime Minister of Mongolia. Probably, some of them will never realize that dream. Therefore, foreign investors thought that the President of Mongolia was the most powerful man in this country. But it is unclear who was the most powerful at that time? Mr. N. Bagabandi or his subordinates, such as the Head of his administration, current Members of Parliament, former Prime Minister, Mr. S. Bayar and/or other people, such as his various advisers.
The third President of Mongolia, Mr. N. Enkhbayar was powerful too. But, he was not as powerful as Mr. N. Bagabandi. In the end, he lost his second term bid, and Mr. N. Enkhbayar almost finished his political career at that time.
Now, Mongolia has its fourth President of Mongolian, Mr. Ts. Elbegdorj. Is he powerful or not? Usually, every Mongolian will say to foreigners that he is very powerful. Probably, Mr. Ts. Elbegdorj would say the same stuff. And he actually did this during his last visit to Japan. His visit there overlapped with another state visit to Japan. Mr. Ts. Elbegdorj was competing with the President of the USA Mr. Barak Obama. There was a huge crowd in Kyoto, where the American President wanted to see some sights, and visit some places where he was with his grandmother; Mr. Ts. Elbegdorj also wanted to see places in Kyoto too. Nevertheless, his visit to Russia was postponed and his relationship with the President of Russia is a big headache for him.
So, what about the Prime Minister of Mongolia? Usually, PT’s are very important for investors, but they are unreliable due to their typically short terms. Russians were so excited with Mr. S. Bayar; in the end he left them with nothing, even Mr. S. Bayar was visiting Russia every three months. Russians even received in their dreams Oyu Tolgoi, Tavan Tolgoi and Mongolian uranium. Psychologists know this important phenomenon: when you will lose, you will say that the external environment was negative, and when you will win, you will say that it was due to his/her genius skills. Therefore, foreign investors should prepare for the success of Prime Minister of Mongolia. Then you might see in his interview that thanks to his extraordinary skills, he succeeded with the project. Of course, the Prime Minister will never say that thanks to the astonishing efforts of foreign investors we succeeded.
The parliament of Mongolia is the most powerful structure in Mongolia. But it is unrealistic to make a simultaneous deal with 76 Members of Parliament. Of course, some foreign investors tried to take such steps. It is unrealistic unless you will approach them all simultaneously. Otherwise, some of these 76 Members of Parliament will say, “Why I am the last person in this line.”
The military in Mongolia is not powerful at all. They are underfinanced; they do not any connections with Mongolian politics and business. We are different from South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and other Asian countries in terms of power distribution.
In the end, every foreign investor should find his own unique solution. They need to forget their backgrounds, and their experiences in other countries. It is time consuming, but challenging to succeed in Mongolia. By the way, Mongolian investors do the same thing. It is difficult for them as well.