SYMPOSIUM ADDRESSES MONGOLIA’S NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT VISION

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Cabinet Secretariat organized a symposium themed ‘Trust-Efforts-Responsibility’, reported the Cabinet’s Press and Communications Division on November 18. The symposium was a platform for discussion and assignment regarding the 2018 State Budget, national development vision and winter preparedness among Cabinet members and governors of aimags and the capital city. Deputy Prime Minister U.Enkhtuvshin opened the symposium and cautioned the governors regarding proper spending of Local Development Fund where increased fund has been allocated for next year. The Deputy Prime Minister also introduced a Cabinet direction on upholding responsibilities and order at all levels of government institutions. Head of Cabinet Secretariat G.Zandanshatar delivered a presentation on the current state and future trends of national development of Mongolia, which included Mongolia’s positions in major global statistical rankings. Mongolia ranked 92nd in the 2016 Human Development Index, 136th in the 2016 Happy Planet Index out of 140 countries, 102nd in the 2016-2017 Global Competitiveness Report, 108th in the 2016 Logistics Performance Index out of 160 countries, 107th in Quality of Life Index out of 192 countries and 56th in the 2015 Ease of Doing Business Index out of 189 countries and 111th in the 2014 Environmental Performance Index. As such, the national development vision until 2050 has been defined in five phases. The 2018-2021 phase is themed ‘Mongolia under a Common Purpose’ and aims to increase employment and lay the economic foundations for Mongolia to develop into an exporter and producer nation. Furthermore, the vision’s 2022-2025 phase is themed ‘Country with Confident Life and Intense Development’, 2026-2030 ‘Country Leading Average-Income Countries’, 2031-2040 ‘Country of Wealth and Happiness’ and 2041-2050 ‘Technology-producing Country’. Minister of Finance Ch.Khurelbaatar attended the symposium and briefed the attendees on the 2017 Budget Amendment and the 2018 State Budget. “We estimated that the 2018 State Budget will increase income, stabilize Tugrik rate and reduce credit interest,” he said. Cabinet members and provincial authorities present at the symposium also reported on the state of winter preparedness and some measures to be taken in their respective sectors and administrative units. Kh.Aminaa