Ulaanbaatar
Mongolia and the EU to Partner in Regional Green Development
Economy
Ulaanbaatar, March 13, 2024. /MONTSAME/. Minister of Finance of Mongolia Javkhlan Bold, Ambassador of the European Union to Mongolia Axelle Nicaise, and Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Teresa Czerwińska signed an Agreement on the "Aimag and Soum Centres Green and Resilient Regional Development Investment Program” on March 12, 2024, at the Ministry of Finance of Mongolia.
Specifically, the Agreement is worth EUR 54.4 million, including EUR 9.5 million European Union’s investment grant to support the program. The European Union will contribute a grant aid of a total of EUR 19.5 million for the program.
The program will upgrade the basic infrastructure of Mongolia’s aimags and soums, including the construction of wastewater treatment plants and affordable housing, energy efficiency renovations, and improvements in public buildings, schools, and hospitals. The program will also improve flood protection and rainwater drainage and expand the use of solar power in public buildings.
The scheme will increase financing for sustainable private sector investment by local agriculture and agribusiness and include dedicated support for herder groups to better manage grasslands by reducing overgrazing and adopting more sustainable livestock practices. The program is expected to create approximately 160 thousand direct and indirect jobs and protect more than 29 million hectares of grasslands in the long term. It is estimated that the program will save 126 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions over 40 years.
The "Aimag and Soum Centres Green and Resilient Regional Development Investment Program" is closely aligned with the Food Revolution National Campaign initiated by the President of Mongolia, the Paris Agreement, which Mongolia joined, and the New Revival Policy of the Government of Mongolia and its development goals of Rural Revival and Green Development, which are reflected in the country's long term development policy.
