MEETING WITH ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY
On the sidelines of the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit, President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga held his first bilateral meeting with Angela Merkel, Chancellor the Federal Republic of Germany, on October 18th.
At the outset, President Battulga and Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed mutual appreciation toward the opportunity to meet in person and discuss bilateral ties and Asia-Europe issues.
President Battulga stressed the importance of tangible and mutually beneficial development of bilateral cooperation, while mentioning that the works that were discussed and planned during the Chancellor’s 2001 visit to Mongolia are now stagnant. President Battulga notified that there is a lack of official in charge on these works due to reasons, including appointment to a different post, despite of the fact that officials were appointed from the German side following the signing of an intergovernmental agreement on cooperating in spheres of raw materials and technology and the establishment of a joint economic committee during the Chancellor’s visit.
President Battulga spoke about Mongolia’s opportunity to enter the enormous market of neighboring China by using German technology to process materials of animal origin, saying that it was possible to work with young Mongolian businessmen in this regard. Furthermore, President Battulga emphasized the possibility of developing concrete bilateral cooperation in establishing a new city and manufacturing products using nano and bio processing technologies on raw materials of animal origin, as well as in the mining sector. Before introducing the project, the President noted that the establishment of a new eco-city is one of the most important steps towards resolving a challenge Ulaanbaatar faces.
While mentioning about Mongolia’s successful hosting of the 11th ASEM summit, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the planned works will be taken charge of. The Chancellor paid close attention to the President’s proposal on establishing an eco-city and decided to send Gunther Adler, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community, on a visit to Mongolia. Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her support for the project which aims to build a satellite eco-city near Ulaanbaatar based on designs of German architects and specialists.
The sides engaged in an elaborate discussion about developing tangible bilateral economic cooperation and collaborating in the areas of scientific research and technology.
