B. Battsetseg: Mongolia Will Preserve the Momentum of Its Foreign Policies and Actions
Politics
Ulaanbaatar, January 30, 2023 /MONTSAME/ On January 30, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia Mrs. B. Battsetseg held a press
conference to introduce the policies and priorities of the Ministry, and its plans
and actions for 2023, as well as provide an overview of the key state and
government high-level visits, and their results and achievements, implemented
in 2022.
At the
onset, the Foreign Minister emphasized: ”Mongolia
pursues peace-loving, open, independent, and multi-pillar foreign policy.
This policy principle has been central in all of our actions in 2022. In other
words, 2022 was a year full of events that demonstrated the rightness of this
policy. I would like to highlight three points. First, the peace-loving, open, multi-pillar, and independent foreign
policy of our country was right from the beginning. Second, we have paid
particular attention to maintaining and preserving our position with respect to
relations with our two neighbors and “third neighbors”, the United Nations, and
other international organizations, and ensuring the unity of our foreign
policy. Third, at the time when the global economic growth has declined, there
was a need to significantly stimulate foreign relations in order to create the
conditions for coping with emerging challenges with as less as possible damages
and losses. Therefore, the year of 2022 was a year of reinvigorated and
intensified foreign relations. Mongolia hosted more than 10 foreign visits,
including the visits of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and six foreign
ministers. Compared to the frequency of high-level visits of foreign
dignitaries to Mongolia in the course of the past 30 years, on average,
Mongolia received 2-3 high-level guests a year.
The visit of the UN Secretary-General Mr. Antonio Guterres to
Mongolia coincided with the 60th anniversary of Mongolia's accession to the
United Nations in 1961, the 30th anniversary of the declaration of Mongolia’s
territory as a nuclear-weapon-free zone, and the 20th anniversary of Mongolia’s
participation in peacekeeping operations. Mr. Antonio Guterres appraised
Mongolia as “a symbol of peace in a troubled world”. President of Mongolia Mr.
Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh took part in the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly.
And you are all well aware that he also participated in the UN Conference on Climate Change in Egypt.
To improve the efficiency of international cooperation
projects and programs of the UN in Mongolia, our country intends to prioritize
the following three areas in the future. First, it is important to work more actively
to digitize all government services by 2024, putting at least 90 percent of
them on the "E-Mongolia" platform, and become a digital nation while
implementing the long-term development objectives set out in the Sustainable Development-2030
and Vision-2050.
The visits of the Mongolian President, Prime Minister, and
the Minister of Foreign Affairs to China in 2022 were very successful and significantly
contributed to adopting important decisions in foreign trade, customs and
border sector and many other fields and spheres. During his visit to the PRC in
November 2022, President Khurelsukh reached an agreement with his Chinese
counterpart to increase the volume of our trade to 20 billion USD within the
coming 5 years, as we have already attained a 10-billion dollars trade.
The major
construction projects implemented jointly within the framework of grants and
concessional loans were finally discussed and agreed upon. We have made notable
progress on the issues that have been discussed for many years such as
improving the infrastructure and accessibility of border ports connecting the
two countries.
The
Chinese side expressed that it stands ready to provide full support to the
"One Billion Trees" National Campaign. In the future, it was agreed
to implement joint projects and programs in the field of environmental
protection. It was agreed that Mongolia will provide well-written Feasibility
Studies so that our two parties have concrete bases to discuss and advance joint
projects. During President Khuresukh’s visit to China, 16 cooperation documents
were signed and a joint statement with 19 provisions was made.
2021 marked the 100th Anniversary of establishment of
diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Russia. In commemoration of the
diplomatic anniversary, President Khurelsukh paid an official visit to Russia
and the anniversary was broadly celebrated. In 2022, the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Russia paid a visit to Mongolia, during which we mutually expressed
our satisfaction over the successful development of relations and cooperation
at the level of “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” while voicing willingness
to further consolidate the bilateral relations. Moreover, the Heads of State of
Mongolia, Russia, and China met on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in
Uzbekistan in 2022, reaching agreements on the projects included in the
Mongolia-Russia-China Economic Corridor Program.
Noting on Mongolia’s relations and cooperation with the
“Third Neighbors”, Minister Battsetseg said:
“The fact that high level dignitaries of foreign countries are visiting
Mongolia, is a clear manifestation of Mongolia’s high reputation in the world
and testifies that our policies and actions are appreciated around the world. Last
year, President Khurelsukh made a state visit, which was not realized in the
past 12 years – this was a State Visit of the Head of State of Mongolia to Japan,
in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations
between Mongolia and Japan. Mongolia and Japan assessed the past 50 years of
friendship and cooperation and set new goals for the next 50 years. Japan
announced that it would plant 50,000 trees and train 20,000 of our youth in the
field of forestry and forest nursery.
The
development of relations with the Republic of Korea occupies an important place
in our “Third Neighbor” Policy. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country
visited Mongolia for the first time in eight years, during which we evaluated
the thirty years of relations and defined the vision for the next thirty years.
In doing so, we agreed to work efficiently in the fields of transportation,
logistics, energy, infrastructure, and agriculture, establish a Mongolia-South
Korea Joint Research Center for Rare Earth Elements, and plant trees on 45
hectares as part of the “Green Wall” Phase III Project. Moreover, negotiations are
continuing to eliminate visa requirements for citizens of Mongolia traveling to
South Korea.
Prime Minister of Mongolia L. Oyun-Erdene paid an official
visit to Singapore. Within the framework of introducing Singapore’s
knowledge-based development experience in Mongolia, the sides signed three
cooperation documents. The Prime Minister also made an official visit to
Germany and agreed to implement a program to train 1,000 engineers in
transport, logistics, energy, mining, information technology, urban planning,
agriculture, and forestry. Also, with the help of Germany, it was agreed to
study the possibilities of establishing a semi-processing plant for rare earth
elements”.
Minister Battsetseg said in conclusion of the meeting that
the world was facing multiple challenges today. “Therefore, the countries tend
to ensure their economic independence, reduce their mutual dependence, and
develop trade and economic relations mostly with their partner countries with
friendly relations. As for our country, we will maintain balanced relations
with our two neighboring countries and third neighbors, prioritize our national
interests, and continue to implement our strategic independent foreign policy.
In addition, the Government of Mongolia has made a decision to temporarily
exempt visa requirements for citizens of 34 countries in 2023-2025. In this
regard, we will focus on promoting Mongolia in a broader scope and in more
optimal ways.
As of today, 127 thousand Mongolian citizens live in
87 countries. Therefore, we will continue to closely attend our other immediate
goals, objectives, tasks and principles such as eliminating politicization of
appointment of diplomatic staff, strengthening the capacity of the staff,
strengthening the consular offices and services, protecting the interests of
citizens working abroad, increasing the size of the risk fund, and expanding
social insurance services. Therefore, Mongolia's foreign relations will preserve
the momentum of our active policies and actions in the year of 2023."