MONGOLIA-CHINA TRADE TURNOVER TARGETED TO REACH USD10 BILLION IN NEAR FUTURE

Beijing/MONTSAME/ MONTSAME News Agency’s Correspondent in Beijing, China interviewed Ambassador of Mongolia to China D.Gankhuyag in connection with forthcoming official visit (April 9) of Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh to China. About present state of Mongolia-China relations, the Ambassador said, “Thanks to bilateral efforts in past period, cooperation between two countries has advanced in all social sectors within the comprehensive strategic partnership of the two countries. Talks in high levels has become constant. It gives an important impetus to strengthen friendly atmosphere of relations and mutual confidence.” “In 2018, Mongolian delegates led by MP and Road and Transport Minister J.Bat-Erdene visited China successfully. Moreover, Mongolia-China Business Forum was organized at the Embassy. More events including the First Meeting of the Mongolia-China Joint Council on Humanitarian Exchange and 2nd meeting of permanent inter-parliamentary mechanism were organized in Beijing. These events played an important role to regularize high-level visits and boost bilateral cooperation in sectors of legislation, education, culture, sport and health. It is noteworthy that the bilateral relations are forwarding in all sectors such as politics, defense, economy, culture and humanity,” added the Ambassador. In the interview, he also talked about possibilities of economic cooperation and interests of two sides to develop economic cooperation. He said, “It aims at changing existing dependence of Mongolia’s economy into multi-pillared. Within this purpose, an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding was established in 2017 to harmonize Mongolia’s ‘Road development’ initiative with China’s ‘The Belt and Road’. We have potential to take active part in ‘The Belt and Road’ initiative to intensify cooperation in all sectors, even cross-border economic cooperation and regional development.” “Mongolia and China are eternal neighbors, bordering with 4700kms. There are 13 border checkpoints, through which citizens of the two countries are traveling and engaging in mutual trade activities. The main market of Mongolia’s export goods is China. As of this year, Mongolia exported its goods to 52 countries, of which 89.1 percent of the total export went to China. A trade turnover of the two countries is targeted to reach USD10 billion in near future. To fulfill this goal, it necessitates to create a favorable trading condition. The lower capacity of Mongolia’s border checkpoints and underdeveloped infrastructure are some of the main factors that restrict possibilities to expand bilateral trades. Making a conclusion on this matter, we are working to harmonize Mongolia’s short and long-term development policy and strategy with the development of border checkpoints, advance their ranking and types and upgrade operational conditions,” he stressed. The Ambassador also mentioned about more cooperation possibilities in agriculture, tourism and energy sectors. “Further, it needs to develop a balanced trade and diversify export goods so that substitute each other. Full interview will be published on the Mongol Messenger issue #14. M. Unurzul