PRESIDENT BATTULGA ATTENDS MONTHLY BCM MEETING
On August 14, Kh.Battulga, President of Mongolia, addressed the monthly convention of Mongolian and foreign investors and businessmen held at the “Blue Sky” hotel.
After being introduced as a former experienced businessman and taxpayer, President Battulga thanked the Business Council of Mongolia (BCM) for holding the convention, mentioning that it was his first attendance at a public meeting since taking office. The President was inaugurated on July 10.
“I understand the convention aims to enhance both the internal and external investment environment of Mongolia and their legal landscape”, he said, expressing hope that all the participants will produce good ideas concerning investment and improvement of the legal environment.
First, the President talked about foreign policy because Ambassadors to Mongolia and foreign investors were present at the event. “I received proposals about the foreign policy of Mongolia. I strictly stand for a principle that Mongolia must keep a unified foreign policy. There is no difference between the foreign policy maintained by the President or the Foreign Ministry,” he stressed.
Concerning the business environment in Mongolia, the President pointed-out that he will consult with the Cabinet on matters of expanding the business scene as well as the domestic economy. Saying that business is done based on studies, Mr. Battulga mentioned his experience working as a Member of Parliament and the Cabinet as he forwarded some business proposals.
“When I worked as Minister of Road, Transportation and Urban Development in 2008-2012, a project was worked-out to connect the capital city to all provinces with paved roads financed by from the Asian Development Bank. This is a big project. Moreover, another project and its feasibility studies were approved to construct a 1,100 km highway between Zamiin-Uud and Altanbulag which could be the shortest way for trade turnover between Russia and China. This is a transit project that will provide the trade of Russians and Zamiin-Uud with commercial possibilities,” Mr. Battulga said.
Next, the President addressed railroads saying that, “Mongolia is a landlocked country bordering two superpowers”. The President pointed-out that the Mongolian Parliament adopted a railway project in 2010 because railroads are crucial for Mongolia’s economy. Accordingly, Mongolia aims to build about 5,000 kms of horizontal railways that will connect the country to its neighboring countries.
Besides the railways, Mr. Battulga said works have commenced to re-plan all provincial centers. In the first turn, the center of Bayankhongor Aimag will become a model. The President also touched on the 100 thousand apartments program and a satellite city project named ‘Maidar’ near Ulaanbaatar which is awaiting investment.
The President continued his speech with emphasizing agriculture which he said is Mongolia’s biggest but most neglected sector”. “As President, I have an idea to raise agriculture to the same level as mining. Mongolia alone exports 30 percent of the world’s raw cashmere, but the cashmere industry is not supported by the government on a policy level,” he said. He then discussed a feasibility study that has been done by Spanish architects for constructing a leather processing factory. This factory is projected to partly process 10 million pieces of leather a year and the products will be exported to European countries, he said.
As such, the President took questions from the participants concerning the tax environment in Mongolia, the macro-economy, and investment in the mining industry. The President said he will pay attention to making the tax environment more understandable and simpler.
In response to a question on economic revival, the President said, “The business environment in Mongolia isn’t large. In fact, the economy has been idle for the last 20 years. The national economy has seen neither growth nor decline. It is because our economy strongly depends on coal”.
Answering a question on his investment and mining policy, the President said, “We will back the mining industry with a demand for standard technologies and standard agreements. I think that, as the mining sector always involves a huge sum of money and we must beware of political influence and bribery”.