Ulaanbaatar, August 3, 2023 /MONTSAME/. The Prime Minister of Mongolia Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai is paying an Official Visit to the United States of America at the invitation of the Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris.

On August 2, Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene and Vice President Kamala Harris held official talks at the White House. Before holding official talks, they made a statement for the first time at the level of Government on the current state of Mongolia and the US Strategic Partnership and the priorities for the bilateral relations and cooperation.

The PM and the VP pointed out that the Strategic Partnership is strengthening and the scope of the cooperation between the two countries is rapidly developing in the sphere of politics and defense, education, culture, and humanitarian sectors. Moreover, they exchanged views on developing the cooperation further in space research, digital development, mining, transport and logistics, and climate change. 

The parties declared that the two countries would sign an Open Skies Agreement, which enables to conduct direct flights between Mongolia and the United States. "I am excited that we are going to commence direct flights, our two countries, Q2 2024.  It’s going to be great opportunity to promote tourism and trade, business and investment," said Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene. 

Mr. L. Oyun-Erdene expressed Mongolia’s interest to closely cooperate in the following areas:  

- Searching opportunities to cooperate in the field of space research;  

- Capacity-building in digital economy and advanced technology; 

- Training English language teachers and increase number of exchanges;

- Cooperating and implementing joint programs and projects in green development and critical minerals sector;

- Strengthening democracy and combating corruption, as the Government of Mongolia has declared 2023-2024 as the Year to Combat Corruption. 

Vice President Kamala Harris expressed her delight for the Official Visit of Prime Minister of Mongolia after many years and highlighted the United States' profound commitment to fostering relations and cooperation with Mongolia, based on shared values such as democracy, market economy, human rights, and civil society development. In this regard, she emphasized the country’s willingness to broaden the trade and economic cooperation between the two countries with new content and to deepen close cooperation in safeguarding democracy and human rights, and strengthening effective governance further. 

During the Official Visit, new directions will be added to the Economic Cooperation Roadmap of Governments of Mongolia and the US for the Strategic Third Neighbour Partnership.

Moreover, the two parties will sign following documents:

-An Open Skies Agreement between the Governments of Mongolia and the US, 

-A Memorandum of Cooperation in the transportation sector between the Ministry of Road and Transport Development of Mongolia and the United States Department of Transportation,

-A Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation between the Intellectual Property Office of Mongolia and the United States Patent and Trademark Office.