TREASURY ANNOUNCES AWARDS FOR EXCEPTIONAL INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Salkhit is recognized alongside projects that deliver clear results in combating food insecurity, creating jobs, promoting infrastructure development, and increasing access to education and health care. About this has been published on the website of the US Embassy in Mongolia. The U.S. Department of the Treasury named the Salkhit Wind Farm as one of the six projects honored at the third annual Development Impact Honors. This ceremony recognized exceptional development projects undertaken by the multilateral development banks (MDBs). The Salkhit Wind Farm Project in Mongolia is helping to expand the use of clean energy, having introduced wind-generated renewable energy into Mongolia for the first time. The Project was developed in partnership with the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation, the U.S. company General Electric, bilateral development agencies in Japan and the Netherlands, the Mongolian government, and additional public and private sector partners. The Development Impact Honors recognized the contribution of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, who helped to launch the Salkhit Wind Farm Project. The project now supplies nearly five percent of Mongolia’s electricity needs, and by 2020, the Mongolian government aims to generate 25 percent of the country’s electricity from renewable energy sources. “When you consider recent global events, it is clear that we must continue to support international financial institutions like those that we are honoring today,” said Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. “The United States has demonstrated steadfast support for the multilateral development banks, which leverage each dollar of U.S. investment many times over. Yet our support goes beyond funding. We have marshalled our best experts and best thinking to make measurable progress on reducing poverty, promoting broadly-shared economic growth, and expanding our trade partners.” Projects were evaluated in a number of key areas including their effects on beneficiary communities’ livelihoods, adherence to the highest environmental and social standards, learning from past projects’ experience, and innovation in addressing development challenges. Many of these projects specifically focus on addressing the needs of the world’s most vulnerable groups by providing economic and educational opportunities, improving infrastructure, and offering health support. Among other significant impacts of the honored projects, food security has improved and poverty has been reduced for an estimated 241,000 agricultural households across West Africa; a sustainable model of micro finance support has been created for over 208,000 small farmer households in Bangladesh; and primary health services have been extended to over 537,000 people and approximately 256,000 new students have been able to enroll in school in Yemen. The ceremony gathered Members of the U.S. Congress, senior leaders of the MDBs and the development community, and senior administration officials to recognize and promote excellence in development. The projects honored at the ceremony reflect the critical work of the MDBs, which strengthens communities around the world, including in fragile states, while also advancing U.S. economic and security interests. Other project honorees included: the African Development Bank for New Rice for Africa (NERICA) Project in Benin, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Mali, and Sierra Leone; Asian Development Bank for Hairatan to Mazar-e-Sharif Railway Project in Afghanistan, Inter-American Development Bank for Galpão Aplauso: Sociocultural and Productive Integration of At-Risk Youth in Rio de Janeiro Project in Brazil, International Fund for Agricultural Development for Microfinance for Marginal and Small Farmers Project in Bangladesh, and the World Bank for Third Public Works Project in Yemen.