President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga, who is paying a\nworking visit to the Kingdom of Norway, had a breakfast meeting with Prime\nMinister Erna Solberg today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms. Solberg welcomed President Battulga\nto Norway and remarked that the visit was an indication of the warm relations\nbetween the two countries and that there were interests to strengthen bilateral\nties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
President\nBattulga expressed his confidence that bilateral cooperation will expand in the\nfuture and explained that his visit was essentially linked to the recent\nConstitutional Amendment in Mongolia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the President, despite the\ndeclaration in the 1992 Constitution of Mongolia that natural resources are subject\nto national sovereignty, a few people became wealthy under the name of acquiring\nspecial licenses and the gap between the rich and poor increased, thus it has\nbeen amended through the Constitution by legal means. With the amendment, the\nConstitution now states that \u201c\u2026profits gained from mineral resources shall be\naccumulated in the National Wealth Fund for equal and fair distribution.\u201d\nPresident Battulga expressed his view that it was ideal for Mongolia to work\nwith Norway, a country that has employed the best approach to \u201cwealth fund\u201d\nmanagement, to implement the above-mentioned clause in the Constitution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nConstitution of Norway outlines that \u201cNatural resources shall be managed on the\nbasis of comprehensive long-term considerations which will safeguard this right\nfor future generations as well.\u201d The assets of the Government Pension Fund of\nNorway amounted USD 1.5 trillion in the first half of 2019. This is a top\nexample of wealth fund management in the world, and with the management of its\nnatural resources through the fund, the revenues were utilized in a manner\nbased on the principles of equity and accessibility to its citizens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Battulga and Prime Minister Solberg had an elaborate discussion on the matter of wealth fund, the unique characteristics of Mongolia and Norway, and the implementation of wealth fund laws before agreeing to work together. In doing so, the leaders reached an understanding on the means of cooperation such as sending experts who helped found the Government Pension Fund of Norway to Mongolia for experience-sharing and bringing young Mongolian scholars to Norway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the meeting, the sides also touched upon a number of projects and programs that are aimed at increasing bilateral trade turnover and agreed that the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries would hold a consultative meeting after the visit and put into action the matters that were discussed during the visit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n