Ulaanbaatar, November 27, 2023 /MONTSAME. Prime Minister of Mongolia Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai has held his regular ‘Morning meeting” with representatives of the food and agriculture sectors.

The meeting was attended by representatives of farmers, producers of meat, milk, and other foodstuffs as well as veterinary hospitals, packaging and professional associations.

The Prime Minister noted that the food and agricultural sectors are vital in contributing to the development of Mongolia and briefed the participants about the government's actions to reform the legal framework of the sectors.

The Government is supporting producers with financial resources and tax policies. The Government has provided MNT 667.3 billion of soft loans to 1,851 citizens, enterprises, and cooperatives and the utilization rate of the funding is 68 percent. With the increase of milk incentives and expansion of its coverage, the supply of liquid milk has improved. In 2023-2024, the Government decided not to set a limit for the export of all kinds of animal meat, and as of November 15 of this year, 70,000 tons of meat worth USD 260 million were exported, which is a fourfold increase from the same period of the previous year, according to PM Oyun-Erdene.

"We need to pay special attention to plant protection. Wheat accounts for 80% of Mongolia's cultivated land. In the future, increasing crop diversity will be beneficial from both an efficiency and environmental perspective. To comprehensively resolve this issue, we need to establish a Plant Protection Agency" said Ts. Renchinsengee, Mongolian National Farmers' Association.

B. Boldbaatar, Head of the Mongolian United Packaging Association noted the difficulty for the national startups to develop as a threshold for imported goods has not been established, leading to the import of goods that can be produced domestically.

" Loans totaling one trillion tugrug provided by the government was good support for producers.  We need a more favorable legislative framework further. We are ready to export raw meat, but necessary standards should be approved. We must work together on the right policy," said L. Erkhembayar, Head of the Mongolian Union for Animal Breeders.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Chicken Meat Producers NGO D. Angar emphasized the importance of import tax policy stating that competing with well-established foreign companies on price is impossible for national startup companies.

B. Munkhzul, Chairman of the Council of Women Entrepreneurs said "The VAT rate on food products is reasonable. In the future, differential taxes could be imposed on certain products for a certain period. Some countries around the world have different tax policies to promote specific sectors or fields, for instance, health."

Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene emphasized the role of taxes in policy regulation in addition to generating budget revenues. Relevant officials were tasked to study the need for policy support for domestic products, for example, the necessity for changes in the principle of tender selection.

Reminding the necessity to establish a specialized institution in the agricultural sector, the PM noted that a National Committee to Support the Agricultural Sector will be formed at the Government level and the Premier will head the Committee over a certain period.