On August 28, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene took part in a joint public and private sector meeting on ‘Supporting Mongolian-Russian business and attracting investment from Russia’.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister said, “This year marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the Russian Federation. The two countries should bring the economic and business cooperation to a new level in the next 100 years. As the pandemic has slowed the world down, we need to be ready for the Post-Pandemic economy. The economy, which was minus 5.3 percent, now stands at 6.3 percent. We have raised many issues including unfavorable environment for investment. We will change the approach and the cabinet will begin to hold meetings with investors before making a decision. Moreover, we will strive to work to overcome the challenging circumstances posed by the pandemic and double the GDP.”

Mentioning that trade and economic cooperation between Mongolia and Russia is weak, the Prime Minister said that Russia made up 0.9 percent of Mongolia’s export in 2019, while this performance was 58.5 percent in 1992. Looking back to the relationship between the two countries over the past 10 years, from the establishment of a strategic partnership in 2009 to the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2019, there has been criticism of non-significant results in the bilateral relationship, except for visa-free travel between the two countries. Thus, establishing a Free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, is one of the solutions to reduce the tariff and non-tariff barriers facing bilateral trade.

During the meeting, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Mongolia Iskander Azizov said, “There is no legal, political dispute between our two countries. 100 years of Mongolian-Russian relations are in the interests of both countries. I agree with what the Prime Minister said. The two countries have developed a high level of political, humanitarian, defence as well as security cooperation. But trade and economic cooperation have fallen behind. Mongolia has a favorable environment for legal regulations of trade and economic relations. It is, therefore, important to intensify the activities of the trade representative offices of the two countries.”

The Ambassador also highlighted the importance of implementing the project for building the super grid and further expanding cooperation in science and education.

At the end of the meeting, the Prime Minister said that he would set up a research work group with the Eurasian Economic Union, intensifying the efforts to study the economic feasibility of establishing a free trade agreement.