On 24 November 2020, the European Union and Mongolia confirmed their good bilateral relations, and the willingness to further strengthen the development cooperation agenda.

The discussion took place in the first Development Cooperation Working Group (informal) in the framework of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the EU and Mongolia, which entered into force in 2017.

On development cooperation, the Parties:

• Discussed lessons learnt from the EU Multi-Annual Indicative Programme for Mongolia (2014-2020) covering governance of revenues and employment in the non-mining sector, as well as from positive interventions in other areas such as trade, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), agriculture, value chains development, environment, human rights.
• Took note of the need to strengthen donors and sectors coordination mechanisms in Mongolia.
• Reaffirmed their commitment to continue working together towards the reform process in the employment and Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector and public finance management in the context of Budget Support operations.
• Agreed to continue sectoral policy dialogue with the line Ministries in identifying blending operations in the areas of climate change and green energy as well as in improving business environment and sectoral regulatory framework in Mongolia.
• Remain engaged to cooperate closely in the context of the EU programming exercise for future cooperation with Mongolia for 2021-2027.

Next steps

The informal Development Cooperation Working Group will be followed by the EU-Mongolia Joint Committee on 3 December 2020 via videoconference. The Joint Committee (chaired alternately by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) is entrusted to ensure the proper functioning of the PCA, set priorities in relation to its aims, and make recommendations for promoting the objectives of the agreement.

Background

In 2017 the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the EU and Mongolia entered into force. On development cooperation, the PCA commits the Parties to cooperate on sustainable development (economic, social, and environmental) and hold a regular dialogue on development cooperation, in line with their respective priorities and areas of mutual interest.

In 2014-2020 a total of EUR 139 million of EU development assistance in the form of grants was allocated for Mongolia. From this amount EUR 65 million have been part of the EU Multi-Annual Indicative Programme for Mongolia (2014-2020) on two focal sectors: “Governance of Revenues for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth” and “Support for Better Employment Opportunities”.

Mongolia has benefited also from a range of thematic and regional EU programmes of a total of EUR 38 million in fields such as trade, sustainable consumption and production, as well as support to civil society and human rights. EUR 36 million grant support from the Asian Investment Facility for blended projects with European development banks in SMEs support, climate change and green energy.