World Bank project aims to help Mongolia diversify exports

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Ministry of Finance of Mongolia and World Bank launched an Export Development Project on March 24. The project is aimed to help small and medium-sized enterprises in non-minerals sectors to strengthen their export capabilities and boost their access to export markets. The project, to be implemented by the Government of Mongolia in the next four and a half years, will support Mongolia’s economic diversification by providing those firms with training, matching grants and access to export credit-insurance products. At the project’s launch event, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia James Anderson said “In an economy where exports are heavily dominated by mining commodities, export diversification will boost productivity, overall entrepreneurship, and employement. This project also complements other efforts by the World Bank to support inclusive economic growth and livelihoods in Mongolia". Mongolian Minister of Finance B.Choijilsuren remarked “Through the project, existing and future SME exporters in Mongolia’s non-minerals sector will have broader and easier access to export credit insurance, learn practical knowhow, and receive financial support to improve their export quality and competitiveness. The agricultural Reinsurance Joint Stock Company, private insurance companies and other financial institutions will learn to proide export-oriented financial products and services to the Mongolian SMEs.” In 2015, 87 percent of Mongolia’s exports consisted of mining commodities, while making up only 4 percent of the nation’s jobs. By contrast, agriculture employs nearly 30 percent of the total workforce, with livestock providing subsistence, income, and wealth for nearly half of Mongolia’s population. The project is funded with USD 20 million credit from the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for the poorest.