PRESIDENT ELBEGDORJ SPEAKS AT MONGOLIA-AUSTRIA BUSINESS FORUM

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ In frames of his official visit to Austria, the leader of Mongolia Ts.Elbegdorj and his counterpart of Austria Mr Heinz Fischer addressed the Mongolia-Austria business communities at a bilateral business forum on Tuesday in Vienna. The Austrian leader noted that 51 years since the established of diplomatic relations between Austria and Mongolia, "and in these years we strived to actively develop bilateral relations and cooperation in culture, arts, tourism, and expanded a scope of our relations onto other economic sectors". "This morning, my honorable guest President Elbegdorj and I exchanged views on an array of other wonderful opportunities to further develop and expand the horizon of our bilateral relations to encompass new and wider frontiers. Austria will support the rapidly growing Mongolian economy with financial assistant, increase our investment in Mongolia, particularly in the small- and medium-sized enterprises development. Both Austria and Mongolia are land-locked countries. Therefore, we shall support each other in our efforts to turn this common geographic feature into our advantage. "Mongolia is one of the countries with the most influential and active engagement in securing stability and promoting cooperation in North-East Asia and the South-Eastern region of Asia. I am glad that Mongolia will take an active participation in ASEM Summit to take place this week in Milan, Italy. "Last year, the volume of Austrian investment in Mongolia’s economy accounted for over a million USD. We do have the potentials to increase the size of investments. And the Forum we are holding today, will, I am sure, boost our economic relations and mark a strong impetus to extended economic engagement." In turn, the President Mr Elbegdorj, at the onset of his remarks, thanked his Austrian counterpart for inviting him to Austria and for warm hospitality and wonderful hosting. He also thanked the leaders and a president of the Austrian Economic Chamber for their active role in expanding economic cooperation between the two countries. "The Austrian Economic Chamber organized a series of business meetings in Ulaanbaatar in the past two years. I share Mr Fischer's confidence that this Forum will elevate the scope and magnitude of our economic cooperation," he said. "I wish to highlight that our two countries have many similarities and common features. At a time in history Mongols founded a Great Empire, and Austria founded a Great Empire too. Mongolia has created a great cultural heritage, and so did Austria. There are many countries in the world, but not many of them had such destinies. In the 13-14th centuries, Mongols initiated the first free trade route connecting Asia and Europe and established a cross-continent silk road. We established and enforced the fairest and just law. "Did you know that the grandson of Chinggis Khaan, having established the Golden State, reached Austrian Vienna as near as only 40 kilometers to it? Today, having flown only 8 hours, we reached Vienna and are participating and addressing a business forum. Not many people in Europe know that Mongolia was the first country in Asia to break away from communism in 1990 and ignited democracy in Asia. "Mongolia, located between Russia and China, is a role-model for a most successful democracy in not only Asia, but the entire world. A liberal system has been established in Mongolia’s politics and economy. I can assure any investor, any businessman that the political system of Mongolia is stable. In terms of its geographic location, Mongolia is a remarkable country. We have a population of 3 million people, a territory of 1.5 million square kilometers, and a 60-million head herd of livestock. It is therefore, the most prominent country for tourism. If you wish to travel in Gobi, Mongolia has Gobi; if you want to see mountains, we have magnificent mountains. If you wish to see unbounded steppe, you can travel in Mongolia’s spacious steppes. In order to promote tourism, we allow for a 30-day visa-free travel to Mongolia for citizens of many European and Asian countries. So do come to Mongolia, I an inviting you, for business, for cooperation, for friendship," Mr Elbegdorj said.