ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT KHALTMAAGIIN BATTULGA AT THE TRIPARTITE MEETING OF THE HEADS OF STATE OF MONGOLIA, RUSSIA, AND CHINA
“Your Excellencies, the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, and the Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Xi Jinping,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My greetings to you!
I am absolutely delighted to be participating in and chairing the Fifth Tripartite Meeting of the Heads of State of Mongolia, the Russian Federation, and the People’s Republic of China.
Developing friendly and good neighborly relations as well as promoting mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia and China are priority directions of Mongolia’s foreign policy. I am satisfied with the vigorous development of our cooperation with Russia and China at the strategic partnership level and within all social spheres.
In the margins of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and China, I paid a successful state visit to China and attended the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing last April. The preparations for the visit of President Vladimir Putin to Mongolia are underway, and I am confident that the visit will be successful and the joint celebration of the 80th historic anniversary of the Battles of Khalkhin Gol will be splendid.
The Mongolian people are pleased with the active development of cooperation between Russia and China, our eternal neighbors. I would like to congratulate President Xi Jinping on the recent successful state visit to Russia.
The high-level and stable development of bilateral cooperation between our three nations is creating a favorable environment for advancing trilateral cooperation.
As a result of mutual efforts, the trilateral cooperation mechanism has been set up, the legal foundation was solidified, spheres of cooperation were expanded, and progress was observed in some sectors in recent years. Special progress was made in the sphere of transit transport, and the fact that the number of freight trains passing through Mongolia from China in the directions of Russia and Europe increased by 500 percent between 2016 and 2018 is a shining example of the benefits that can be gained from improved trilateral coordination.
However, I am sure Your Excellencies will agree that the progress and developments in trilateral cooperation haven’t reached the level that we desire. It is very unsatisfactory that there hasn’t been a launch of any project that will leave positive impact on the livelihood of our people and the economic developments of our three countries in the last three years since the signing of the Mongolia-Russia-China Economic Corridor Program. Despite of existing feasibility studies that are acceptable by each side, we find ourselves in lack of a project.
Therefore, at the conclusion of this meeting, we have to give instructions the corresponding institutions of the three countries with regard to the responsibilities towards intensifying trilateral cooperation, including an objective with a due date. In particular, I would like to have a practical discussion with Your Excellencies on ways to accelerate the implementation of the priority projects within the Economic Corridor Program.
Moreover, I propose the establishment of a joint working group that is designated to study the feasibility of the project on construction of natural gas pipes, which has been on the trilateral agenda for many years, and to issue instructions based on their assessment.
I would also like to propose the establishment of a multilateral organization for the Northeast Asian Energy Super Grid Project.”
