From the Founder-Editor

Early autumn frost can already be seen and the people of Mongolia have left the summer behind to return to the busy-ness of the business of living. The last few months of 2009 promise to be full of challenges for the economy of both the country and every family. Bartering is now widespread, with people short of cash and pre-winter demand picking up. Empty pockets do not stop individuals and businesses from exchanging products and services. There is a limit, however, to which a market can survive, let alone thrive, on such outmoded practices. All domestically available opportunities appear to have been exhausted and the only chance to reinvigorate the pallid economy is by injection of the new blood of foreign investment. This is where events which assemble  foreign investors to plan their future in Mongolia assume utmost importance.

This issue of the MMJ is focused on various aspects of the current economic situation. We present news, statistics and views that report, examine, and analyse strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and trends. There is also information related to new developments in major mining projects. The reader will realise that infrastructure development for the Tavan Tolgoi deposit is likely to assume, if it has not already done so,  geopolitical ramifications. As early as in its November 2008 issue, the MMJ published detailed information on how the situation was beginning to develop on selection of new railway routes. The choice of the final investor(s) in Tavan Tolgoi and just where and how the new railway will  stretch across the vast territory of Mongolia are interlinked, as MMJ has endeavoured to show in its last three issues.

The recent extraordinary session of Parliament taught Mongolians a momentous lesson, that of the need to find a common national perspective. The investment agreement on Oyu Tolgoi finally moved forward only after the majority focused on the larger benefits for the nation as a whole and not on pettier  parochial points. There is reason to fear that the Oyu Tolgoi agreement would be seen as much easier than the selection process for Tavan Tolgoi. High profile delegations representing countries eyeing Tavan Tolgoi keep visiting Mongolia, and fierce competition is raging behind the scenes. It will be no cakewalk for whoever wins the bid and, similarly, the final selection would test the Mongolian Government’s diplomatic skills, economic prudence, and commitment to national interests.

The foreign bidders fight one another for their own individual profits, while for Mongolians the fight is for national development. Our approach must be holistic and our selection criteria must be calculating, comprehensive and long-term. Will the railways go south? Or north? Or east? Any one project does not necessarily have to be at the cost of another. Our goal is to coordinate seemingly contradictory proposals to extract the most for Mongolia. This requires a national unity of purpose and the ability to negotiate with one voice. Let us put our bickering on hold and stand united. There is need to remember that large investments are yet to come to Mongolia.